RUSSIA.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3389, 19 January 1920, Page 6

RUSSIA.

__._———-o:—--—-4.

SITUATION CAUSING ANXIETY.

REAL MENACE TO CIVILISATION‘

BIG MILITARY COMMITMENTS THREATENED.

LONDON, Jan. 10.

It is stated by a high military authority that the present situation in the Middle East is causing considerable anxiety. The French are having considerable trouble in b‘yl'ia., and there are also difficulties in Asia Minor. The whole "of the Middle East is reported to. be in a. state of subdued combustion, which may flame up into anything. Probably within a few months We will be faced with great danger". in the Middle East. and East, necessitating large military commit-

ments. The Bolsheviks have reached the vicinity of the" Persian border, and the Turks are joininghands with ‘certain Bolshevik forces, rvhi-le troops in the area of British occupation in Mesopotamia are being stirred up by Ramadan Shalash. General MacMunn, G.O.C. in Mesopotamia, sent an ultimatum to Shalash, and attacked and dispersed the latter’s marauding parties. Meanwhile, owing to Koltchak’s complete collapse, the only serious military force in the Far East is a Japanese division, which is totally inadequate to stem the big thrust, moreover, it is understood that Japan is reluctant to make any- heavy commitments at present. The Bolsheviks are concentrating against Denikcn in South Russia. The latter has just won a success by recovering -a strong line of defence on the Don River, but he is now hopelessly outnumbered, and stands unaided, though it is admitted that he holds the road to India. More-over,-it. nhould not be forgotten that his troops are at present sufi:'ering from the influences of retreating hundreds of miles, and the fact -must be faced that they must give Way at any moment. Incidentally, it may be recalled that the Bolsheviks are feverishly sc-€al'ching fior a gold hoard amounting to Ciglrty millions sterling, representing the Russian National: Treasury, which was last in the cus~ tody of Koltchak. _

LONDON PRESS ALARMED‘

LENIN ’S GREAT MILITARY

TRIUMPH.

AIMING AT WQ_l3.L’D_ DO)II§’ATION.

4' .. 1 1 - V 5 The Bo]sllevilg Jl§\'e cap‘turcd Ixolitopol,"‘<s’o” ‘niiifs ffom the Crimea, and t9l,]su;l_L}\'g3gcil}__g rapidly, is calming serious comment in the London press. _ The .']}';nlc:< poillt;_.<;,_.p};t. thgtjz Lenin’s nlilitary .tl‘iun}pllv“,is“almost complete. _. He 1133 conquered the greater part of the immense Russian Empire, -and is ready to take the field in the spring with {L great disciplined army. He aims at world revolution, and the 'ovex't‘nrow of Western civilisation and Clir'istiallity. The danger must be faced. How do.the Allies propose. to face it?

A SIGNIFICANT SUMMONS.

PARIS, Jan. 1.5.

The Alhcd Conference has summoned Mr Churchill (Sec.l'eta.ry for War) and the Hon. W. H. Long (First Lord of the Admiralty) to discuss the Bolshevik peril.

Lord Beatty and Sir Henry VVilsoll accompanied My Churchill and Mr Long to Paris to discuss the Bolshevik peril. Latest reports from Odessa intimate that, co'fi?rary 10. reports of his supersession, Dcniken is still in full command.