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PROGRESS OF THE WAR

It is raado plainer than ever today that the situation in the Italian theatre is critical,, but tho disasters of the. moment have produced at least one very promising 'development. This is tho establishment of an Allied Military Staff which henceforth will treat the whole front from the Channel to the Adriatic .as ope front. The misfo)/ tunes of Italy have thus compelled a departure which _ might wisely have I>een taken earlier and without this compulsion. As compared with the conditions which obtained in the early stages of tho war, the Allies had made great strides_ towards unity of command, with'its accompaniments of co-ordination of efforts and pooling of resources, but the action now taken in itself indicates that much remained to bo done in this direction. Germany has from tho first had a pronounced advantage in the 'matter of unity of command, but this was practically inevitable. In tho Teutonic Alliance one nation, itself an autocracy, completely dominates and imposes its will upon a number of vassals. A measure of co-ordina-tion was thus achieved hardly possible in tho case "of a confederation of free nations. The Allies, however, had already mado considerable progress in voluntary co-operation, and the step now _ taken should greatly extend this co-operation with* benoficial results. ' *** . * News by way of America at the end of last week that a decisive battlo had opened on the Italian | plain '.was premature, but it is evi- | dent that a critical stage has been reached in the retreat. On ' the southern part of the front tho Italian troops have reached and crossed the river Piu-ve, blowing up tho bridges. Susegana, mentioned in tho reports, is a place at which the Piave is crossed by a railway at .a distance of a littlo over thirty miles from tho ooast. From Susegana to the eea tho armies aro facing each other across the Piave. The position further north is not made clear in its details, presumably because tho retreat is incomplete, but a new, though not unexpected, danger has appeared in an enemy attack launched from the south-eastern Trentino and striking at the : Italian rear and communications. From the Trentino bordorland the enemy has advanced and captured the town of Asiago, which, it will be rememTxsred, he' temporarily occupied on the occasion of his sortie from tho Trentino in May last year. It /was, of course, to bo expected _ that tho enemy in his present offensivo would mako use of his advantageous position in the Trentino in an attempt to cut across; the Italian communications and take tho retreating lino in rear. Apart from the fact that Asiago has fallen, no light is cast upon the matter at timo of writing, but the threat from tho Trentino is serious, and, apart from _ other possibilities which it holds, it may conceivably compel tho Italians to make that retreat to the Adigo (a river emerging from tho Southern Trentino), which has been mentioned as a possibility. **' a *

The appointment of General Cadorna to represent Italy on the new combined Staff presumably means that he retains tho confidence of the Italian Government and people. He relinquishes the immediate command of tho Italian armies, but in order to assume duties that should perhaps bo regarded as oven more important and responsible. Cablegrams in hand do not clearly indicate who is to succeed General Cadorna. Two names are cabled as that of the new Commander-in-Ghief—Diaz and Diami—and possibly neither version of tho namo is correct. A well-informed authority rcoently ventured the prediction that if General Cadorna resigned his command ho would probably bo succeeded by the Duke D'Aosta, commander of the Italian Third Army— the army which pained renown in a long series of victorious battles on the Carso Plateau, and is now facing the enomy across the Piavo River. - „ '

At time of writing only brief accounts have come throvjgh of the latest British attack in Flanders, but it has had important results. Attacking under weather conditions which might almost have been sup-posed-to preclude attack, the British troops have mastered a further section of the Passchendaele Ridge, and havo also gained ground in difficult marshy areas furthor west. It is officially stated that these gains, with the exception of a few advanced points, were retained against coun-ter-attacks. An enemy report which gives a totally different account _ oi the battle may therefore bo dismissed as untrue. * * * *

The pith of the news from Euasia to-day is that the loyalists, with tho Cossacks as a nucleus of fighting force and giving free expression also to sane political ideas, are rallying in opposition to the Anarchist uprising in Petrograd. This apart, news in hand at the moment of writing throws little light upon the political outlook and none upon the stato of affairs on the battle-

front, unless an unconhrmed report from Stockholm that a powerful German squadron is anchored off Hclsingfors, tho capital of Finland, is to bo reckoned in this category. As to tho general outlook, however, it will bo notiecd that Ibo .news makes it quite clear that tho Anarchists now arrogating tho powers of government at Petrograd and elsewhere are a minority faction. Fullor information would no doubt emphasise this feature of the situation. What is known of tho fitate of Russia supports, tho view expressed by one correspondent that tho vast majority of the population aro fully prepared to bo loyal to any Government which ensures order. Thus far well-meaning but irrcsoiluto and short-sighted Ministers have extended the samo toleration and latitude to insane fanatics, to Gorman agitators operating practi- | cally without disguise in that character, and to insubordinate soldiers as to honest ■ and loyal citizcns. Such a policy does not so much invite as produce chaos and disaster. Fortunately thoro _ aro some evidences of a revulsion _ and reaction from this state of affairs. Even for some sections of tho population which aro deaf in the ordinary way to reason, there is an education in adversity and suffering. Incidents such as a Morninn Pod correspondent describes' to-day in connection with the capture of Riga—tho merciless punishment by tho aaiser s order of a Russian division which delivorcd up its officers as prisoners —should assist _ the process of recovery. It is evident, however, that to expect a speedy restoration ot order in Russia would bo to invito disappointment.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19171112.2.13

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 41, 12 November 1917, Page 4

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,055

PROGRESS OF THE WAR Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 41, 12 November 1917, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 41, 12 November 1917, Page 4

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