CHANGES BROUGHT ABOUT BY SIX MONTHS OF WAR.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 62, 13 March 1915, Page 6

CHANGES BROUGHT ABOUT BY SIX MONTHS OF WAR.

Among the changes that have been brought about in Europe by the six months of the war is the condition by virtue of which the Allies now occupy 32,554 square miles of German and Austrian territory, and the Germans and Austrians occupy 30,201 square miles of territory taken from the Allies. The nearest approximation of the territory now held by the belligerents, based upon lines drawn from the last official reports, follows:— TERRITORY HELD BY THE ALLIES. Square Miles. Jn Alsace and Lorraine 1,440 In East Prussia 2520 Tn Galicia (Austria) 24,561 In Bukovina (Austria) ...... 4.033 Total 32.554 TERRITORY HELD BY GERMANS AND AUSTRIAN?. Square Miles. In Belgium , _, 10,063 In France .... 0,031 In Poland 11,107 Total 30.201 The war situation in Europe as it stands to-day is clearly shown in these figures. incidentally, the Allies, whose preparation for war at the outset did not compare with that of the Germans, have greatly increased in armament and efficiency. The big German guns, which were the surprise of the war, have been matched with equally big guns in the service of the Allies. What the Germans had learned in forty years of the, art of intrenching, of the transportation of troops, and in keeping soldiers at the front fed and supplied with the necessities of a campaign, the Allies have learned in six months of actual fighting—using German methods whenever they proved efficacious. As soon as it was discovered that no fort could withstand an attack from a 42-centimeter howitzer, stationed nine or ten miles from the object of attack, the Allies abandoned forts and intrenched far in front of them. At Verdun, whose fortifications could have been smashed to fragments could the Germans have found the range, the allied troops were moved bo far forward that it was impossible to bring the big Krupps close enough to reach the forts ■with their shells. It will be seen, therefore, that six months has brought the great struggle to a deadlock. Each party to it has captured and holds an amount of territory practically equal to that which the other has captured and holds. The equipment of one is offset by the equipment of the other. In efficiency the enemies appear equal. San Francisco "CalL"