The Dominion WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 1017. THE ITALIAN OFFENSIVE

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3170, 22 August 1917, Page 4

The Dominion WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 1017. THE ITALIAN OFFENSIVE

thxaJXV SSS°V i ' t T'" f tllrnn nnrj7.i. P , P llOlß llaVo f)CCn have bet* 11" Austrian positions alone tU i CQmced on a wide front Carso PL, / Eon2o across the iffi, H aU « t0 - tbo sca " ga iiaij. offensive is in any case a m- ±- P M- ticula4-<y welcome to the, general Allied F® importancefrom the fact that- the recent failure of the Russian armies in Galicia threatens to give the enemy a certain amount of freedom of action in lias tern Europe, and perhiins in some of the minor theatres, of which it is very necessary that he should bo deprived. While tho turn of events in Russia was still uncenain it was remarked by an Italian authority that the operations on the Italian which, to thoso unaccquamted with the situation, have apparently a secondary value, liavo instead, a threefold importance, botli in relation to the Italian and to the Allied fronts. • Jl'S '' rs t place (lip bteiirvecl) tliev immobilise the whole i*J the best troops and Veserves of the tlual Monarchy, a tactor ol importance: they {gradually we&V Uown tho enemy's fi.rces; and they eftiJanger the lreystono of the whole AUicrian resistance in the West ami. in v.ie Balkans, thereby continually namperinjr the military plans of tho Central Empires. Tho fato of Austria fanu, indirectly, that of Germany) and tho issue of tho war in the Balkans Jiang on tho Italian campaign. . Suck is tho tasjc vhith has been entnisted to Italy; not w it loss vital to the ultimate kssue of the struggle, nor less diflicilSC, than that of the Franco-British armies in the Western theatre. Tho offensive now opened affords Practical demonstration .of the fact that Italy is gallantly bearing a much heavier burden than she would have been expected to carry if the plans of the Allies had not been deranged. by the disasters on the Russian front. With ltussia for the time being iacapable of effective aggression, a double task is thrown on Italy in the matter of immobilising what forces the enemy can spare from the Western theatre, and maintaining tho conditions which promise to bring the Central Empires to ultimate defeat. If Russia,, as well as the Western Allies and Italy, had been efficiently organised this year the offensivo which has now opened on tho Isonzo front might have taken an important place in tho final drama of tho war. As matters stand the action of tho Italians is likely to be limited and governed by much the same considerations as apply in tho Western theatre—notably the consideration that as time goes on the power of tho Allies will increaso and that of the enemy diminish— and it is improbable that they will attempt to'win a decisive triumph in the near future. Their offensive nevertheless may bo expectd to produce immediate results of very considerable important;?. There aro already indications that the enemy is hard put to it to assemblo a force which would cnablo him to profit by tho weakness of Russia. His difficulties under this head are very largely due to the fact that tho bulk of the effective troops at Austria's disposal are perforce conccntrated against Italy. Even this concentration has not sufficed to hold Italy in check, and if the offensivo bears out its promise the enemy may presently find that further heavy reinforcements arc essential if disaster is to bo averted on the Italian front. Faced as they aro by a tremendously strong enemy concentration the Italians are yet in a fair way to attract still further enemy forces to thcir_ front, and so, _ in loyal co-operation with their Allies, are doing not a little to cripple whatever aggressive action tho enemy may contemplate against Russia, or in tho Balkans or other secondary theatres. No one acquainted with Italy's record sinco she entered the war will doubt her ability to give a good account of herself in the critical days that lio immediately ahead. That the magnitude and formidable character of her offensive campaign against Austria, and her efforts in other fields, are only now beginning to receive the applauso they deserve is mainly due to tho fact that she has been making headway during tho last two years against difficulties which would have daunted a less resolute, nation. Terribly handicapped as she was when she entered tho war by tho weakness of her northern frontier, Italy developed her main campaign from the outset with splendid courago and determination. Both in strengthening her northern frontier and 111 developing her offensive on the Isonzo she has had to overconio the almost insuperablo natural obstacles of Alpino country as well as the opposition of a powerful enemy, but, with tho exception of their abortive Trcntino offensivo last year, the Austrians have been thrown on the defensive ever since Italy entered the war. In meeting the Italian onset the Dual Monarchy has had to oxort all its force, and the effect upon tho war has

| boon far-reaching. An Euglisli military writer remarked rccuutly that undoubtedly the intervention of Italy in May, 1915, , made all tho diiCcrence in the great enemy effort to force a decision in tho East then just launched. At least half a million more Germans had to be employed in Russia than would otherwise have been sent there. Not only was this the esse, ho adds, but the absence. of that half-million men :, 10 . n l West when the French and British attacked in the autumn of 1915 was the very circumstance which rendered the groat effort in the East abortive. "And," concludes the correspondent, "it would havo made all the difference at Verdun had Germany had at disposal those half-million men engulfed in tho Russian swamps." Exercising from tho time of her entry into the struggle a potent influence upon the general trend of tho War, Italy in her main campaign has cut deeply into the mighty range of lull _ ana _ mountain strongholds in which the enemy hoped to stand linn against all possible assaults. One very important fact emphasised by an authority who has already been quoted is that Italy has not limited her activities to her own immediate fronts, but has adopted without refiel've the principle of unity Sf front and unity oi aim laid Sown in tho various conferees held by tho Allies in Rome, and elsewhere. Her aiTities have done effective work in Albania and Macedonia, and at the same time she has received important aid from her Allies. Evidenco on the point appears in the part played by British heavy artillery in the last Italian offensive and in the great, battle which is now in progress Tho circumstances in which t)% present offensive has opened, and the likelihood that it will assist in a most important degree to immobiliso tho armies of tho Central Empires and hasten their defeat, give new force to the claim that the place and timo of each Italian offensivo have been carefully chosen so as to fit in with the operations on all fronts, and to afford the best results for the common cause.