PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2789, 6 June 1916, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Thb battle in the North Sea, which was first presented in an unpleasant light, now takes shape on fuller information as an unmistakable victory for the British Fleet. In spite of the unfavourable circumstances in which it was fought it must lie classcd, as the facts are now presented, as a victory which turned so decisively against the Germans that it may even, as the Russians have suggested, make an end finally of the pretensions of tho precocious Germau Navy. Though much new and interesting light is cast lfpon the battle in the fuller reports now available, the essential facts brought out concern the losses sustained by the Germans, and more especially the losses capital ships. As the facts are coming out it appears that tho losses sustained by the enemy were very much heavier than at first seemed possible. The whole aspect of the case is altered, and wonderfully for the better, by an Admiralty statement which is published to-day.

While the British losses, this statement declares, have been fully disthe enemy T s account of his losses is false. According to the information of which the Admiralty is possessed tho German losses were greater not merely relatively, but absolutely, than those of the British Fleet. The amended list of German losses is given as four Dreadnoughts, including two battleships, four light cruisers, nine destroyers, and a submarine, 18 ships in all, and four of theso capital units to set against the three lost by Britain. If these facts are established, and the Admiralty would certainly not make its announcement on authority likely to be upset, it will be no extravagant estimato of the position to assume that the likelihood of the German Fleet attempting any major naval enterprise has been vastly reduced. It has had its opportunity, under more favourable circumstances than it is ever likely to encounter again, of- striking an effective blow' at ; a section of the British Fleet, and has made such poor use of tho opportunity that it has actually suffered moro heavily_ in the ships that cOunt than the British battle-cruiser squadrons with which it was chiefly engaged.

1 To-day's reports involve no modification of the loading impressions formed yesterday as to the nature of tho battle. Facts now emphasised are that tho weather conditions militated against scouting, aerial and otherwise, and that tho British Fleet made enterprising use of theso conditions in an attempt to cut off the enemy from his base. There would have been no battle had not the British battle-cruisers taken risks which they might without shamo have evaded. Though one of tho British battleships, the Marlborough, was damaged by a torpedo, and a number were engaged, it is clear that they wero provented by the enemy's retreat from taking that full part in the battle which they had hoped for. As the action was fought, the enemy had his own conditions, and for tho greater part of tho battle an overwhelming superiority of force, and. it was in these conditions that he lost four Dreadnoughts to Britain's three. It is thus conclusively demonstrated that the German High Seas Fleet was, as a fighting force, greatly inferior to the British Grand Fleet, and at tho same time as tho. result of tho battle the balance of strength in capital ships, already- adverse to Germany, has been furthor adjusted in favour of Britain. This last factor is of. tho utmost importance, but considering the circumstances in which the action was fought, it should provo ultimately less important than the demonstrated inferiority of the German Fleet in fighting power,.

As to tho factor of materia] strength, it ia an unduly moderate statement of the case to say that the loss'of four Dreadnoughts means as much to' Germany, from the point of view of maintaining relative strengths, as tho loss of twice that number would have meant to Great Britain. No better proof is needed that tho enemy is badly hit than the offorts ho is making to cover up his losses. Presumably the object .aimed at is to deceive the German peoplo for u timo, Tho Kaiser and his faithful lieutenants, who are still busily talking of the "victory,'' inust know perfectly well that_ the pretcnce cannot bo long maintained. At the'least it -jvould be expected by their dupes that tho "victory" should be followed up, and it is to bo feared that desires under this head will be. hard to gratify. Tho most interesting detail in the systematic deception -to which the war lords have been reduced ie the introduction of the battleship Pommern. This ship, a pre-Dread-nought of the 1904 class, is believed to have been sunk by a British submarine in the Baltic about a year ago. •, As she has or had four sister ships, a mistake may have been made as to the identity of the submarine's victim, but it is tolerably certain that the prc-Dreadnought Pommcrn did not meet her fate in Wednesday's battle. There is no reason to suppose that any' preDrcadnonghts participated even in the closing phase of the battle, and certainly no ships of this typo could have accompanied the German Fleet in its rush down the North Sea' to the shelter of its mine-fields. They arc lacking 'in the essential factor of speed. The idea is plausible that the Germans have named or re'namcd one of their new Dreadnoughts the Pommern, and are now admitting her loss in the hope that 1 tho admission will bo applied to the I old and comparatively unimportant prC'DrcadnouEht

i Though there is no relaxation of tension at Verdun the most momentous news of the land war at time of writing is possibly the Austrian eoyimumque asserting that the Russians are making ready for an offensive on their southern front—that they are already developing a great artillery bombardment, and that indications point to coming infantry attacks both in Southern Russia and Galicia. A roport of the same tenor was published some days ago, but the Austrian report, besides being official, is explicit in terms, and there is no obvious reason why false reports on tho subject should bo circulated from Vienna. Doubt can only arise in any. case in regard to the factor of time. That tho Russians will sooner or later open a vigorous offensive on their southern front may be taken for granted. It is possible that their preliminary activities have already exerted a material influence upon the situation in Italy. _ There, according to the latest official report, the Austrians have m ad A no material progress in their offensive since news of the campaign broke off some days ago, though a number of attacks,

pressed in considerable force, havo teen repulsed. As has been pointed out at different times considerations local to the Austro-Italian campaign might account for a slowing down in the Austrian offensive now that the Italians have been dislodged from an important section of the front they had occupied in the Trentino, but the threat of a Russian offensive in Galicia and further north affords an alternative explanation.

Action by the Allies_ at Salonika in the direction of taking full possession of the town and its communications points to preparations for a move in that quarter, but a strange silenco obtains meantime as to the progress or circumstances of the Bulgarian invasion. We must assume that it is still the policy of the Greek Government to rest supine while the people who remain in the occupied districts are necessarily exposed to terrible possibilities.

At Verdun the Germans appear to have made a little progress as a result of their repeated and furious attacks at Fort Vaux, but no material change in the situation is recorded, nor any material headway by the enemy in his efforts to force a decision. The situation at Ypres, where the Germans penetrated the southern sido of the salient and were afterwards ejected from a great part of the ground won, has not been fully cleared up. It would seem, however, that the British in this engagement pursued the tactics which were adopted by the French in the opening passages of the Battle of Verdun. It is clear that the advanced lines were lightly held and the fact that the enemy 'has not yet been thrust back to his starting point does not necessarily or probably mean that he has secured any important advantage.