EUROPE'S GREATEST BATTLEFIELD.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 112, 5 October 1914, Page 6

EUROPE'S GREATEST BATTLEFIELD.

(By John P. Young in Chriatc'hurch Star)

Tho frequent despatches in tiie des 'familiar to tho readers of historical and other accounts of the battle of Waterloo hat) concentrated attention on the fact that the scenes of one hnndred years ago are being repented to-day in the same neighborhood, but under vastly different circumstances, and by actors the ghosts of whose ancestors must be tilled with amazement at th. incredible change., wrought ■;, l.r attitude of nations towards cu,- other during the century wheii th • ,:m of Nauo,eon's glory was in the carnage of the Belgian baUl-iivid.

Napoleon escaped from Elba on Feb--niar/ 27, ISIS, and two days Liter landed near Cannes, lie hoped to take advantage of the, dissensions, of the allies, 'whose united efforts had resulted in his brief exhe to Elba, but his re-appearance in I'rac-Jo and the en- : tlrus'msm which greeled his return promptly healed the treaches, and the coalition prepared to meet him and crush him for ever. It was a bold undertaking, an I none but Napoleon would have dreamed of the possibility of withstanding the whole of Europe, for that is what 'ho started to accomplish when lie began to shape his plans for the campaign which ended in disaster for him at Waterloo, and subsequent banishnient to St. Helena. He took over from Louis XVIII. in March, an army of 150,01)0 men, which, by his energetic was before June 1 augmented to about 300,01)1), only half of which, however, was available for the accomplishment of his first objective, the crushing of Wellington and Biucher, the British and Prussian commanders, whose forces were in Belgium, where they were- awaiting tile arrival of the Austrians and Russians, who wore marching to join them, and whose purpose it was, after effecting the junction, to press forward to Paris.

Napoleon's plan contemplated striking at the British, Prussian and Dutch forces and crushing them before they could receive the expected help from the Austrians and Russians. The allied army in Belgium once crushed he mn'int to move southward to meet the other allies on the Khine. Only colossal egotism, and an optimism reaching the subline, could have inspired the plan, for it contemplated the annihilation of several armies, all of them equal to and some greater than his own.

Arrayed against him were the AngloDutch forces, numbering 93,000 men, commanded by Wellington, who had his headquarters at Brusse.s; Jilueher'g 116,000 were in and about Namur; the commander of the Sehwartzenburg with 210,000 men, was threatening the Khine frontier, while another Austrian force menaced the south-east-ern frontier of France. At the same time. Karc.ay de Tolloy's force of 150,000 Russians was slowly moving towards the scene ot the eonlliet.

As already stated, the total strength of Napoleon was only 300.000, but fully half of this force were needed for the defence of France, only about 180;0O0 being available for the carrying out of his [dans in Belgium, and this number was reduced by dispositions -wheh made the force at his command on the decisive day not more than 124,000. Critics, not unfriendly with the great commander, saw in this reduction evidence of his waning geniu.i and declared that lie was n<? longer the Napoleon of Austerlitz, for had he made his distributions as skilfully as in former campaigns he would havo been able to concentrate 155,000 to KO.imo of his available force at Charleroi.

In.: reader wio is following the despatches from day to day will recognise how nearly the- theatre of the heaviest operations of the present war coincides with that of the main struggle of 1810, when he recalls the disposition of Napoleon's forces .it the end of May and those of the Allies at the. same time. The First Corps was cantoned between Lille and Valenciennes, the Second between Valenciennes and Avcsnes, the Third around Koeroi, the Fourth at lletz, the 'Sixth at Jjaon. Grouchy's cavalry reserve was at (luise anil Kapp, while "the Fifth Corps was near Strasburg. Another detachment guarded the south-east frontier from Basle, to Nice, A small army was taking tan: of the Pyrencau frontier and a force of 10,fi00 men was on tii» U Vendee quelling an insurrection. The Anglo-Dutch army and the Prussians were disposed over a front extending nearly ninety miles across Belgium, and the mean depths of their cantonments was thirty miles, and to concentrate their forces on either flank would take six days, and on the common centre about threo days. It is not the purpose of this brief sketch to describe the manoeuvres, the mistakes or tho fighting which culminated in tho defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo." Tlmt has been done by competent military critics, able historians and gifted romancers. It is merely to call attention to the marvellous changes which the. hundred years have produced. On June 18,1815, France had arrayed against her all the great nations of Europe, whose armies were marching over •or toward the field where Napoleon was crushed. A century later how different the dispositions. The Allies united to crush France in 1815 are now at enmity with each other. In 1815 it wa.s France against all Europn; to-day it is unified Germany and Austria against France, England, Belgium, Russia, Servia, Montenegro, and Japan, and, perhaps, before the end comes, Italy will join in the fray.

When the smoke of battle has cleared nvray and the map-maker lias completed 'his task of revision, theold familiar lines of Europe will be altered, but mankind will be no better off for the change of boundaries.