PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2818, 8 July 1916, Page 8

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

It is sometimes necessary to heavily discount utterances attributed to' the high, commanders of 'the Allied armies. As a hody they are strictly . reticent, - and ' at' one. time and .another statements have been ■-lisseminated -as ■ coming from them

to which they would no doubt be loth to set their names. But no such reservation as is here implied is called for in 'considering the message sent by General Joitre to the Verdun army. Apart from its commendation of the heroes to whom it it addressed, this notable document embodies a considered statement of the position • reached in the warmade by one wl:ci is in the best possible position to speak on tho subject with authority. General Joffre tells the soldiers of Verdun that, thanks to th-jir heroic resistance, the plans ripened in the councils of l-«jo Coalition are now in-full-swing, and" further that the Verdun resistance, has creased in. the whole theatre of the European war a; situation from which to morrow a definite triumph for ike Allies will result. Tho morrow of which' General Joffre speaks may not dawn -yet awhile, but, coming from a com,'mandcr whose habitual attitude is on-.! of caution and studied reserve, such, words great, deal. Evidently 'Gener'm.. Joffre-. is under no apprehension ttat the Germans may yet in some unexplained fashion mend .their brnxe.i fortunes at Verdun. Neither does he fear that the ultimate victory of the Allies will be incomplete or unworthy of the sacrifices they have made and are making to attain it.

Though there is some interesting detail news .. 'from' the various theatres, the broiil aspect of tho war is not changed by reports- thus far received. . .It lemains the essential Jact : that tlic press-ure of Allied attacks is mounting in a fashion with which the''cile'i'ay- hil's riot'yet shown himself capable of 'coping:'- Particularly i.w>. main: theatres the .Allied, offensive i'- -day by day-assum-ing (more formidable importance, and the- hurricane effort the Central Empires mifst' -jf ut .forth unless they ■are content' to ;be '.'methodically crushed, to death has-.not so far taken shape, We haye'hcard a great deal lately about, tho. necessity of keeping a cautious guard"upon expectations,•' a'nd : this,' no doubt, is wise. But.it.voiild.bd blinking at facts not to i'.c,:('ignise-that' the 'Allied plans are developing with splendid promise. This is best realised by harking back orer a jjeriod of about six Avecks and-cciiiparing the outlook then with that of-to-day; :.Six weeks ;agpvthe- event' of the -momenfiwas the Austrian 'offen.-uvo from; the Trentino,: then a. threat and a peril of uncertain--proportions.''.-.The Allies were .practi'cai-!y'-.a-t.va-.-'staiii'dstill in the two :inain theatres;., and- it was a matter .of .-gravi .discussion whether the Russians .were likely to be able to maintain their line against an anticipated German offensive. A feeling-widely- held . was -pithily 'expressed in l one London- newspaper in the sentence: "If Russia holds, all's well." In the interval of six weeks : Allied -enterprise has transformed the whole situation. Instead of merely holding up against attack, Russia,, has herself-attacked, with the magnificent success .that is known. The Austrian offensive has collapsed in dismal failure, and the Italians have resumed their dogged hammering at tho mountain frontier which for the time bars , their invasion. Latterly the Western Allies have set their frrccs in motion with results already.marked,. and likely ! to-'be materially better in the near future. These ; six weeks, a fatal time..for Germany and her allies, witnessed also the naval battle off Jutland, .which; definitely-'made an end of_ German- pratgris'ions' to ■ contestf wi'th./Alliod ■ sea-ppw6r'Jin; the ! incapable of" evert'attempting .any iim.porten.ti rs 'the Baltic. Developments iri'arid-around the minor, theatre also promise well in the main. It is always well to be cautions andto keep a rein on optimism, but this r.wd not hinder us from recogni'sl.ig that in the past six weeks the Germanic combination has passed from one disaster to another, while . coincid&ntly the ' prospects of the Allies have so opened out that they are now developing their concerted offensive under far more promising conditions than seemed possible or attainable six weeks ago. • » -.« - * ■.#

Tremendous developments are astir in the Eastern -theatre. According to a message just received, the Russians have opened a new offensive in their centre, north of the Pripct marshes, in which already results of magnitude have been achieved. The indicated front, from positions facing Baranovitchi junction, to east of Yilna, is approximately !a. hundi-ed.miles 'long,, and. faces the.East Prussian'frontier at a distance of-about 140- miles. By a storm of bombardment to : which it is said 'the enemy : made- the. feeblest reply, the. Russians have demolished the German'front trenches along: the northern front, of the- line,', and thousands of piisoners - have .been taken. .From such a • beginning great things are to be expected. This new demonstration of Russian' power is more impressive in view of the state of affairs elsewhere on the Eastern front. For weeks the Austro-Germans have been stricing desperatelyto curb the rising power 'of the Russian armies by a concentrated, thiust in the area between Kovel and Lusk, in. Southern Russia. Evidence that their effort was too feeble was already afforded in. the continued tide of Russian' successes in Galicia, to which some notable additions are reported . today. The same -fact is doubly emphasised now, .with the opening of the Russian efcsive in the'north. The report so tar received telling of this development is .not official, nut there is no reason, to doubt its substantial accuracy. Another message the Russian General Staff estimate •the Austrian losses during the past month at half a million men. This may easily oe v-ithin the mark. Since their offensive opened the Russians'have taken something like a quarter of a-million prisoners, of whom a great proportion are Austrians. ;

On the .Somme the Germans have used strong force* in an attempt to improve the position which has bean turned so decidedly against' them, and have not'succeeded.' That is the gist of the news regarding the heavy counter-attacks directed against the . northern and southern extremities if the French scction of the line. Considerable additional gains by, the Frinch were reporki. inflate news yesterday.. At time r>S writing, no addition to ' i> area of occupation is reported* both, the British and .:the Freiivj have gained soms ground, and tnuii guns and aeroplanes are doing dative work. In looking at the petitions of the Allies on the Somme, it sh.onld bp remembered that thougn they ha,vo J ihvust a wedge_ into the enemy line, th<sir position is largely free from the disabilities that normally attend'-a ■frfint'm this shape. Ordinarily, a'wedge , is exposed to concentrated' Scta'cf. but on .the northern side of..their-, -wedgo on the Rnmmo. the Allies occupy positions

effectively dominating an extensive area of the marshy valley of theriver. On the southern face of the wedge matters are more even, the jihie running along a plateau, but "here the artificial defences mastered by the_ Frea-jh are evidently very strong, it was in this locality that j i-<ic Germans suffered most heavily iii their aboriive counter-attacks.

Some particulars are now being given of British losses in the Somme battle, a'ndibis evident : that in; cases they- were terribly severe. No"thing can take the sting from news of this kind, hit there is abundant evidence that the Allies are avenging their own losses by levying a very, much Heavier toll upon the enemy. , :i

The retirement of the Russians from Kcrmanshah, in Persia, is not; a matter of ufry great importance. It has all along been recognised that no powerful .Russian force could descend from the Persian tableland into the Mesopoiamian plain, by way of Keniiaushali. because the line of route runs through hundreds of miles of almost trackless country, much of :t mountainous! and emerges (north-east of Bagdad) upon a desert. 'Neither the Russians nor the Turks can throw any heavy force into tjie Persian border mountains. What has happened is simply that a column o) mobile troops' has effected'- a rapid retirement over ground which can be quickly recovered when it is wanted. Turkish assertions that the_ Russians sustained a heavy defeat at Kermanehah, and were put- to flight, are probably _'merci .'inventions. ; • The Russian line, of liattle against .Turkey crosses .Arirtnia, and includes the passes of the Taurus range, debouching on Mesopotamia in the north. On portions of this line ,a single mile of retreat would give more, cause, for concern than/the eighty miles that'have been conceded ''in Persia.

•Reports of rioting in Germany are_ not always to be accepted at their full face value, but i.t js.jdiffircult to believe that the circumstantial reports published to-day of rioting which lias led to armed conflict and some' bl'o'odfhed; - in Berlin and other German > towns, are wholly'■ lacking ill foundation:.■■- •The. state of. affairs. depicted .bears little resemblance to the occasional, disturbances which have -arifcn in' Germany over dissatisfaction; with the food supply.It is. suggested that a section of the German people have-awakened .to the fact that .they are the victims 3-nd dupes of a military gang which is leading them to destruction,' and that the outbursts resulting this state, of mind-havc. attained a violence not, hitherto, witnessed. Just what the. reports are worth it. is difficult to say at the moment, but something of this kind is to be expected' in Germany sooner or' later, and it is not impossible. that they are largely based on fact.