PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2804, 23 June 1916, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Suggestions that the crisis of the 916 campaign is approaching, and that tho Allies are.on the eve of renouncing tactics of delay in favour of a policy of vigorous aggression in all theatres, arc becoming increasingly frequent in the news and though no actual disclosure of the Allied plans is to bo expected, these suggestions aro no doubt rounded to some extent on knowledge. They gain colour, in any case -from what is known about the present-day strength of the Entente and the Central Powers. It is known that the. Allies now' possess a very considerable margin of superiority both in numerical strength and otherwise.' They derive a certain adyvantagc also from the extreme strain imposed upon the enemy's resources by tho character and location of his various campaigns,; and particularly from his efforts to 'retain possession of a very largo extent of occupied territory. On these grounds, it is reasonable to believe that the Allies will act vigorously in unison against tho enemy long before tho year is out, and that time will prove the Russian offensive to be not a local effort, but an early move in an enterprise which before long will take shape in every theatre of war. But the fact that the Allies in tho aggregate are now much stronger than tho enemy is not the only factor likely to impel them to an early and general abandonment of delaying tactics, and resort to active aggression. _ Even the most, elementary, analysis will bring to light other considerations which are bound to potcntly_ influence tho war policy of the Allies, and the chief of theso considerations unquestionably is tho necessity of reducing as soon as possible the burden that rests on France. . The part that France has borne, and is hearing, in the war is not perhaps as clearly recognised and appreciated as it ought to be. Each ono of tho Allies has 'individual problems to grapple with, and burdens to bear, but an examination of the facts can lead to no other conclusion than that the weight of the war has fallen

more severely upon France than upon any one of her principal Allies. Belgium and Serbia are in a class apart, while Portugal has not been called upon to play any very serious part in the war, but in the front rank of the Entente alliance France stands alone •in the measure of her sacrifices in the common cause.

Russia, it is true, suffered terribly last year, and her absolute losses are greater than those of France, but relatively she is' incomparably hotter off. In comparison with what remains, practically only tho fringe of her territory has been entered by the enemy, and in spite of her losses of men last year she is now stronger than ever, and still has mighty reservoirs of strength, untapped. France is very far from being as well placed; It fell to her lot in tho early days of tho war, when she was immediately assisted only by the Belgians and the small, though heroic, British Army, to stem and turn the first rush of the German invasion. After 18 months of war she was called upon to meet and break the heaviest stroke of war that Germany has ever attempted, and in a battle now four months old she has maintained the Verdun lines intact, in spite of the enemy's frantic efforts to smash his way to victory. With the war Hearing tho end of its second year, France is still holding more than three-quar-ters of the Western battle-line. Allowance must be made for the. fact that the British-and Belgian front is a vital section of the line, one which has witnessed some of the hardest fighting of the. war, and is destined to witness conflict on an even greater scale as the war develops. But nothing can alter the fact that circumstances beyond control have led to France bearing a burden in the war disproportionate to her resources, and that the time is at hand when tho Allies arc bound to adjust their plans and dispositions so as to lighten her burdens.

This is recognised in an extract from an article by a French Deputy (M. Cochin), which is transmitted 'to-day. When ho says that the hour of the British Army's intervention has struck, M. Cochin, we may assume, has no thought of casting an ungenerous slur upon an Ally. He is simply emphasising the fact that France in making head against thecommon enemy has given Britain time for preparation, from which Franco is now entitled to expect relief and more powerful aid than has hitherto been available. The British Army has played already a great part in tho war, but it must henceforth play a greater part. Tho position of France was eloquently stated some time ago by Senator Humbert in Le Journal. His remarks arc coloured to an extent by the- fact that, when he wrote, the adoption of general compulsion was still under discussion in Great Britain, but this apart they merit the sympathetic consideration of' the Allies of France. His country, ho write, had accomplished fully and moro than fully her share in the common task. Had not tho moment come'to take this into account?

It was in tho interests of all (he continues), mid in order to allow others in their turn to piny their part, t!mt she went abend of her comrades on -the path of saorifiee. : -Must she' now gather 'her lust resources, must sho strain, her energies {or a supremo effort, now that, thanks to her vigour, invaluable assistance is at hand to .relieve her <f pnrt of her. burden? What' other country has, like ours, so strained its resource's of nble-bodied men, subjecting the unfit to such frequent medical tests?. Where is the country that lias called to the colours tho classes of 1888 and 1917, men almost old, and children? Where is tho country which has so exhaustively drawn upon, a population too small in numbers as it was? Already far-sighted people aro thinking as much of what will happen aftelr the war as of the war itself; Now, what will be the- situation 'of Franco she- sho suspends her'economic life, consumes her last resources, and uses up on the field of battle her last reserves of men?

Hero and there it may be possible to pick a detail inaccuracy in this eloquent statement of the case for France. Germany and Austria, as well as Franco, have called up elderly men and boys. Germany, indeed, has the class of 1918 in her depots, and the French armies have already taken toll of the German ; recruits, 0f'1917, while French recruits of that year, as far as we know, arc still under training. But the broad position admits of no dispute. France has played her great and noble part in the war at such a cost that she is now only one degree better off than Germany, if better off at all, in the vital matter of the exhaustion of her reserves of men. Her sacrifice, happily, has not'been made in vain. The British Army in the main theatre has grown until.now it represents a tremendous addition to the strength, of France, and Russia also has contri-. buted a body of reinforcements which remain as yet in reserve.; There, at the moment, matters stand, but it seems self-evident that the next great development of the war must be one which will shift to the shoulders of her Allies a greater share of the military burden France has borne, and is bearing to-day, at Verdun.

The only obvious way to discharge this duty is to open such a general attack upon the enemy as is now being predicted. Britain, Russia, and Italy could doubtless afford to continue a delaying war, confident in their own rising power while that of the enemy steadily declines. It may even be that such a policy would most surely lead them to decisive victory. But France has not the same margin to work upon as her Allies, and since she is still the second greatest partner of the Alliance where land force is concerned, her condition is bound to carry great weight in regard to the- adoption of a policy. Should the Allies presently open the general offensive which is now .said in various quarters to be imminent, it will not necessarily follow that they hope to drive through to final'victory this year. But at the least it seems absolutely necessary that they should go far enough to finally disable Germany from ever again imposing such pressure on France as that country bore in the early days of the war and is still hearing at Verdun.- A readjustment of military burdens between tho Allies seems to be 'the minimum demand of the situation reached.

At the moment of writing no very startling development is reported ini the Eastern theatre. The fate of the Austrian army which is so dangerously threatened in Bukowina has yet to be determined. In Bukowina and at different the front extending north cia and Southern Russia, the' Russians have gained some ground, and they are adding to then- haul of prisoners. But'the progress of the campaign is no longer to be mcas-

11 red by such details as reports i hand contain. By their victorious drive the llussia-ns have not om.

ready won important success, but have paved the way for further damaging attack upon the enemy. The gain of a mile or two of ground here and there along the front matters very little except as it bears upon the more extended movements in prospect. The core of the news meantime is that the Russian offensive is far from having expended its force, and is being methodically developed, and the question to bo determined presently is whether the enemy is capable of maintaining his ground ahead of the great railway junctions which bolster up the front on which he has retired. Kovel, some fifty miles north of the Gajician frontier, and Lcmberg, a hundred , miles further south, in the centre of the Galician railway _ system, are the chief of these junctions. If the Austro-Germans arc unable to hold these railway centres the defeat involved will be even moro damaging than the ono they have already suffered under the onslaught of General Brusiloff's armies.

Whether the Russians arc capable of developing their success in this manner in the near future remains to be seen, but the outlook is Apart from, its immediate effect, the shattering defeat inflicted upon the enemy in Bukowina clears a- stage of the journey towards Lembcrg from the south, and in Southern Russia Kovel is closely threatened. It promises well also that the Germans seem to be as far as ever from creating an effective diversion on the northern front, in the Baltic Provinces. A message, by way of Paris, stating that an attempted offensive by von Hindenburg in this region was sanguinarily repulsed, seems to dispose satisfactorily of some detail claims raado by tlto enemy. It is a thing to be kept in mind that the great enterprise in which the Russians are engaged on their, southern front is a comparatively open struggle for the railway junctions named and ' the country by which they are surrounded. Though he has remedied to an extent the demoralisation into which he was thrown by the first vigour of the Russian onslaught, the ensajy is no longer in "the position of resting on a strong defensive frontunder the conditions of siege-war-fare which rule as yet in the Western theatre. The. conditions existing are rather those of a widely extended manoeuvre battle in which the weight and impetus of attacking armies will tell with full and effect. The prospects- of the Russians are good, but if, at worst, the enemy succeeds in checking their advance for' a time- the effect will none tlie less bo felt in other theatres. Nothing but superior force actively employed will avail to hold the Russians, and thisin itself means that the enemy plans have been very completely upset.

Dutch message states that the Kaiser is at Brussels awaiting a big military event, but at the moment quiet conditions are reported on the British front. Further heavy attacks have been made by the Germans at Verdun both east and west of the Mouse, but in every case they were decisively repulsed. Similar fortune attended enemy attacks on the Aisne front, in the neighbourhood of Reims.

In the Italian theatre conditions seem to be steadily improving. On' the Trontino front the Italians have captured a strong position, while at other points the Austrians are still wasting their strength in fruitless 'assaults.