PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2810, 30 June 1916, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

The keynote of the war situation is struck by the Paris Matin in tho statement that tho public must now watch • tho general aspect and judge each detail, in relation to tho wholo. This, in its total effect, bears witness to the interest and expectation with which the next big move in the war is being awaited in tho Allied capitals, but it is also an addition to the significant hints lately given in semi-official messages in regard to possible developments at Verdun. Whatever the future may hold, it is clear that Verdun for_ the time retains an unrivalled claim to be regarded as the. stormcentre of the war. Furthermore, there seems to bo little doubt that the public mind, particularly in France, is being prepared to accept philosophically a further development in the German offensive on the Mouse, perhaps to accept a material development in the offensive unhindered for the timo by any action on tho part of the Allies in the nature of diversion powerful enough to compel tho Germans to desist from the enterprise upon which they have staked and lost so heavily.

At the moment the leading facts in sight are that there is a lull at Verdun which certainly will not last unless the Germans are so assaulted elsewhere as to be disabled from continuing the attack: In the absence of any such intervention, tho Verdun battle may be resumed at any time in redoubled fury. Meanwhile there is no definite promise of early action by the British Army. We now a little more than wc have known hitherto about the bombardment and raiding to which, the cnomy has been subjected in his positions facing tho British lines. The tactics pursued seem likely to bo splendidly effective both in causing material loss and damage to the enemy and in weakening the fibre of his troops, but there is a considerable margin dividing such efforts as the British Army lias recently put forth from a full-powered offensive. The policy of actively harassing the enemy by a combination of bombardment and widely extended raiding constitutes a_ somewhat novel departure, and it is quite possibly intended to pursue and develop these tactics for some considerable time as a preliminary to action on a larger scale. **■ * *

Unless matters take an unforeseen turn, a renewal of,the battle at Verdun must bo expected with little delay, and the serai-official and other hints which have been mentioned . suggest in fact that the Allies will accept a renewal of the battlo without attempting to create a diversion. Such a statement as the Matin has made about judging each detail in relation to the general war aspect may take on a clearer meaning presently. It is not impossible that the public may bo invited before long to accept a retirement of the French lines on tho Meuso as a detail not inconsistent with the methodical development of the plan to which the Allies are working. Reasons for supposing that tho Allies may deliberately elect to carry the battle of Verdun to its utmost limits before taking the offensive have been often touched upon. The fact that the German losses, on tho whole, have been very much heavier than those of the defending army—some authorities declare that they have beep in the ratio of three to one—in itself warrants the Allies in continuing the battle on ifa present lines as long as possible.

A limit to the policy of gradually conceding territory for the sake of bleeding the enemy in lives and material will no doubt be set when his advance threatens to assume strategic importance. This it has hardly done as yet. Thus far tho Germans have nothing better to show for their appalling sacrifice of life and prodigal expenditure of material than the occupation of a shambles—a shambles thickly carpeted with their own dead. To that may be added that tho conception of Verdun as a fortress to be captured or maintained, with decisive effect one way or tho other, is a myth lacking any foundation in reality. It is nono tho less, truo

that if it were allowed to develop far enough the German assault would lose its present character and become an actual and formidable threat to the stability of the Allied line. Verdun is the northern flank of the line of French defences, extending to the south and facing Lorraine, which witnessed some of the most critical fighting of the early days of the war. The maintenance of this line is vital, and though it may be part of tho Allies' plan to yield further ground at Verdun, they will doubtless chango their tactics in good time to safeguard the eastern frontier defences upon which General Jofi'ke relied as a sure shield in the days when the fate of Franco, and the fate of Europe, trembled in the balance.

The present position on the Meusc is in some respects peculiar. West of the river tho French 'are still holding what must bo regarded as advanced positions. Hill 304 has been frequently spoken of as a key position in this area, but it is in fact a vital clement only in a lino of advanced positions standing several miles to the north of a rnoro powerful defensive lino in rear—tho lino of the Charny Ridge. Tho latter sweeps west and south from tho river at Charny, on the west bank, almost directly opposite Floury, the point to which tho Germans have penetrated' east of tho river. Fleury is about three miles east of the Mouse, and as yet it is the point of a German wedge, but tho German operations east of the river, apart from their immediate effect, threaten to outflank the French positions on the opposite side—not only thoso at present occupied, but the much mote important Charny Ridge as well. }

If on tho one hand the Battle of Verdun is likely to continue on its past lines for a time it is certain that it cannot continue on these lines indefinitely. The Allies may not contemplate an immediate offensive blow, but it docs not seem possible in any case that such, a blow should be very long withheld. At the momont conditions at Verdun presumably afford a reason for delaying offensive action- which would second that of tho Russians in the other main theatre, but in such a defensive battle as the French are fighting there comes a turning-point and it may not be long before conditions at Verdun, as elsewhere, prescribe a change from present methods to a policy of violent aggression,

« * * * A?f excellent account is given in a message appearing to-day of the nature and effect of the bombardment which the British batteries have opened on the enemy front. The |»le of devastation wrought in and behind the enemy lines, with such impressive details as the total obliteration of a village and tho i wood in which it nestled, speaks for itself. But the significance of such a bombardment, apart from its present tremendous effect, cannot be too strongly emphasised. That the Allies possess a great superiority in man-power in the Western theatre is known, and well - established. Much less is, or has_ been, known about the relative position in artillery, and in some quarters doubts havo boen expressed as to whether the Allies are yet fit to cope with the enemy in the- factor of heavy artillery. Now and then a stray detail has cropped up, as in the recent report that British heavy guns are being used in Ilussia, which has seemed to warrant a more hopeful estimate of the position. But much the most positive evidence on the subject to date is afforded in the immensely powerful and methodically destructive bombardment of the German lines and billets opposite the British front. Theorists have stated that as their man-power fails, the Central Empires will continue to indefinitely maintain their lines by an increasing dependence upon artillery. This theory has been rudely upset in one way in Russta. It is now being disturbed in an equally impressive fashion in Northern Franco and Flanders. The enemy reply to the British bombardment has thus far been slight and ineffective. Here, at least, instead of making increasing use of artillery and economising in men, the Germans are condemned to endure the results of that policy actively and energetically pursued by their enemies. Though'it lacks meantime the concentration of the German artillery attack on Verdun, the British bombardment is a much more impressive evidence of power. It implies that the Allies are well provided with artillery and ammunition against the day of reckoning, and the event may prove that the work the British guns are now doing represents a vastly more- profitable expenditure of material than the concentrated shelling of the narrowVerdun front by the German batteries.

News from Russia- is meagre at time of writing, but in the main satisfactory. An enemy assault on the northern front, made it is stated in great force, has been decisively repulsed. As to the other extremity of their front, in Bukawina, the Russians report that they are steadily overcoming engineering difficulties—notably in the construction of bridges—which the enemy is doing his best to intensify. The fact that the Russians arc at many points advancing through a land of rivers goes far to account for the slowing of the offensive in areas where the cnenry resistance, as far as is known, is very much less powerful than in the Rovcl sector, into which the enemy seems to have thrown the bulk of his reserve force available for the southern front. A distinction must of course be drawn between the movements of the Cossacks, who frequently swim rivers and contrive to surmount all sorts of obstacles, and those of tho main body which is limited in its progress uy the noccs-. sity of maintaining a dependable and adequate system of supply. Save for a report that a few hundred Austrians have been interned in Rumania there have been no further references during the last day or two to the Austrian force which was reported to bo enclosed between the Russians and the Rumanian frontier. It is possible that this force contrived to cut through the cordon and effect a retreat.

Beports from Italy arc unscnsational. The Austrian retreat has slowed, as it was expected to do, but the Italians are still making some headway. Additional accounts of the recent operations seem to largely confute the Austrian claims to an undisturbed rotrcafc. * * * a

France, in tho general matter of reprisals, has taken an admirable stand. Eeplying to a German howl of protest agninst the aerial bombardment of Karlsruhe, in reprisal for attacks on French open towns, she announces that henceforth sho

will regulate her conduct by that of her adversaries. Russia is acting on similar lines, and it is hoped that Britain will unreservedly adopt the same policy.