PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2672, 19 January 1916, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Proceedings in the House of Commons afford a satisfactory assurance that both the main Irish Parties will abstain from opposing the Compulsion Bill/ The Ulstermen have not submitted without a protest to tho exclusion of Ireland from the operation of the Bill, but with a protest they .have to all appearance terminated their opposition It will be cold comfort for tho enemy to learn that Englishmen and Irishmen are rapidly cementing a decision to postpone their domestic diteensions_ in order to concentrate wholly against external foes. The factor of Labour opposition to the Compulsion Bill has yet to be measured, but prospects are on the whole reasonably bright-that Great Britain will take unitedly the step which will enable her to efficiently continue her part in the war. J • * # o From the details given to-day it is evident that the (JVansfer of the Serbian Army to Corfu, a way-port for them on the road to Salonika, must be classed with the withdrawal from Gallipoli as evidence that tb& Allies are making highly effective use of their naval superiority in forwarding the current developments of the Near Eastern campaign. The channel between Corfu and tho Albanian and Greek mainland is infested by enemy submarines, but the French .cruisers and destroyers which transported the Serbs r succcssfully evaded these lurking foes. Manifestly it was a brilliant bit of work. Writing a j month or two ago Mr. A. H. Pollen stated tliafc individual Qro?k §hin» wastei'B had doubt beea largely I

engaged in supplying German and Austrian submarines in the Adriatic. The Greek mercantile marine includes a very large number of small trading steamers, which are either owned by their captains or by small syndicates of traders and adventurers. In addition Greece abounds with small ports, and Mr. Pollen_ suggests that it would be well within the limits of German capacity to engage a number of Greek navigators in the service of their submarines. The Allies have perhaps by this time succeeded in solving the problem thus constituted and in eliminating Greek depot ships, but, even if they have, the enemy possesses a fairly convenient base at Cattaro for submarines operating in the neighbourhood of Corfu. Whatever the precise conditions may be the underwater craft still represent a serious danger, and a very _ notable feat on the part of the French Navy is implied in the safe transportation of the Serbfa'n Army to its present location. * * * e J Reports from different quarters staw that Montenegro has surrendered, and those of enemy origin assert that the surrender is unconditional. There is unfortunately no definite reason to doubt that these assertions are true, but the detail facts of the situation have yet to be disclosed. _ The present fate of Montenegro will hardly bear contemplation, but her ultimate fortune may be happier than that of weak-kneed neutrals like Greccc, who have shown themselves incapable of rising in resolute fashion to an emergency which has an intimate bearing upon their national future. * * * * A PLEA is entered by The Times correspondent at Rome ; for a suspension of fault-finding-, with Italy on account of the misfortunes that have overtaken Montenegro. This seems hardly necessary. It has indeed been_ pointed out, in responso to complaints uttered in Italv, that she as much' as any of the' Allies must accept responsibility for leaving Montenegro to her fate, but all recent news has gone to show that no other policy was possiblo in view of the broad developments of the Balkan campaign, and taking this view it is impossible to exclude the contention that Italy is bound to concentrate above all upon her main campaign.

| All sorts of stories havi been circulated about Djemal Pasha, who commands the Turkish forces in Syria. The latest addition to their number is -made in a report from Constantinople that he has visited that city in order to settle political •md strategic considerations. It is ■added that he has refused to include Germans in his staff except a general who attends him in an advisory capacity, and, most interesting of all, that his forces are estimated -to number _ 300,000 men. At it's face value this news would imply that the long-promised attack on Egypt may be imminent, but rumours of this character really warrant no conclusion at all. Even if ■ Djemai Pasha has 300,000 men under his orders it does not by any means follow that .thfey constitute such an I army as is needed to deliver a seriattack on the Suez Canal. The position as regards Egypt therefore remains for the time being vague and uncertain, and the same is true of Macedonia, where, at the moment, no material development is reported. Theee is at time of writing an apparent absence of unusual events on the main fronts, but usual events on the Western front cover a fury of bombardment by the Allies which speaks eloquently of tbe enormous resources in artillery and munitions they now have at disposal. It is stated in one message that the Germans have lost as many men as they would lose in several battles under the shelling to which they are being subjected 'by the superior artillery of_ the Allies. This, with some detail -particulars supplied by Sir Douglas Haig of damage inflicted upon tho German positions by longrange_ bombardment, may li noted as evidence (capable of "being very greatly amplified) that the term "stalemate" is one to be applied very _ cautiously even to a war of positions when artillery is employed in ample power and volume. * * * * In ancient days conquering Roman generals were accorded a public triumph upon returning to the Imperial city. Denied any such tribute to his doubtful achievements, Enver Pasha has consoled himself by making speeches in tho Turkish Parliament chiefly with a view to glorifying his own wisdom as manifested in tho conduct of _ the Gailipoli campaign. His oratorical efforts, as reported, are almost worthy of Baron Munchausen. Ha-If a million French and British troops, so his story runs, were held in play on Gailipoli, and the desperate battles of the landing and after the landing represented a process of drawing them on in order that they might not bo. employed olsewhore to the greater disadvantage of Germany and her Allies. It is likely that even in Turkey there are many people who will receive this fluent' fiction with tongue in cheek and who know Enter Pasha for the man he is. His quality was put to a definite ted; in the disastrous campaign which colla/psed in ruin at Sari Kamysh, and the Gailipoli campaign has done nothing to redeem his reputation. No friend of the Allies j will deny that tho Gailipoli campaign was a gamble which has been lost so far as the chief objects aimed at are concerned, but the events and outcome of the campaign afford Enver Pasha and the country he has served so badly little cause for grattilation. Against the British and French loss at Gailipoli there is to be set a_ Turkish casualty-roll which, according to tho best available information, is very much greater. Costly as the campaign was to the_ Allies it is all but certain that it would not have been abandoned had not a broader campaign opened in the Near East in which the Allies are fighting with better and brighter prospects than were ever before them in Gailipoli. As to the closing events of the campaign even Enver Pasha is constrained to admit that the Allied withdrawal was "extraordinarily favoured by circumstances," and the admission is a striking confession of his owu failing and that of those who shared with him the control of the enemy forces. » * » ■ Mesopotamia continues to be the scene of stirring events. One battle is following rapidly upon another, and it seems likely, that the campaign would show an even more definite trend but that the operations arc hampered by bad weather. Even so, substantial progress is being made by the British forces which are advancing up the Tigris to tho relief of Kut-el-Amara. The Turks are offering a stubborn and determined rflsiat&iJM, but the relieving column is steadily, cutting down the re--

maining distance which separates it from General Townshend's beleaguered garrison. All the later fighting, , it will be noticed, has fallen to the column which is moving up the left, or eastern, bank of the Tigris. The officer commanding this column was named in an official message the other day as Colonel Aylaier. He is now alluded to, also in an official 3ispatch, as General Aylmer. This last is no doubt his actual rank, and ho probably commands the main body of the relieving force. Two columns set out from a base'a hundred rpiles down river from Kut-el-Amara, General Aylmer's column on the eastern bank and another under Colonel Kejiball on the other side of the rivor. Apparently, Colonel Kejiball has not advanced as fast or as far as General Aylmer, and the explanation probably is that his column represents a covering force protecting the lines of communication. '** * * At all events, it is General Aylmer's column which is pressing for ward, as rapidly as Turkish opposition can .'be overcome and' the weather will permit, to the relief of «?ut-el-Amara, and it has made material headway towards that place. There has been some ebb and flow in the fighting, but General Aylmer is undoubtedly now within a comparatively short distance of his objective, and ..it is noteworthy that he is working with clear lines of communication. All the British wounded, itis stated, are being sent down the river; \Vhile it is clear that ground l has been gained during the last few days, news in hand does not quite clearly indicate the position reached by General " Aylmer. Yesterday it was reported that the Turks had been defeated, and compelled to retreat in a battle fought twenty-five miles away from KutclAmara. One of to-day's messages states that the enemy, after being again defeated, retreated to a position six miles east (down' river) from Kut-el-Amara. It seems hardly possible that the enemy can have taken up such a position. Doing so, he would be in imminent peril of being crushed between the advancing column and the Kut-el-Arr/ira garrison. An official message states that the Turks retreated six miles to a position east of Kut-el-Amara,' which may mean that as much as a dozen miles or more still lies between the garrison and the relieving column. Even so, however, the position disclose# is promising, always supposing that the enemy, is not preparing to speedily throw large additional forces into the scale. This he has the option of doing, _bnt only "at the cost of somewhat injuring his prospects in other Near Eastern theatres—notably in Greece and Egypt—where even greater issues are at stake than in Mesopotamia.

There is presumably a relation between the attack opened by the Russians in Armenia ■ and events in Mesopotamia. It has resulted in a fairly large haul of prisoners, but there is no evidence that it is more than a demonstration intended to hold the enemy in play and discourage him from sending additional forces south to act against the British columns on the Tigris. The development of an attack of this character very . probably supplies the basis for a Turkish story that a violent Russian offensive in the Caucasus (that is to say in Armenia) was defeated. It is always' possible to describe a holding attack _as an abortive offensive, but a holding attack is nevertheless capable of serving a useful purpose, and it is likely that the Russian Caucasian army has on this and other occasions rendered material service to the British in Mesopotamia. V * » A late official message indicates that the Russians have suffered fflo check, but are prosperously developing their attack. Further captures of prisoners are reported, and in addition a Turkish artillery store, containing much ammunition has been captured north of Khorasan, that is to say, outside the Russian Caucasian frontier at a point about a hundred miles south of the Black Sea. ■ » ' • * ' It is possible that the Russian operations in Armenia and in Persia and the British campaign in Mesopotamia may eventually be definitely linked up, but it must be recognised that such a linking-up is opposed by the extent and nature of the country and the comparative smallncss of the forces engaged. One message to-day mentions that the Russians at, or approaching, Kermanshah, in Persia, are separated by 200 miles of partly desert country from Kut-el-Amara. Advancing to meet the Turks who have invaded Persia, the Russians are moving on a line which would ultimately carry them across tho communications of the Turkish armies in Mesopotamia north of Bagdad; but even if they are in adequate force to attempt it such an enterpriso would be faced by very formidable obstacles and difficulties.

Yesterday some extracts were cabled from an article by Mb. H. 6. Wells, in which he bases upon the theories of a notable Russian, M. Bloch, an opinion, or rather an assertion, that the war is bound to lapse into a . stalemate, to be terminated only by the exhaustion of the weakest combatant. Sweeping assertions of this character deserve no particular attention, but it may be pointed out that Mr. Wells is hopelessly astray in'some of the detail facts upon which he relies. For instance, he says that_ Bloch was not translated into English. In point of fact, M. Bloch, a famous propagandist of universal peace, was for years a contributor of peace articles to English, French, and Gorman periodicals, and his principal work, The. War of the Future, originally published in 1898, was published in English translation in the following year under the title, Is War Now Impossible? Me. Wells says that British military experts seem to confino their reading chiefly to the "marvellous maxims of the Dark Ages." He may be interested to learn, if anyone i troubles to inform him of the fact, | that M.' Block's pamphlet, Lord Roberts's Campaign and Its Consequences, is credited with having suggested the blockhouse scheme by which the South African Republics were finally reduced. The possibilities of the offensive in modern war and other questions upon which Mr. Wells touches in his article open up problems of the gravest character, but it can hardly be said in the circumstances that his treatment of these problems merits much attention.