The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 26, 1918. ITALY'S FINE ACHIEVEMENT

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 238, 26 June 1918, Page 4

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 26, 1918. ITALY'S FINE ACHIEVEMENT

Damaging as it is, the defeat Austria has suffered on the Piavc .line will not in itself put her out of the war; neither is it to be assumed that Italy is_ now assured of passing from one triumph to another until she reaches her goal of decisive victory. But while it is necessary to guard against exaggeration of what has beon accomplished by the bravo Italian troops and the French and British fighting in their company there is no doubt that Italy is to be credited with a very fine achievement, and one which definitely improves the outlook not merely from a local standpoint, but taking account of the whole field of the war. Tho reality of the Austrian disaster is not in doubt, but in regard to its precise magnitude and tho results that will follow a number of questions are still open. On the facts established, however, we are justified in believing that tho 'enemy has suffered a defeat which to a serious extent impairs hir, general prospects, because it will of necessity adversely affect his dispositions on the wh'ol'o Western front, of which tho Italian front is tho right wing. As regards losses of both men and material, tho Austrians have suffered very heavily in their defeat, but it is by no means unlikely that the . most (important fruits of the Italian victory will be gathered in Franco or Flanders, where tho Germans arc actively preparing to renew the offensive probably in'tho very near future. Germany is under an evident necessity of strengthening and supporting her discomfited ally,, and she has no other means of doing it than by drawing upon tho forces she had devoted to her forlorn hope bid for victory in France and Flanders. Even if the Italian l ! remain at a standstill on tho Piave and are call- j ed upon presently to fight another great defensive battle, or a series of such battle's, the notable success they have gained promises in this way to heavily affect the course of the war. j No survey of the situation can overlook the fact that the Italian armies ljave given' signal proof of a wonderful recovery since the dark days of last year, when the enemy break-through at Caporetto enforced wo of the most disastrous retreats the war has witnessed. If doubt aver existed on tho point, Italy has now demonstrated to her Allies and to the enemy that sho is animated by a spirit which enables her armies and people to defy defeat and to find in misfortune a spur to greater effort.- Considered with due regard to the circumstances in which it took shape her present achievement can only be regarded as brilliant. She entered this year's campaign in many respects seriously handicapped. Apart from her heavy losses in men and material during the retreat from the Isonzo, her armies wore and still are unfavourably placed as compared with those of the enemy. So long as they remain in organised shape the Austrian armies have an enormous advantage in their all but complete monopoly of the Alpine country and their command of many of the passes debouching on the plains the Italians arc defending. In addition, the enemy has spared no effort to sap and undermine the resolution of the Italian nation by an elaborately organised and insidious propaganda —a continuation of the similar effort which had a material part in mak-. irig bis success of last year possible. It is a splendid vindication of Italy's courage and determination and an equally striking proof of her unexhausted powers that the end of the first great struggle of tho campaign set in theso conditions finds her triumphant and her enemy reeling under tho effects of a staggering defeat.

Ihe point has been emphasised that the Italian victory is above all important as it tends to weaken the German offensive in Franco and Flanders. This it docs definitely, though in a degree vet to be measured. It is probably a reasonable estimate of the situation thkt short of a political revolution in Austria and the collapse of her military organisation the Italians will hardly be in a position to freely take the offensive until their French, British, and American Allies arc ready to do the same. On the other hand, all available news on the subject suggests that no light effort on Germany's part will be needed to keep her vassal in the

arena. Unless reports on the subject arc utterly misleading Auslriaitungary, under the combined effects of acute racial dissension and econormc distress-effects which military disaster will, of course, heavily ac-ccntuatc-is miminontly threatened with revolution. The forces which make for revolution may not find early yent. It i s sa fe to assume that Germany and that section in the Dual Monarchy which shares her Views will oxhaust the possibilities of coercion. In the report that Gount Tisza, a faithful supporter of the Pan-Germans, is about to return to office as Prime Minister of Hungary, there is an obvious suggestion that Germany and her adherents arc prepared to go to any lengths in enforcing their will on the crumbling Hapshurg Empire. But while there is no doubt that Germany.is in a position to exercise such a policy will entail a diversion of strength from her main effort against the Allied armies in France and Flanders—a diversion additional to that entailed in whatever stiffening of the defeated Austrian armies she may deem necessary and expedient. Tvc have not yet reached the stage at which it will be possible to measure- tho demands imposed upon her under these heads, but they promise to be serious and exacting, and they arise at a time when, as Mit.'Lloyd George states in a speech reported to-day, the. rapid arrival of American troops gives the Western Allies an assurance of in a comparatively short period reaching ' a strength superior to that of tho opposing German, armies. Long ago it was said, somewhat prematurely, that Austria was like a corpse, hanging to Germany's neck. The image is very much more appropriate to-day, and the great victory won by the Italians on the Piave has dono much at once to confirm this state of affairs and to make it apparent.