CURRENT WAR TOPICS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXX, Issue 14, 19 April 1916, Page 5

CURRENT WAR TOPICS.

The news of the occupation of Tie-

bizond by the Russians will be hailed with delight by the Allies, as it is an •important event in the war that is proceeding in Asia Minor. Ihe success of our Allies has been rapid and far-reaching, and the splendid qualities of the soldiers of the Czar Nicholas. Trobizbnd is 110 miles northwest- of Erzeruxn, so that the have been doing some travelling as ' well as fighting, and the work has not been of the easiest description owing to.the climatic and geographical difficulties to be contended with. TrebiZO nd is one ‘of the natural outlets for the trade of North Persia and Kurdistan but its trade has somewhat declined since the opening of the TifUs-Ba-tum railway. With the fall of Trebizond. we pay expect to hear more daily of the Turks crying “Enough! It is a question, however, whether the Allies will'stop- short of entering onStimtinople before listening to Pp ce proposals from the barbaric Turk. Tiehizond 'was witness to his blood-lust 1895' •■whefib^a 5 terrible massacre o took place during the month of October. ! i < .

* i ! i -News from Verdun Is to- the effect ■that '’matters are quiet ,as a _ rU South of ■ Donaumont, on the east side of'the Meuse, the Germans succeeded in ■ ehtfering the French ■ front line ot trenches for a short distance but it is not a serious matter. On the other sectors,, at Verdun and, indeed all along the line, there has been little else than artillery bombardment. In Mesopotamia/ the Turks have been more than usually aggressive ; they reached our front lino trenches, and the Allies werfe forced hack five hundred to a thousand yards. On the eastern line in Russia, there appears to'be signs of renewed vigorous fighting in' the region,' but we have not teen informed of its effect, either {or good or ill'. l As to the Balkans, because we have not heard anything, it iV’safe’ to asfeume there’s nothing doing! '

“Under no circumstance,” runs a New York cable, “will Germany give up her submarine policy, which is a retaliation for the British food blockade of Germany.” The excuse for the continuation of these murders on the high seas need not be discussed, readers will apprise it as its true value, which is nil. The message conveying this information emanated from -£3ount Bernstorff, and is typically German, as will be seen by the closing .sentence, that compensation will be paid for broaches of international law. At. the very moment, no doubt, when the words were being penned, the Hun agents were ruthlessly sinking vessels and firing their submarine guns on enemy and Neutral alike. The recent discoveries . of diabolical plots in America engineered by \on Papen and others only accentuate the heed for caution' in accepting as truth any statement that Germany might make with regard to her operations either on sea or land.

M. Take Jonescu, leader of one the Opposition parties and one of the most influential of Roumanian statesmen, in a recent speech in the Chamber of Deputies pointed out that Kouroania’s future hangs in the balance and that there never were days more critical for his country. He ridiculed the idea of neutrality and rebukes those who would adopt what has been called “a policy of carrion crows'. 1 ' Leaving out of discussion all considerations of a racial character; all considerations based on the feeling of gratitude on the one hand, or, on the other, of the sense of injury received —all considerations, in a word, of a sentimental nature—there remains one policy which, in his judgment, the Roumanian poeple should adopt, a policy founded on the instinct of the nation. And what is the national instinct? The national instinct is that potent factor which throughout its history has made the Roumanian people comprehend, sometimes consciously, sometimes unconsciously, that for a thousand years the problem has lain-between them and the.,Hungarian people. In a word, “either the Magyar dominate us from the Carpathian summits, or we, established in the Transylvanian stronghold, dominate the. Hungarian plain. Other solution there is none.” M. Take Jonccu proceeds to discuss at considerable

length • Roumania’s relations with Russia. Ho admits that the neighborhood of Russia is a danger, because in every case the neighborhood of a great power is a menace to a small nation. But lie scoffs at the part some would assign vo Roumania of acting for over the policeman whose task it is to bar Russia’s way to the open sea. Speaking of the Roumanian campaign in 1913, he says; “The national instinct was so powerful at that time that when we mobilised in order to cross into Bulgaria the people interpreted the mobilisation by means of placards bearing the words ‘Down with Austria.’ When we were sending our army over the Danube the soldiers thought they were crossing the Danube to reach Transylvania. Through Bulgaria into Transylvania! Our experience of to-day proves that their instinct was wiser than all our judgment.”

General Smiits, who is leading the British forces in the campaign in Gei.-i man East Africa, continues to make good progress; but there 1 is a lot ot : grdtihd yet to be covered. Most ol the fighting he ‘lias done • aga/nst the Germans has been on the heavy, difficult ’Country surrounding KilimanMoshi, and Arusha. All these places, have been taken by Smuts’s force. ' Smiits 'will how be able to use tlie. Tanga railway, and his progress should continue to be satisfactory. The force entrusted to him to lead was larger than the. force with which the campaign was inaugurated, and it includes troops from all parts of the Empire, though raised in Africa as a result of a special appeal by General Smuts. Thq following are the principal events •in the cam-' paign- ;

rSsptemhor, 1914.—German attack on Morobass.a fails at Gazi (JO miles south, of Mombassa).

November, 1914. British attacks on Tanga fails. Longido, halfway between the sea and Lake Victoria Nyanza, occupied by the British. January, 1915.—Nafia Island, south of Zanzibar, occupied by British. Shiratr, German port on the eastern side of Lake Victoria Nyanza, attacked and taken by the British. March, 1915.—German forces entered British East Africa, and attack Karungu on Lake Victoria Nyanza, but were repulsed. June, 1915. —British attack on Bukoba, western side of Lake Victoria Nyanza. July, 1915.—German cruiser Konigsberg destroyed in Rufiji River. September 20,1915. —Germans attack Uganda railway; fight at Longido West. .

December 26, 1915.—German steamer Kingani captured on Lake Tanganyika. February 18, 1916.—Enemy attack at Kachumbe on Uganda border repulsed. , March 7.—General Smuts advanced against the Germans in the Kilimanjaro area, and seized the crossing on Lumi River.

March 10.—British occupy Chaia, Taveta, and Salaita. Enemy retreats from positions north-east of Killimanjaro.

March 13.—British occupy Moshi and Kahe; Germans retiring southward. Smuts reports successful operations on Ruwu River, and possession of Kilimanjaro and Arusha areas. April 6, 1916.—Surrender of German forces in Arusha district.