PROGRESS OF THE WAR
One message to-day declares that Turkish delegates who have reached Berne to negotiate an exchange ol prisoners brought with them a proposal fromsEsvEß Pasha that lurkey should join the Allies conditionally on tho restoration of those portions of her territory occupied by Britain and Russia. There'are _no means at present of determining whether this is mere rumour or a statement of fact, but the point is not of great importance. No proposal that the inhabitants of Armenia, Mesopotamia, and Palestine should be abandoned to Turkish misrule deserves or is likely to receive a-moment's consideration. The fact that Enver Pasha has always been a pliant instrument of Germany somewhat discredits the report, but the proposal as it stands might almost have been made with Germany s approval. The restoration'of the Ottoman Empire to its pre-war shape would undoubtedly gratify the fan-Germans and. inspire them with new hopes for the future, and as for the proposal that Turkey should join the Allies, if she took that step under Enver Pasha's guidance her adhesion would undoubtedly be nominal. , ■. „.
' Yesterday it was reported that the Germans had asked the Leninites to postpone- peace negotiations until January 24. A message from Amsterdam to-day quotes a preliminary reply to the Russian proposals said to have been made by Count Czeknin (Austro-Hunganan Foreign Minister) on behalf of the Central Powers at a full meeting .of the Russo-German peace delegates. At time of writing this conflict of testimony is not explained in any way. Though'he is reported as having spoken throughout on behalf of the Central Empires, it is possible that Count Czernin madchis statement in opposition to the wishes of his German co-delegates. At all; events, as it stands, it is not calculated to bring the parties to the negotiations any nearer to a settlement. It is apparently framed with tho idea of conveying an impression of concessions which are not in fact offered. In its total effect it is a demand that the Central Powers and their Allies should be allowed to withdraw from the war with their crimes unpunished and without making any, reparation to tho nations whose territory they haveravaged, and that subject races oppressed by Germany, Austria, and Turkey should remain in that condition. Hypocritical 'sympathy is expressed with tho Eussian formula: "No annexations and no indemnities," and Count Czeiinin states that the Central Powers •• did not intend to violently annex the region occupied by them during the war, and had no intention of depriving any nation of its political independence, but tho value of these professions is to be measured not only by tho established facts of the war, but by the evasion of the Russian demand for the speedy evacuation of occupied Russian territory. Tho one really material point. in Count Czeknin's statement is that it em-.
bodies a refusal to satisfy this' demand. „ * * * * . With negotiations still at an indefinite stage, the visible features of the situation lend some colour to the view expressed in one message that Germany is only at a beginning of her difficulties in Russia. The reported action of a committee representing several hundred thousand Austrian and German prisoners in Russia opens interesting possibilities. The enemy's activity in repelling Russian propaganda suggests a likelihood that the attitude- of these prisoners towards their own Governments may be not less hostile than it is represented to be. In that case, the- recovery of the prisoners will hardly present itself to the German and Austrian authorities as an object to be striven for. The situation as a whole is vaguely defined, but both Austria and Germany undoubtedly have reason to fear the demoralising effect of Russian propaganda, conducted through the agency of war prisoners and in other ways. t ' - A REPORT- from America that Germany's concentration on the nest front inchftlcs 'Austrians.is for the time being open to doubt on several grounds. A recent ■ message stated that the enemy is massing-troops on the southern section of the main East front, and he is faced by an uncompleted task in Italy. There is still an ample field of employment, for all available Austrian troops elsewhere than in France andFlanders. If Austrian troops appear on the West front, the fact will no doubt be officially reported, as the transfers of German troops from Russia have been.- It seems as yet rather unlikely that Austrian troops will be transferred to the Western theatre, however, '■- unless .Germany hopes by such a disposition to strengthen' Jier already powerful hold upon her principal ally. We have tho definite fact to so upon that German'troops are.still in action in Italy, or were so employed not many days ago. While they remain there it is reasonable to suppose that Austria's hands are already full. ■
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19171229.2.23
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 81, 29 December 1917, Page 6
Word count
Tapeke kupu
790PROGRESS OF THE WAR Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 81, 29 December 1917, Page 6
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Dominion. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.