CURRENT WAR TOPICS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIII, Issue 66, 17 November 1915, Page 5

CURRENT WAR TOPICS.

The paucity of news from Europe, especially the, Continent, is due to tiio fact that several lines' are reported by . Paris to'Be'down on account of storms. Working'with "London is precarious, and the I 'flow of news has been interrupted. Until, the lines'are restored very little news , can"' come through./ Much haW been made" of the alleged' dissatisfaction ,in Bulgaria f on account of the entry of thai,''country upon ,• war- with Russia which is the Great Mother to the Bulgarian nation and freedom. In the War of 1877-78 Russia took the part of Bul- ■ garia against the Turkish oppressors, . and with the aid of the Roumanians brought about the Treaty of Berlin which created Bulgaria- a suzerainty, under Turkey. Backed by Russia'in 1908, Bulgaria' threw off her allegi-' ance to Turkey; and declared 1 herself an iiidepeh'deht ■ klhgdomi—her Rriler Ferdinand 'taking the title'; : King •of the Bulgarians. \ Therefore, though the crafty'' Saxe-Coburg Ferdiiiand may plunge*' his country against The Liberator 3 ,,^et,'it is not surprising to ■see that persistent stories are cabled • over the world-of the people's unwillingness to fight against Russia. A -message is to hand that states that the death penalty will be imposed by the Bulgarian authorities on anyone attempting to inform the people that they are fighting against Russia. The lower classes are completely ignorant, continues the Salonika message, and travellers declare that in the event of a Russian invasion the Bulgarians will not oppose it. There seems to be a great deal in this, because it.is known that Turkish troops have been -sent to Silistria and the Black Sea coast to oppose the Russians. Evi- "' dently, the Bulgarians do not mind fighting their fellow peninsula races asd even the Anglo-French, but they will not oppose the troops of the Czar, who have declared their vengeance upon the people who have so ungratefully turned against them. The German officers were aware of this, and made their other dupes, the Turks, send troops to oppose the Russians. Nothing definite of Russian movements against Bulgaria is known, but activity at Reni and Odessa and the retreat of the Germans and Austrians will allow more troops for the Balkans. The importance of the capture of Baghdad is not realised by the public in general, and the brilliant campaign that has been'so well conducted by Anglo-Indian troops ' under General Nixon has but little prominence given it in the ordinary hurly-burly of the World War. _ But when the history books are scanned by the school-chil-dren few years time they will find therein the story of one of the brightest military operations of the whole of British military history. The operations were initiated primarily to secure the naval oil-fields in the Persian Gulf from attack by the Turks. These oilfields are perhaps the most valuable in the /world, and have long been,the envious possession or rather concession of the British, who have developed them and have pipes running hundreds of miles from the fields at Basra and Korna to the coast, where they are easily connected with the ships that need oil-fuel. Besides, the occupation of Mesopotamia, which is Turkish, will prove an effective barrier to German encroachment that at one time was really a danger to our Eastern Dominions. Added to this material gain, there is a stronger necessity involved in these operations, 1 the importance of the moral effect of.

the capture I 'of so much Turkish territory upon the deeply emotional impressionable 1 minds of the Moslems. Early in ' the present war, the Sultan of Turkey, who is the representative ol Mahomet, 'announced" hi 'Holy ; War. The response of his co-religionists was not very encouraging,'find the Turks had to 1 ' 1 embark on tlieir Hoty' War without the aid of the' millions of Mahometans who in India and elsewhere, swear allegiance to the Great White! 'Emperor.' It therefore, remained for A the 'Allies to show these faith-' fiil wjiiTiors that their allegiance is worth while'. 1 ' The campaign in Mesopotamia" was then launched . with the dual purpose of protecting the oil-fields 'arid impressing the Meslems. Early in the War air expeditionary force mainly composed from drafts of the Indian Army, including a large percentage of Indian troops, was organised and despatched to the Persian Gulf where they were met right on the' coast' by Turks. However; by the use of gunboats, the Turks were driven inland up the j Shat-el-Arab to Basra,' where they made an ineffective stand and were - defeated ° 'with heavy loss. They' ! retreated 1 on Korna; but were aa'gui''brilliantly defeated by the expeditionaries',' who were making great use of'naval guns mounted on barges and small river steamer's. The next important fighting took place at Kat-el-Amarah. about 110 miles down the river from Baghdad. There a hard fight was put up by the enemy, and a long struggle ended in a fine victory for General Nixon, and the Turks retreated on the city. A race set up for Baghdad, and according to latest advices the British are' Very close to it. Before long we .may hear of the entry into the city ahead of the Turks, who will then be'like' a rudderless ship. Their headquarters will then be gone, and the writer would not be suprised if they surrendered their whole force. The importance of the Persian Gulf campaign canot be over-looked involving as it does the blocking of German aspirations *in W the East, the disintegration of, tiie Turkish Empire, and the enlargement of Britain's dominions.