PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2795, 13 June 1916, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

As one correspondent remarks today, it would be rash to prophesy how far tho Eussians will be ablo to develop the succcss that has crowncd their arms in the southern theatre. But it is manifest that tho offensive which already has cost tho enemy so dear takes rank as ono of the grand strokes of the'war. For a comparison in kind, we must look to the greatest events' of tho most critical days in tho Western theatre or, in tho Eastern theatre, to the immensely powerful and sustained attacks in which' the Germans swept the Eussians before them through Galicia and mastered the Warsaw salient. Accumulating evidence excludes any possibility of doubt as to the weight and effect of the Eussian blow. The mounting total of prisoners—now considerably over the hundred thousand mark—speaks for itself, and the same is - trjie of the accounts officially given of tho numerous guns, the' great quantities of munitions, and the vast amount of' engineering and other materials that have fallen into the hands of the' Russian's. On particulars supplied, tho losses of the enemy in men and material must be set down as enormous, but we have an official statement that the account of what the enemy has lost, in material at all events, is very far from complete. It is established, also, on unimpeachable evidence, that on several extensive sectors of his southern front the enemy not only suffered a crushing defeat, but was broken and routed, companies, and even regiments, surrendering to the pursuing Eussian cavalry, which swept through tho, breaches in the lines and harried' the transport' of tho beaten armies. This fate has' befallen tho enemy on a front which evidently was intended to present an impenetrable barrier to a Eussian advancc, and as a result the situation 1 has opened up wonderfully. Not the least informative passages in tho Eussian communiques are those which tell of the capture of enormous quantities of engineering material. On ai single section the material captured included seven million' concrete cubes, a thousand concrete.girders, and nearly half a million pounds of barb-wire. This is merely an example of the account which has yet to be drawn up, and it .affords very convincing evidenco that the enemy .has been bombarded and driven out of positions in which he hoped to stand firmly against ali assaults.

A survey of the Eussian plan of campaign as it has developed, and is likely to develop, is given in a message which, though not official, is in perfect harmony with the communiques as to details of progress made; Three yawning breaches in the Austrian, lino bear witness to tho prowess of the attacking Eussian armies.' Beyond Lusk, in Southern Russia, they are thirty miles ahead of their starting-point, and threaten Kovel, 1 45 miles away to the northKovel is an important junction in a region, whoro railways are few, and a convenient distributing centro behind tho enemy's present front. More immediate interest attaches, however, to the position further south in Galicia. North of the Dniester, as was reported yesterday, the Eussians have' readied and captured the town of Buczacz, twenty miles beyond the point at which they penetrated the enemy line. Buczacz, is connected by rail with Stanislau, thirty miles to the south-west, and this latter place is the heart of an important section of the enemy's communications. From Stanislau railways strike in all directions, south to the Carpathians, west through Galicia, east to. Czernowitz,/' rind north to Lemberg._ ' As a railway centre Stanislau is, in fact, second in importance only to Lemberg itself, and it is in imminent danger of attack by a Eussian advance from Buczacz. Such a movement 1 would, of course, imperil the communications of -the enemy forces in Czernowitz, a,nd further south in Bukowina, though Che occupation of Stanislau would not in itself sever all lines of supply. _The position in the immediate vicinity of Czernowitz is still to some extent'obscure, but'that they are striking vigorously and' with effect on this section of the front is to be_ inferred from the'fact that the Eussians here took 18,000 of the 35,000 prisoners captured in a single day. The, strategic railway on which the Russians have gained a footing is possibly that which approaches Czernowitz from the south, liut at timo of writing the point is not cleared up. The place at all events is closely threatened.

limits established proportions and brilliant success the Russian offensive must bo regarded as an immensely important contribution to the common effort of tho Allies in tho war. Wo have outlived /the days when "the Russian steam-roller" was a popular stock- phrase, and -the illinformed measured in weeks the' time in which the armies of the Tsar would cover the journey to Berlin. But there is no ignoring the tremendous nature of the present offensive movement by our Allies, and the. general outlook is very greatly brightened as a result of what the Russians have achieved, and the positive evidence supplied of their recovered striking power. Until lately very grave doubts have been, entertained as to whether Russia was capable of any' really effective or powerful part in the near future in the Allied task of breaking down the Austro-Gorman military power. These doubts have been tosolved in a fashion which admits of no dispute. .We do not know at the moment whether the tide of the Russian offensive will sweep rapidly "forward to the immediate objective's which have been named, or will bo dammed up for a time by the growing vigour of enomi resistance, but already conditions in the area of conflict have been transformed. Even assuming a comparatively early hold-up of the Russian offensive, it has created just such a state of affairs on the southern front as must be created on all fronts as a prelude to the ultimate defeat of the Central Powers.

The immediate problem before tho Russians is not so much to repeat in reverse the great drive through Galicia which was witnessed in the dark days of a little over a year ago, as to impose such a strain upon the enemy as will hamper and hinder him in all theatres, and make his efforts wasteful. This is the 1 supremely, important consideration.

Tho only exception to bo made is that succcss., in driving tho enemy away from the frontiers of Rumania, an enterprise upon which the Eussians are evidently concentrating, may influence or even determine the policy of that country towards the war. This apart, the success of tho Russian offensive in the present stage of tho war will bo measured, not merely by its duration or tho extent of country it gains, which is remarkable enough already, but by succcss in maintaining the harassing strain to which the enemy is subjected now that he has suffered more than local disaster, and is compelled to resort to open fighting in regions where he had • hoped to maintain a secure front at a minimum outlay of strength.

Some comparisons have been drawn between the present llussian enterprise, and Mackensen's drive of last May. It is unlikely that the Ilussians will be able to assemble in the south such a force, in artillery at least, as had under his command. But it rs equally' certain that thtf enemy will never again be ablo to devote as great a proportion of his strength to the Eussiari southern front as lie did last year. There was at that time no Battle of Verdun. The Allied offensive in Northern France imposed certain burdens on the German defence, but it was relatively unimportant in comparison with the Galician drive, and it is dwarfed by the present/operations of the war. The difference, in a word, is that last year the Germans had : their hands practically clear, and' were able to concentrate almost undividedly on assisting the ■ Austrians in Galicia, whereas now they have on their hands uncompleted the most exacting enterprise that has over been undertaken in the war.

Another very important point concerns the reinforcement of thq Austrians by Gorman troops- It is estimated that the enemy forccs, totalling two millions, which were massed against the Russians in Galicia, and in the Carpathians last year, included some 600,0$) Germans, possibly more. Assuredly, no such German reinforcement is available now on the southern section of the Eastern front. Anart from statements anent the withdrawal of German divisions, it is to be inferred from current reports that Germans form a very small proportion of the forces opposing the Russian drive. . The broad position is that the Russians,, whom the enemy hoped to cripple by his effort last year, have resumed tho.conflict in much increased vigour, while the enemy has necessarily weakened. From this standpoint there is every reason to belicvo that whatever the momentary aspect of tho oonflict may be, as time goes on there will be a constantly rising aggression on Russia's part in contrast to the decline of her enemies' power.

No very notable event is reported in tho Western theatre, at time of writing, nor in Italy, but there are hints that interesting developments may be maturing in Greece. German papers are said to be apprehensive that Greeco can no longer avoid being drawn into the war, but there is still much to support an opinion that a fair Parliamentary election in Greece is- an essential preliminary to decisive action on her part. Further progress has been made by the Britisn invading columns in Gorman East Africa.