The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATES The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 1914. THE NEW SITUATION.

Auckland Star, Volume XLV, Issue 215, 9 September 1914, Page 4

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATES The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 1914. THE NEW SITUATION.

Tor the cause that >heks assistance, For the toroiio.that need* resistance, For the future, in 1 ke distance, Ana the goad that -we am do.

5% itiOllispgfg , r t&£, wslt aews, we need fes^ , .'w«ttn, '#ojr. Traders once pore, it U - .'oa'WJjM? t« the rnjp.bii^nce." p{" temporary 'advaiicee or Tatirt¥B«ftt3, ; a!drjg feijclj a line of conat* St; ,£j&e praent ynoment extend? |or. over a Wodrea. Wles eastward from ■Paias. (Brat the latest dateljigcnce frojp tie ffoitt. «erta,paJy seetoe to justify the belief tto/Jjt the general character of the sitiuatio.n in Frapcc bfte already beguu to ciia-jig-e. For the past fortnight the Allies fca-v.c been- iallJijg 'liack feeifore the GeiOT fate, "rfh'o 'been' thjeafcening all the tejie to outflank our left wing; ajid at the enemy -toafi g'pt within striking fistance of Paris. But to attempt the in-pteteaent of thie enormoiig stronghold ,'wijgj. a .boetjje. arroy still unbroken ~ckjs,e at haßd is a ieat too.rocklei* and d<3of>erate even fo r tbe Germans, and [tfeaqr new indloed eastward v(Bway froqp Taxis, ■γ-ith. the evident intcnI iiffli of. on a, dficjsive engageTOfint. Tie outflanldng tqovtmrat by .wikia they forced -do A'ilies .b2ck £o far is now no longer 'practicable, -boeauie Parjs in effept. covers the tUlies , left ■nmgj. and the German forces have therefore- converged -vvit'h. the object of bringing an..overw&eLmin£ weight of numbers to bea,r upo^4 ne;e . ont re o-f-Vhe Allies so as. to ireak.tiicir Übc and separate their wingß. But tihe Allies now eeein to have decided that the moment has come for io. tajre Uie offerusirvc. Judging by the rather iucoherent that 'have reacihed us, the Freaeh -Ka-vc ad■■*<wKsßd'. <m- their own right against the German left and the army of J-orraine, tftoea-teninj: to outflank it; -while on toe AUi®' left' iae.'BHtisTf and the French %aye delivered a'rigorous attack upon the German Tight; and the AJ!ies' <»ntr.e fliAs 'been -pushed, for ward to meet tihe onslaught of the advanang Germans, instead of waiting them to deliver the jfitti.C]s. This, of course, means that the Allies have made an offensive movement all along their line, and. so far as cm be judged from our cable messages, liey were' at least temporarily succusifui at all points. The British troops on the left of the centre arc said to have broken Lhc .German right,, the .German left Ins boon compelled to fall back to maintain itself in touch with the Lorraine army, .and fhe German centrr also retired for the time, before, the advance of the main body of the Allies. Subsequent imfisaies seem to. indicate that these movements did not amount to much more than a temporary readjustment of positions; but they certainly -suggest that the Allies 3i3ve Teached a turning point in their conduct of the campaign. We have been repeatedly assured by- the French and British military authorities that the retirement on Paris was a strategical necessity, and that it vras being conducted ■in strict aecordunce with prearranged plans. We may therefore assume that as 'the army of the Allies i≤ *till - absolutely- unbroken, the time must come -when' the retiring movement will have done its work, and the Allies be able to a&sume the offensive. To do this effectually they will need to u;e a greater striking force than they have yet employed. But it. is at leatt conceivable, that the French have not thrown the whole of their military -strength into the field of operations. It is clear that the Allie* have received large 'reinforcements from the country south and east of Paris within the past few days: and it is quite legitimate to assume that the Indian Expeditionary Force and the colonial troops that the French have withdrawn from X.orth Africa, if not already available, are now near enough to the scene of action to justify a. more vigorous offensive movement on the'part of the Allies than '.hey .ha.ye.undertaken hitherto. For theie reasons, it seems probable that the war in Frajice is now entering upon a new phase under conditions which at the present time appear to be distinctly unfavourable to the Germans. It is important to observe, by the way, that the main army of the Allies is now. in touch with tbe French force*- that have been fighting along the fortified eastern frontier betwepn Bclforfc and Verdun, and apparently the. French arm.v of Alsace is now to be regarded as forming part of the Allies' right win^. However this may be. the general character of the situation is not affected by it, and on the whole there seems to be good ground for thf. calm conljder.ee

which the* counminica-tions . issued by the French authorities have lately displayed. . But. .while . eyettts have, boon developing satisfactorily for the Allies in France, the- Russians have gained decisive and overwhelming successes in another part of this widely extended -field of action. It i= true that the Russian armies have not yet cotrie"into, contact ■with the .main body of the German <ieJejuive force. But the operations preceding and following the occupa- ' of Lemberg seem tn hive, resulted so disastrously for' the enemy that,,. according to the chief of ■-t.he;Hussian General Stafl\ ''Austria is no longer a factor in the war." Even if we difc-oimV the pardonable enthusiasm "of tbe~Ru&sia.ns ever their gnaX victor-"TTSsV-ifi seera&'cerfeam t'h-at in' defending ; -their" Eastern proviaceS against the-ad-

yanee of the -Russians,..the.-Germans .will have to refy entirely upon their own resources. And ei-en if the number of ■troops that Russia has already placed in ■the field 'has been greatly exaggerated, it is' not 'to be expected that the. Germans, with iflie 'best part of 'their fighting forces engaged in France, can offer any effective -resistance bo the enormous masses of men that .the. Russians can accumulate and concenira-te along Germany's .practically dndefensible eastern border. And as the Russians advance into the heart of Central Germany a.nd threaten Berlin, bow long can the Germans afford to leave most of ;their available fighting force in France struggling■to beat down the obstinate resistance of the Allies J This question 'will be answered by the course of events within a very few days; and in t-he meantime we may continue to regard 'the position throughout Uie European field of war with some degree of confidence.