PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3056, 18 April 1917, Page 6

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

A lull is reported on the British front in' France', but the ' French have taken up the lunning with an attack on a front of 26, miles, along the Aisnc, and it Has achieved pronounced initial success. N Early re-, ports as yet in hand state that tho whole of the German front line within the battle area has been mastered, and that more than ten thousand prisoners and a great quantity -of material have been captured. There is every. indication that the French have struck a splendidly effective blow, and doubtless'it. will be speedily followed , up. Against some expectations lately entertained, our Allies have (launched their offensive on the, western section of the Aisne front, and not in the Eastern' Champagne. The line selected for attack extends in the first instance along the Craonne plateau from a point about five miles east of Sois-j sons to Craonne. This'is a distance of : 16 miles, and Craonne stands at J the eastern end of tho plateau vto j .which it gives its name." .From | Craonne the line runs cast-south-east to the Aisne, just east of Berry-au-Bac, and continues south-east through the low country, broken by occasional heights, which lies be-. tween the Aisne.and Reims. Reims stands about ten miles south of the 'Aisne, and some. of. the fighting reported to-day occurred ■ about midway between the city and the river. The whole extent of front covered is a good deal more than 25 miles long, but evidently the French, attack was not continuous along the_ whole distance. The main attack is a northward drive into the flank/of the line from Artois to the Aisne which in one section or another has witnessed continuous battle for weeks past. In the area between the Aisne and Reims, where they have advanced their line to the outskirts of Ber->| miercourt, the French are working round the northern flank of the heights of Briraont, an elevated position of no great area standing about 9000 yards north of Reims.

The offensive has opened brilliantly- and promises to develop oh a great scale. As reports stand, the Germans' have lost only their first line, but the number of prisoners taken bears'witness to the -magnitude of their defeat.' t The outlook is so much the better since the enemy had effected" a-very heavy concentration of men and,guns in anticipation .of attack. Violpnt counterattacks at Ville-aux-Bois (midway between Gramme and the Aisne at Berry-au-Bac) indicate that he was well- prepared, but their failure in-tensifies-his'defeat. Between the French and British operations the Allied offensive has now developed on a very great scale, but there is no reason to suppose that it has reached its limits so far, as length of front to be attacked is concerned. The Eastern Champagne still holds useful possibilities from the Allied point of view, and a stir of activity in Alsace conveys a reminder that, an offensive stroke in that quarter is not by any means an impossibility.

Bad weather appears to be chiefly responsible for the slackening in operations on the-'British front, and no doubt as soon as the weather improves the offensive will be resumed in full vigour. As regards Lens,' though an advance into its outskirts was reported two days ago, news of the complete oapture of the town has yet to arrive. Its fate is not in doubt, and the evident explanation of the delay is that the British have set themeslves to reduce the place at a minimum sacrifice of life. The Germans are 'doing their best to make capittil out of a, check inflicted upon the Australians at and near Lagnicourt, north of the highroad which runs from Bapaum'e to Oambrai. Allied reports, mako it clear, however, that the check was momentary, that it was speedily retrieved, and that as a whole the operations in which this untoward incident had a place summed up for the Germans as a costly failure. The struggle for Lagnicourt and its

temporary recovery by the Germans occurred in connection with the counter-attack, on a front of 'six miles north and south' of the Bapaume-Cambrai Road, in which the Germans made a big attempt to stop the Allied advance. It is stated to-day that the enemy employed four divisions in this adventure, which, as has been said, ended in cmplete failure. Lagnicoiirt is indicated in most of the reports as the storm-centre of the battle, but a'fierce-, struggle was waged aloftg the front as far north as Riencourt. (three miles north of Lagnicourt), where, according to Captain Bean, the' Australians at their maximum advance were two thousand yards beyond the Hindenburg line. Apparently they had outpaced the general advance, and when a sudden snowstorm deprived them of the benefits of aerial observation and artillery co-operatioh they were taken at a serious disadvantage, 'and paid .the penalty. The German official report stops at this point, but, doing so, leaves the story only partly told. The Australians were reinforced, and returning to the attack' after a brief interval, not only recovered Lagnicourt but took such toll of the enemy as seems to have much more than balanced their own losses. In particular they' thrust back the Prussian Guards upon their own entanglements, and shot them down in hundreds.

The Austrian Government has issued a statement.which, according to a Reuter message, suggests that the Dual Monarchy is reaching the end of its tether, and is seeking a separate peace with Russia. As it is set out, however, the statement invites .Russia to conclude a separate peace with the Central Empires.' In making the proposal, Austria has put her own interpretation upon the proclamation issued by the Russian Government on April 10, in which it stated, amongst other thing's, that "Free 'Russia does not aim at dominating other nations or occupying foreign territories. It does not desire to subjugate or humiliate any one. But it will not allow the Fatherland to. emerge.; fi'om the great struggle humiliated and weakened." The Austrian Government ■ assumes, or protends to assume, that this means that Russia' is 'prepared 1 to • abandon to their fate the Poles oi German Poland and Galicia, and her Slav kinsmen. living_ under Hapsburg rule. No concessions are 'offered, but it is suggested that since Russia has stated that she is only fighting in .defence of the freedom of her own people, she is no longer compelled to fight. The annexation of foreign territory is one thing and the liberation of the Poles and pi the other Slav .peoples of the Dual Monarchy is a very different thing. It is to be hoped that the distinction' will be clearly apparent to all save an inconsiderable minority of fanatics in Russia. If it is, tliis alone should ensure a contemptuous'.rejection of the Austrian proposal. There are in any case /no grounds. for'doubting that Russia will be loyal to her Allies, and will resolutely refuse to consider a separate peace. Even M. Kkrensky, the member of the Provisional Government who has gone_ furthest with the extremists, has 1 said that if the enemies of the Entente hope to conclude a-separate peace with Russia they will be bitterly disappointed. 'Whether the. enemy proposal will have the effect of intensifying in-i ternal dissensions in Russia remains to be seen. It was no doubt advanced in the hope of producing tliat'result.