PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 310, 19 September 1918, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

The offensive which, the Allies have opened in Macedonia promises to rank as tho most important) undertaken in that theatre since the capture of Monastir in November, 1916, and in its early stages it in making good headway. French, Serbian, and Jugo-Slay troops are engaged (tho last-mentioned being revolted subjects o.f the Dual Monarchy), and according to a ►Serbian official 1 report, which conveys the latest nows in harid 1 at time of writing, the Allies have broken into the Bulgarian positions on the Dobropolje mountains on a front of twelve miles to a depth of five miles, and have taken over 3000 prisoners and 24 ? guns. The Dobropoljo system is a broad mountain mass between the Koshuf range, on the Scrbo-Greek frontier, and , the River Cherna, where it runs nojth to the Vardar. The western spurs of the Dobropoljo rang© command the Cherna Valley, about 20 miles cast of Monastir and further north. Attacking from the eastern side of the range the Allies no doubt aim at striking north-west towards the road-centre of Prilcp, about 25 miles north-east of Monastir. Roads radiate from Prilep south, west, north, and north-cast, , and if he lost tho town the enemy would find it necessary to evacuate his present front in ihc south-western part of Serbia and probably also to retire north of Durazzo in Albania. A rapid advance on Prilcp is hardly to be expected, however, unless the Allies are in a position to follow up their successful initial blow by action on a bigger scale. After tho advance reported to-day they aro separated from Prilcp by more than twonty miles of rugged mountain country, much of it enclosed in tiie great bend in which tho Cherna runs in Southern Serbia. So long as tho enemy preserves his defensive organisation and his troops are in fighting trim almost every mountain ridge is a formidable fortress in the Allied path. * • •

As matters stand tho Allies have made a noteworthy advance towards a key position, and their success is of excellent promise as far as it goes. Their objective is still distant, however, and it is impossible to say at the moment just what prospects are opened for the immediate future. Too often in the past a promising move in Macedonia has como to naught or has been confined within narrow limits on account of tlie numerical weakness of' the Allied forces and the lack of essential supplies. Only a few weeks ago French and Italian forces opened _an i offensive in Albania ( which, if it had been carried to a successful conclusion, would have given them Durazzo and an additional line of communication with Serbia from the Adriatic. The Austrians, however, managed to bring up reinforcements and the Allies were, driven back almost to the- line, on which their offensiyo opened—that is to say, on positions covering Valona and its communications with the interior. Tho onft important gain retained is to Malakiistra,, ridge, which covers Valona on the" north-east. Some grounds for believing that tho offensive now under way in Macedonia , has opened with better prospects appear in a statement by Mr. Bai,Fouu that the success attained is only the prelude to greater successes in which the Anglo-Greek troops will take an equal and glorious part.

The Foreign Secretary's • observations would have .carried a more interesting point if ho had made it clear whether ho was referring .to a near or an indefinite future. It has been made plain that a strong body of opinion in tho .Allied camp regards the Balkan campaign as an "Eastern adventure which may very well be allowed to wait On events in Western Europe, but it is by no means as clearly established that this policy is wise. In order that they may fulfil their obligations to Serbia, Euinania, and Greece, , and enforce a just settlement at the' end of the war, tho s Allies are bound sooner or later to pain full and unimpeded control of the. Balkans. They certainly neglected and frittered away opportunities to this end in the earlier stages of the war, and it is by no means certain that they have not done so in more recent times. The idea, that all possible fqree must be concentrated in the main theatre is subject to definite reservations. Fur instance, it seems /distinctly possible at the present stage that a powerful attack on the Bulgarian armies which bear the chief brunt of the enemy campaign in the Balkans would be a valuable contribution to the general Allied effort. Tho incentive to develop such an attack is all the greater if it Is true, as a report declares to-day, that Bulgarian units have made their appearance in Belgium and Northern • France. According to the best available, information, the Bulgarian civil population is heartily sick of the war, and desertions from the armies in the field arc increasing to an oxtent which is suggestive of demoralisation and war weariness. Any new demands which Germany makes upon her ally will hardly "tend to put her into a better mciod or increase her resisting power.

The possibility of defeating Bulgaria and so cutting off the Central Powers from convenient 'access to Turkey seems quite important enoughto warrant a reasonable concentration of Allied effort on the Macedonian front, apart from the fact that the substantial success of the Allies in the Balkans would heavily accentuate Austria's difficulties in keeping her Jugo-Slav subjects in subjection. At the same time as their affairs arc shaping in tho main theatres Germany and Austria arc badly nlaced to counter Allied action in Macedonia. The offensive now opened is welcome as a tentative indication that 'the Allies are beginning to 'frame their policy with . an eye to these considerations, hut it cannot yet' bn assumed # that it is destined to lead up to big events? in the immediate future. It ni.iiy lie noted, however, t!>:;t the Allies arc not yet attacking in anything like their total force on the Macedonian front. Apart from the French and Serbians at present the enemy has to reckon with British and Italian contingents and with a Greek army of two

hundred thousand men. On the other hand, the. iicwh that a hundred thousand Greeks are- held back for lack of equipment throws light on tho less promising side of the picture. . Few events are reported in the Western theatre at time of writing, but it remains distinctly probable that big , developments arc in near prospect. Thero is disheartening news for the Germans in tho announcement that 313,000 American troops were embarked for Franco in August.