PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2901, 13 October 1916, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Me. Asqtjith's observations on the present aspect of the war are terse and to the point, and will command all the more -attention for thoir guarded tone where coming events are concerned. It was to what the Allies have achieved that Ms. Ascjuith addressed himself, and his remarks, though singularly free from any straining after effect, amount to, a very definite claim that the Allies now hold thoir enemy well in hand. To those who have not followed events, the statement that the enemy's heavy losses on the Sommo front have drained his resources, and that continuous retirement has destroyed tho morale of the German Army, may carry a suggestion of 1 exaggeration. But wo have it on excellent authority that since tho Allied offensive opened at tho beginning of July very nearly half of the total German divisions in the Western theatre have appeared in tuin on the Somme and'have suffered in the process to which Me. Asquitii alludes. It is on this basis that tho magnitude of the Anglo-French achiovemont must be rated, and not by the capture of a few miles of territory, or oven by the character of .the immensely formidable positions which have fallen in succession before the Allied attacks. As all must who go to the root of the matter, Me. Asquitk lays strong emphasis upon tho abandonment of the German attack on Verdun. On this subject an English military writer of some standing recently wrote that it is more than likely "that tho Germanshoped the capture of Verdun would be a long stride towards securing the submission of .France. "Wild though the idea may seem," he adds, "it is hard to oxplain their apparent designs by any- other hypothesis. Their confidence was such that they had made all preparations, by accumulating supplies and perfecting communications, for the resumption of the offensive on the Dwma front. It would seem that they hoped to finish their campaign in France in time to admit of a forward move being made in Russia during the present season. If such were their designs, the abandonment of Verdun meant much more than the failure of their project; it implied the breakdown of their whole plan of war." It is from tho condition of planning great enterprises against the Western Allies, Russia and Italy, that Germany and her allies have been cast down into their present plight, no longer able to hold their vital fronts secure and with defeat only a matter of time ; Whatever happens in Europe during the autumn, and a great deal may happen, the transformation they have effected durin» a few short months marks a wonderful achievement by the Allied armies, and one affording full proof of their ability to ultimately win the decisive victory for which they are fighting. » * ■ * »

Transylvania is at tho moment the one land theatre in which tho enemy is seeking to mend his fortunes by aggressive action, and even here his offensive is in the nature of. a return wave against the Rumanian advance which had previously thrown him back from the strong

defences of the frontier and in many places far beyond them. The news from Transylvania must be Called distinctly good. At time of writing, with the German offensive about a fortnight old, thore is no indication that the Rumanians are hard pressed at any point or in danger of being dislodged from the strong line on which they stand. Their own reports state that they are withdrawing eastward of the Rivers Maros and Alt, but such a retirement leaves them twenty miles west, in some places much more, of tho westward-facing section of their frontier. On another section of the front, in the Temes Valley, about thirty miles north of the Danube, the Rumanians state that they have repulsed the enemy and are pushing forward. If there is any foundation for the uneasiness in regard to Rumania expressed by Sir Edward Carson in the House of Commons, it must be sought elsewhere than in the current' outline of events or in' the general circumstances as far asthey are known. To appearance Rumania is fighting a successful holding campaign in Transylvania, and unlike Serbia at about this time last year, she is not isolated. Besides being assisted by Russian reinforcements in the Dobruja, she is in touch with the Russian main armies on her northern flank and is powerfully seconded also by the Allies in Macedonia. /' ■»***

Striking simultaneously, or nearly so, in the Southern Trentino, and on the southern seotion of the Isonzo front, the._ltalians have won important gains: In the first-mention-ed area they have stormed a network of entrenchments on Mont Pasubio, south-east of Rovereto, and adjacent strong positions, and beyond the Isonzo they have broken the enemy front a mile or two south and a little east of Gorizia, and 'effected important captures of prisoners and material. Tho locality of this achievement is immediately south of the railway which rins from Gorizia to Trieste, And the penetration of the_ Austrian f font in this locality is likely to immediately pave the way for the further development of the Italian offensive. Since Gorizia fell the Italian raovemont against Trieste has made headway chiefly on the rather, narrow front between the River Vippacco, three miles south of Gorizia, and the head of the Adriatic. In their latest success the Italians have done something towards gaining freedom of-movement on a materially extended front in their ; attack upon the defences covering Trieste. Additional reasons are appearing for the recent Austrian assertion that Trieste is comparatively up important. It is becoming increasingly probable that they will have to resign themselves to its loss.

Several reports tell of a rising star of fighting on the Macedonian front. One of them, it will be uoticed, states that the Allies bavo stormed the enemy's first line on the heights westward of Ghevgeli, ibut is to say, westward of the Vanhr. Mostpeople know by. this'time that the Vardar valley, chiefly because' it, is traversed by a railway, is the most important of tho not very numerous military avenues offering thomselves to an Allied advance through the. Balkans. With tho flank movement by way of Monastir still in full blast, though heavily contested by the enemy, an attack in the immediate vicinity of the Vardar carries its own significance-.' At the same time, the British are forging ahead east of the Struma. At Prosenik, and perhaps elsewhere, they are now astride the railway into Eastern Macedonia, by, way of Seres, which the. Bulgars have been defending for weeks. With the conflict developing as at present, it should not bo long before the Allies are throwing their full weight against the Bulgar line. .