PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2884, 23 September 1916, Page 8

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

The lato events of the war havo been of a character to command attention in their immediate aspect, and for their own sake, but the aggregate effect of events-and tho extent to which they throw light upon the general situation reached should not be overlooked. To follow on the map and. otherwise, as far- as available information • will permit, the progress of the various campaigns during the last lew months is merely' to learn that the fortified lines of the Teutonic Powers have hero and there been driven in, that their resources have . be*.! subjected to a ruinously heavy drain and show signs of failing, and so forth. . This, however, is only tho Erst step towards an understanding of the position reached in the war and of the significance of events- inthe present phase: Even to those who only see a battle in this or thatcampaign as an isolated event, it must be pretty obvious that the war is going steadily against the Central Powers, and that their defeat, short of some unforeseen development, is only a matter of time. But if tho position is examined' in a more comprehensive way much moro definite grounds will be discovered for confidence, and for a belief that the enemy is reduced to desperate straits,, than .a' general realisation that it is now the turn of the Entente armies to win battles and gather -in-large numbers.of-prison-ers;. The-defeats--suffered, this-year-by the Central- Empires of course, bear witness to their failing powers,but an even more striking' indication of ' the' "straits to which ; theyare reduced is to be' found in- the policy they are pursuing and w which they aro adhering obstinately in spite of- defeat. It is certainty the most definite and most arresting fact of the war to-day that the Germans and their allies are adhering to' strategic plans'which' make directly against the realisation of whatever hopes they may entertain of escaping overwhelming disaster. * . .* # ■ # That this is an accurate statement of the position will not be disputed, by anyone who looks squarely at the facts. The Central Powers, so far as large, enterprises are concerned, 'are now everywhere upon the.. defensive, and. their. inferiorit}', not in.one theatre, but in.,all. theatres, is. ..definitely ' established.' j. hey. have suffered. already, a series of disastrous defeats .and- niusfc ex- : pect the'- list of. .their,.'-defeats., to .be -extended as-tho war-.continues.--.Set-; tihg:.aside the,;,fact"that';..-they '.aro-. visibly threatened; with.- flar.-greater■' disasters^than they have. : already suffered, it is plain that their nest hope, indeed their only hope, is to spin out the war with a .view to tiring out the Allies and'inducing tnem to accept an inconclusive peace. The only hope remaining to tho Teutonic League, and • happily even this is most unlikely to be realised, is that the Allies may tire of the war or become a proy to political dissensions and lose that strong spirit of unanimity which is now their mainstay. It is clear beyond all doubt or question that if tne Teutons retain any, expectation of realising this last dubious hope their policy is to make economy their watchword and conserve' their remaining military resources in every possible way. ' It is equally clear that their actual policy.is'directly opposed to one of economy— that in fact.they are pursuing a policy calculated to bring the war to the speediest possible decision by test of battle. -* # '. '■ ■* ■ # The madness of the attempt the Central Empires aro making to fight a defensive .war on the lines of invasion reached in tho height of their power is already fully apparent._ The attempt in any case was as little calculated as possible to enable them to lengthen out the war, but in actual experience anticipations that could have been based oh the mere magnitude of the enemy's task have already been f ar exceeded. With nothing more to gain or hope for by action than tho continued preservation of their Jines, and with the depletion of "their -reserves in sight, the Germans are squandering lives as if they had tho world to gain and unlimited resources to draw upon. Within tho last day or two they have sacrificed many thousands of men in a vain attempt to better their position north of tho Somme and a similar event is reported in the Eastern theatre, where Gorman or AustroGerman troops failed completely in an .effort to drive'back the Russians on one of the main approaches to Kovel. . These arc the latest examples of the fact, already well attested, that the Central Empires are not only headed for ruin and disaster, but are approaching their tate by the most direct route. No other, reading of ,the facts is pos-. sible. The lines of the Austro-Gcr-mans in both main theatres are bound sooner or later to collapse, and, further perils are rising in the Austro-Italian campaign and in the. Balkans. The "wild-boar assaults," as they are called in a French message to-day, are producing no result save' that of hastening the inevitable end. ' Germany obviously has departed as far as possible from the only conditions making a prolonged dclonsive feasible and practicable and the dominating fact of tho war today is that in the immediate shadow of disaster she shows no sign r f holding back in her headlong career to ruin. It is stating the facts mildly to say that tho enemy lines in east and west arc cracking and straining under the Allied assaults, but there is no sign of an enemy retreat at any point. Except in Transylvania there has been no voluntary retirement by the AustroGermans. Practically every foot of ground won by the Allies has been desperately contested,, and.itens of thousands, of lives have been sacri-. heed in. attempts to win back lost

territory. To suppose that tho military chiefs of the enemy arc voluntarily continuing the war under theso conditions would be absurd.. An explanation of their suicidal policy must be sought in part, no doubt very largely, in the consideration that tho giving up of territory would be regarded by lbe German public as proof of defeat, and so would fatally undermine tne lighting power of tlie nation. It is likely also that the purely military problems of retreat loom ly this .time very, formidably. In the Eastern theatre the Russiaus aro not only superior to the AustroGcrmans in massed fighting power, but are particularly strong in mobile forces which might very well convert an enemy retreat into a "disastrous rout.. The German armies in the Western' theatre arc terribly handicapped by the conditions in which their defensive has' been established. In their fortified lines, backed and supported by massed artillery, much of it of heavy calibre, they are exceedingly formidable. Retreating, they would in the first instance sacrifice a vast amount of material, and tho- conditions ot manoeuvre battle involved would tend to nullify; some oh the factors' which now constitute their greatest strength. Germany is visibly throwing away whatever opportunities' she may once have had of conducting a prolonged defensive in the hope of tring out tho Allies, and the spectacle is in some respects as amazing as it is encouraging, but it may ultimately appear that she was and is debarred by both' political and military' considerationsfrom adopting a war pojicy which would havo enabled her to - make, more provident use of her resources. There is good news, which no. doubt is an. earnest of still better to follow,', from ..the : Balkans.- An of--ucial message shows that the Russo-R-umanians have broken the enemy offensive in the Dobruja (south-cast-' em .Rumania.) in a great battle which lasted for six days, beginning on September 15. The Allies are now. driving the enemy in retreat. At the least this Should mean that the enemy's, main effort •to anticipate and. upset the development of the Allied'offensive in the Balkans has finally failed. Ifc'may mean in that- the-Allies. are on the (immediate eve. of, closing in upou Bulgaria.in full power. They are not' likely to''press the' offensive, in one quartet ■ 'and remain'- -inactive elsewhere. -At-tho-,moment -of -writ- : ing, howeyei* there is no word, of any important development along the Greek '-frontier, though ' some further fighting .is reported.'.— . At time of writing no definite development is reported in tlie battle for Trieste, but the Italians have ex ; tended their -advance at one point in the .strongly-defended country north of Gorizia. Santa Oaterina, hear which a new position has been captured, stands east of "the Isonzo, about a mile a half north of. Gorizia. It is a crest about a thousand feet high, fronting the great mountain stronghold of San Gabrielle. d • • 0 Bad weather still reigns on the Somme, and at the,- moment ■■ no;bjg event is reported, -"but - ; additional light is cast upon the disastrous Counter-attacks made by the Germans on the French positions north :of the Somme. Five enemy divisions, it is>;stateck/ were-;detailecHor '.this forlorn-nope,■*• an'd 'while'- the'clivisions were shattered and suffered fearful losses, no permanent impression was made on the French positions. It was' pointed 'out., the other day that Germany could only find forces for the Somme battle by withdrawing them from other sections of. the line,, and..this is .home out by. the. .French, official' statement' that of,the-troops launched against the French line,-an army-corps (two 'divisions) had been withdrawn from the Aisne front, while another division was recalled after it had been entrained for the Russian front. * * « * News concerning Greece is interesting, and would bo even more so but. for the fact that "much of .it. whiqh has come through recently is obviously founded on imagination. It is impossible, for instance, to reconcile some' of the transmitted in regard to the surrender of a Greek force at Kavala. One message declared that Hing Constantine had congratulated'the,- commander of the surrendered army corps—which by the way is now said 'to have consisted .of-five thousand men-'-and hard on. the heels of-this it was announced that-the' Greek .Government, admittedly man, had addressed a firmly worded Note to Germany demanding the "immediate return of the army 'corps. "Equally glaring inconsistencies have appeared in other reports and it would probably be "a waste of time to try. to piece together the latest messages into a connected record of events. There is a certain amount of promise, however, in indications that the flames of revolution arc spreading, and that King Constantine's seat upon the throne is becoming precarious. These things possibly imply that a somewhat happier future is in store for Greece than she would be likely to attain if the Prussian Court of Constantine retained command of the situation to the end'of the chapter. M. Venizelos may havo a; stronger hand to. play than some recent events havo suggested. It will be noticed that the Cretans are well to the. fore in the revolutionary movement, and the fact may be of happy augury, it was in Crete that M. Venizelos first came into prominence as a popular leader, at the time when the Christian population of the. island was assertiug its right to.bo Treed from tho last vestiges of the Turkish yoke and united with Greece. ...