War Notes

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 90, 11 September 1914, Page 3

War Notes

IS7O AN'D WW. Comparisons will naturally be made between the advance of the Germans in 1870 and their advance to-day, but the circumstances are s0 radically difi'ercnt that no true parallel exists (sava the Auckland Herald). Without minimising the critical character of the present situation, it can be confidently asserted that the spirit of France is now unbroken and her fighting strength hardy all'eeted, where,as in 1*79 the Hermans had reached Paris across .a broken, a disorganised and a routed France. For nearly twenty years the usurpation of power by the third Napoleon and the notorious corruption of his administration had sapped the vitality of the French nation, and weakened the morale of the French Army. The surrender of I the pinch-beck Emperor and his wretchedly handled army at Sedan, the unexpected yielding of Met/, and another army by Bazaine, the internment of retreating troops in Switzerland, were but outstanding features in a national collapse. In the face of the enemy France of 1870 had to reform her political institutions and to reorganise her broken defences. That she failed to recover is not to be wondered at; that she struggled on against hopeless odds is the astonishing thing. In 11)14, there is no Xapoleon, no Bazaine. no Metz, and no Sedan . A million of Germans are on the soil of France, but the nation is united and vigorous, is full of courage, and full of hope. Retreat is always unpleasant, but masterly retreat is as much a part of the strategy of war as is masterly advance. Home was saved by her Fabian tactics, and the first Xapoleon never recovered from his victorious march to Moscow. That the Germans are numerically superior to any force that the Allies have yet been able to place against them in the West is lamentable but explicable. With over four millions of trained men to draw - ' upon, and with the entire national organisation at the complete disposal of the military bureaucracy which governs Germany in the name of the. Kaiser, they have been able to mass at least a million men and to thrust them like a spear through Belgium and Northern France at Paris. This mass of invaders is 1 highly mobile, not only because it has been peculiarly equipped and specially organised for mobility, but also because it lias not front to defend. It can be turned with ease upon any point in the extended battle front which the Allies must necessarily maintain anil can thus give battle under conditions advantageous to attackers who are prepared to move forward at any sacrifice. To permit such a host to break through or to outflank the extended allied army would be a grievous tactical error and to pievent this the Anglo-French commanders have steadily fallen back, as was essential to the preservation of their lives. Thus the Germans have fought their way to the very neighborhood of Pari-: but they have'failed to break the military organisation of the. allied forces or to daunt the spirit of the defenders of France. Every report confirms the natural assumption that in the face ot desperate resistance at every attacked point the invaders would pay a monstrous price for every success. It is plain that they have paid this price to the fullest and that it was very far from ■ being a jubilant and contemptuous host which slowly pushes its way towards .the waiting forts of Paris. A few more such weeks and the German invasion of j France, might vanish by the sheer annihilation of its component corps.

TURKEY'S FORCK-; BY LAND AN'I) HK\. It was recently reported thai Turkey might declare war on l! retro at any moni"iit and that the declaration would be regarded hv the Allies as hostile. It was stated'that Turkey depends on the Balkan States <]uarrolling amongst themselves while Turkey attacks Crecc?. It litis also been .staled that the Bulgarian Covprnmcnt has informed Servia that if Koumania will abandon her neutrality in favor of Hussi:i Bulgaria will do likewiv, and all the Balkan States except Turkey will take sides with the Triple Kntonto."

Kstimutos as to the war sdrcnjilh of tiiu Turkish Army vary from .'iOO.iHiO to 1 ,i)ij<),ooo. In the Balkan war sin- ph'.ced iu the Held in Thrace, .Macedonia and Albania about liolUJO!) first and second line troops. In 1!>!1 there was a complete rcorgunisition of the Turkish forces into U army corps. In BHC.) a Cerman military mission, under the auspicis of Field-Marshal der Colt/., was invited to rrorgani.-e the Turkish Army and superintend its instruction and training. In IUI3, after the lialkau v.ar, it was decided to extend and amplify this scheme, and a Cerman general was invited to become the director of the mis-ion.

The Turkish N'a'vy. which has hern in (ourse of organisation since IM'.l. under a JJriti.-h admiral and a British -tali', includes three old battleships oj .In.OiHJ ton:;, with a speed of Bi to li 'knots, and two oruhcrs of :>uii'l to 40,1 ill .tons .with a speed of it knots. The two Dreadnoughts, the (t-man and the Kcshadich. which were being built for Tuikev in Knglish yards, were recently tab 11' over Ik the British Admiralty. It was reported, however, that Turkey had purchased the batt!e-crui-cr Codicil and the small cruiser I'.rcshiu- -Cerjiian ships which sought refuge in -the Danhmcll-s -to take their place. | <s\VISS SYSTKM HI-' NATIONAL , MILITIA.

Sv.itr.-riand <l>'|>'.'iiils for dcl'enre on a national militia, servh-e in whieh is eoninnlsory. The mobilisation of ber foives ?iv'os h-r -20(1,111111 men. Servieo eonimenei.s at tlu* a-o of 17. Tin- lirst 12 years are "spent in the tir-t line tin' Klitr, tin- ii<-xt in tin' Undwolir, ami t:ii remaining eiplil in tin- 1.an.1-sturiii sturiii Then, are also separate forces., mostlv Lamhv.hr. for manning the fortifUiU'nJns which close lli.' Si. Cothard L'ass and tin- Ulmne Valley to a possible invader from the south. The mlantry are anneil with th- Swis- n pcatiui; rillo. The licld artillerv is armed with M" |,;; - lii-iliir -Ideld.'il Krupp T..'.-e.m. cahluv. The' -(.nation" artillery ha- batteries of S\4 and 12-c.m. {,'»»:-. Tin: ISKITISII l.i.S-^l-.S. (■o,:/n!erinL! ihTTeTy heav, W'M><>i> whieh i,a- taken ~'aee. lie- liritisl. losses ,„„„,!„,,.,„■ i-.oons endued probady not |,.ss than lill).i;i:li) must hi' regarded as li-ht when eomeared with the .-a-uallies -u-tained bv Ibitish troops ill previous raniimi"!.:- ' Purine the I'eniiisiila earn,iaiJ„ .VliritW. for-e- „„.!,,■ WrlMnp!ton wen manv brilliant \h tones, but their I were oxc iinaly heavy In the battle cd' Talavera. duly 2,. lo.w, ,he I'.ritisli bad Jl.-.0 killed and wounded out of a lota' of 22,!>n0. At Albuera, Mar !>i. KSII. they bad :!«:!■> casualties; at TUrfajos, March. ISI2. r.iilfl: at 5a1a- ,„:,„.,,. dul, dune -21. lSl:i, :W!»'>; and at the Pyrenees, July. 1813, 40.V1; ami .in no ea>e did the

total British force approadi the number of troops now at the front. At the battle of Waterloo, Wellington had .24,000 British troops in the allied army, and their losses in killed and wounded ttv.t da'( were 6472.