CURRENT WAR TOPICS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIII, Issue 75, 27 November 1915, Page 5

CURRENT WAR TOPICS.

Foremost to-day is the news of tho position at' Gorizia, which, if it has not already fallen, is no longer teri- ! able by the Austrians against the dashing Italians, who have achieved one of'tlio greatest victories ■of the 1 war, 'after fighting in impossible country where' finy advance must be ■ niade from peak to peak, and range to’ range. The capture 'of Gorizia 1 "opens the road to Trieste, the Italian ’ ’objective in ' this direction, 34 miles i •<{ Eolith south-west of Gorizia. One phase of tho Italian part; 'has' tlierei fore been successfully accomplished. It is expected that the .victors’ will now push their gain with the utmost pressure, seeing that they, aye on the enemy’s territory and have an undoubted superiority in men and material, their artillery., being said to be better than the. French guns. Jl hn ■ * 1 ’; .• i ■ ' ■■ ■ ■< l-r. wu . ■' ■ ■ I '■■■ .■' On the Western front, the | campaign against Trent is progressing I well, and the Austrians, have been forced to evacute , RAvredo, which is some 13 miles south, of Trent. The, fall of Trent is not‘very’far distant, and with the fall of Trieste, which must follow on the fall of Gorizia,’ this will mean the occupation of Italia Irredenta. That is what Italy fought over, but it is hoped that she will not confide her operations to that alone. Regarding Greece, Mr Martin Donohoe sends a long report in which he states that the Greek attitude has undergone a" change. He cleverly shows that the subsidised tears and rage of hysterical newspapers have given place to the urging of moie concessions to the Allies. The AJlies pointed out that all that was required was Greece’s neutrality, and not hei active participation in. th? field. That no chances are behig taken by the Allies is shown by the unwillingness to accept the Government’s official word to the guarantees and, the insistence upon a signed agreement. Naturally, the Kaiser would treat such as a scrap of paper, but Greece will tremble and refuse to tear up a scrap of paper with Britain’s signature thereon. The question of demobolisation was not dealt with by the Allies, but probably. Greece has been assured of protection in case oi attack, and will automatically partly demobolise on account of the expense and the strain on the countiy. Intense relief was felt by the people when friendly relations were restoied and the price of food • dropped. The silent Navy is a wonderful creation, that has won and will ever win Bloodless battles merely by its untested might and efficiency. Well it was, that Winston Churchill stuck to Ins guns when the Houses of Parliament and the majority of the Cabinet were inclined strongly 'to reduce the naval programme. Had Churchill not taken up the stand he did, we would not have the freedom of the seas so much to ourselves to-day.

Roumania and Russia are once again to'the front in the cables, and are reported to he holding a conference regarding the Danube' and the contingencies arising therefrom. The contingencies are not mentioned, but they are obviously something in the shape of an agreement about the transit of Russian troops on the river for Bulgaria, and the question of indemnity to Roumania and guarantees of ample reward for her passive neutrality. That something is afoot for a definite move very soon is con-

veyed by the report to hand that the Czar has inspected 250,000 troops for the Danube. That with his assurance to Serbia that he will attack Bulgaria within' a week, is very re-assuring. The arrival of the Kaiser’s nephew at Bucharest to assist the German (Cause is encouraging, because it shows that German calculations regarding Eoumania are being: 1 considerably upsf<t. But it is (too early to; suggest the side that Eoumania hvhile espouse, though the indications ,! are that Russia is on the up and seems to be 1 the “tip/’ Of course “tips?’(/sometimes go- wrong, but if they come from the right quarter they : arc worth following. The fn icons' attack i of' the Austro-Germans bn the Russian line defending Bessarabia is made with the purpose of imperilling the Russian troops on the Danube and to deflect them and so delay their arrival in Bulgaria. It has the other purpose of influencing the Roumanians/ who, they say, will he attacked if Russia is allowed to traverse Eoumania. Russia seems to ; h6‘, getting assurailbbs fir§t, And will then send in her frbops. The narrow escape of the Allies’ troops at Salonika is a dangerous pfebedent.

The military position in Serbia does not seem to have undergone much of a change, except that the French have improved their position on the extreme left and gained much ground in the direction of Krivolak, including several important heights. The French are really the. advance guard to the Allied force* who have been landing at Salonika. It is admittedly a puzzle to know how many troops have actually landed, especially when the news comes to-day that the first important re-inforcements arrived just within a few days. Evidently a very powerful force is to be used, and the restitution of Serbia made a very solid and never-to-be-forgotten lesson to the Bulgarsj who will very soon appreciate the might of the Powers she so foolishly defied. Heavy guns and munitions are being sent to Monastir in answer no doubt to tlie visit of-ithe Serbian War Minister, and in furtherance of what seems to he the *move to be made to clear Macedonia and meet the Austro-Germans, viz., convergence of the Serbs from Prilep in the south and Kachanik from the north, and of the French from the Yardar on Uskub, thus putting the Bulgarians in a trap. The main British force is y apparently in the neighbourhood of the Belshista range, to hold the communications up the Vardar and attack Bulgaria by way of *the Strumna Valley, and so on to Sofia. The us’ual Repingtonese says that the Allies will meet disaster and so on. Why the self-appointed antirecruiting agent and military genius is not suppressed is hard to say, unless the authorities do not wish to deprive the pessimists of their patron saint and rob the reasonable sober reading intelligent, public of a laughing stoqji. However, there seem to be signs of the Colonel’s conversion seeing that he contradicts the general trend of his old familiar tale that Russia was done for.