PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2728, 24 March 1916, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Fkagaientary as the current-news is, and much a3 it leaveß untold, tha outlook is by no means unpromising. Not long ago it.would have seemed too much to hope that the enemy would presently bo concentrating a great part of his strength upon an effort' to crush the Allies on the Western front, and. at the same time himself meeting powerful Eussian attacks in other main theatre. Yet it is on these lines that the situation has tentatively taken shape and promises to develop. While the whole weight of evidence is that the Verdun oft'ensivo must be set down thus far a complete and costly failure, the opinion is held in Paris that the enemy is on the eve, of another desperato effort to pierce the French line. If the opinion is sound the enemy's second effort will entail an even heavier concentration that he has already effected against Verdun, and as a consequence the creation of conditions on tho other main front reasonably favouring the offensive action by the Russians, for which they seem'to be fully prepared. It is too soon to take anything for granted, but quite apart from envelopments in tho Italian and suLk sidiary theatres, there are prospects of a war on two fronts for the Germans under conditions; dccidedly advantageous to tho Allies.

Though the struggle at Verdun is still far from having regained its former magnitude, the Germans are shown to be again developing their attack upon a considerate scale. The French positions, both cast and west of the Mcuse. have been heavily bombarded, but infantry actions have been confined to a short front in \thc neighbourhood of Malancourt, named in a message yesterday as the meeting point of tSe French Argonna and Verdun armies. South-west of Malancourt the enemy gained a footing on a small summit. Otherwise, as reports go, his attacks -were uniformly broken and defeated. t a » a Splendid news, if it were true, is contained in a Home report relating to the Russian campaign in Galicia, but it is almost certain that the message has been so altered in transmission as to become' misleading. From its form it is apparently intended to. apply to operations in a single, locality, and yet it states that the Austrians have abandoned Czernowitz, the capital of Bukowina, and that the Russians have crossed the Dniester, completely overwhelming the Austrian defensive positions. Czernowitz-is just about 40 miles away from the Dnies- 1 ter, where that riyer is included in the Austrian area of occupation. An intelligible reading of tho message is possible if it: is assumed that the name "Czernowitz" has been substituted in error for "Czcrnelika." This place is a few miles south of the Dniester, and ten xnilcs west of Uscieczko, where the Russians lately captured an Austrian bridgehead on *thc north bank of the river. If the Russians have crossed the Dniester and advanced so far west as to compel the Austrians to evacuate Cze'rnelika, an" important success! stands to their credit, but the capture of Czernowitz would be much more'important. Even as applying to' events along the Dniester, the Rome report awaits confirmation, but the forcing of the river passage and an advancc west towards Czcrnelika would be a natural sequel to the Russian success at Uscieczko.

When Czernowitz >is really captured news on the subject- is not likely to be long withheld, _ for it would be an event of decisive importance in its bearing upon tho Eastern campaign. Amongst other things, possession of the town and adjacent areas enables the AustroGermans to effectively command that part of the Rumanian western frontier which faces Bukowina. This apart, the Czernowitz positions represent a strong barrier to ,a Russian invasion of Galicia. By the construction of elaborate field fortifications, and by the substitution of German for Austrian divisions on "this section of the front, the enemy has shown that -he regards Czernowitz as a danger point, and there is! every reason to believe .that -the place will be stubbornly defended. Whether or not it has been developed, as the Ilomc report suggests, the Russian success on tho Dniester is a step, though perhaps" an early one, towards,turning the Czernowitz positions oil the north and threatening the enemy lines of communication, but in the' immediate neighbourhood of the town the situation has probably altered little since the middle of January. „At that time the Russians, by powerful assaults, gained a footing on the level plateau which extends north-east of Czernowitz. They stormed and captured trenches near the- village of Rarancze, 8 miles northeast of Czernowitz, and are so posted as to immediately threaten , tlie enemy's main defences. Desperate but unavailing efforts, in-'which they lost heavily, were made by the Germans to dislodge the Russians from the plateau. * * st

The latest Petr'ofjrad communique in hand is disappointingly silent in regard to Galicia, but tells of a stir of heavy fighting along the Dwina front ,in the Baltic Provinces, and squt-h to a point east of Vilna. This apparently is the "whole front," which tha communique states that infantry actions ■ are in progress. At a number of points the Russians have penetrated the enemy lines, capturing villages' and other positions, - It is incidentally disclosed that they are under the necessity of facing the enemy's poison gas clouds, without being able tojetorfc in kind. The communique mentions that a Gorman counterattack at one point was stopped by tho use of projectiles filled with asphyxiating and poisonous gas. While fighting in this region can hardly be of as decisive importance as the events of the struggle which is at such a critical .gtage in Galicia and Bukowina, the scale and success of their attacks afford evidence of the reality of the Russian recovery. Apart froni their local ■ results, these attacks will, of course, serve a useful purpose in tending to limit the 'enemy's striking power in the other' main theatre.;

A question again brought prominently to the fore by General Oadorna's visit to Paris and London concerns the scope of Italy's participation in the war. I From time to .time it has been suggested that since 'Italy is faced by such an enormously difficult problem in mastering the defences of the Austrian Alpine frontiers, -her best policy would be to resort to defensive tactics on her ■present battle-front, and send a portion of her army to assist the Allies in the Western theatre or elsewhere. It is extremely doubtful, however, whether anything of this kind is con-, templated or is feasible.; With a better realisation of the nature and circumstances of the Italian campaign, it has come to be recognised that'the conception of Italy as possessing a large disposable reserve of force is quite possibly ' illusory. General Cadohna has stated that the Italian front extends for a distance of 400 miles, and while it is true that the Italians, by almost superhuman exertions, have converted'the weak frontier with which they entered the war into a powerful defensive line, any material reduction of force might easily make their position, again exceedingly /precarious. The advantages that arise from effecting a maximum concentration of strength in a selected area are so great that the possibility of Italian troops being employed elsewhere % than in their own theatre cannot be definitely dismissed, but there will be no cause, for surprise if such a policy is found to be impracticable.

Protests lately made by Holland against the later developments ox Germany's submarino warfare are seconded by similar protests from Norway, and it is reported, also, that the Netherlands-Lloyd Company is stopping its traffic imtil Germany 'clearly defines her aims. Germany thus seems to have blundered into an embittered, quarrel with neutral nations whom she would have been wiser, to placate, and unless news is being withheld of shipping losses suffered by tho Alljoa and noutnile, the material results of the campaign are

providing her with little compensation''for the loss.of Dutch and Norwegian friendship. The only success credited to the submarines ' at time of writing is the sinking of the Galloper lightship.