THE RUSSIAN RING-FIGHT

Evening Post, Volume XCVIII, Issue 114, 11 November 1919, Page 6

THE RUSSIAN RING-FIGHT

, Bolshevism stands to-day much as Prussianism stood two years ago. It stands in the centre of a ring, from the circumference of which the anti-Bolshe-vik forces press inward as the anti-Ger-man forces used to do; while the Bolsheviks, like the Central Powers, respond with outward pressure, ■ using whatever advantage they may gain from the possession of the interior lines of communication. Within the last few months—in fact, weeks—the Bolsheviks have in turn repelled Kolchak's eastern armies and Yudenitch's raid on Petrograd; at the same time, Denikin's southern front tends to become "stalflised." War boing an uncertain thing, and Russia a land of surprises, no one would attempt to exaggerate this Bolshevik reaction into a decisive success/ but it is noteworthy that the British Prime Minister, in an important speech at the Guildhall, sounds again a note of possible compromise with the powers that be in Russia. He hopes that before long the Supreme Council of the Allies will be able to renew, with a prospect of success, its attempts "to secure'a settlement in Russia, . . . to promote peace and contentment." If the Allies persevere with the ring-pressure, Bolshevism will be defeated a-s surely as Prussianism was. But Mr. Lloyd George is again asking whether such a defeat is worth the huge cost; and whether Bolshevism can be killed by force, or only by the light of reason.