ALLIES' COMBINED OFFENSIVE.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 124, 25 May 1916, Page 5

ALLIES' COMBINED OFFENSIVE.

ITALIAN WAR COUNCIL'S BULLETIN. ' GENERAL ATTACKS ON AXL FRONTS. ' NEW YORK, Mar 24. According to a Rome message, the Minister for War, after a protracted council of war, issued a statement of the military situation which is developing against tbc Austrian offensive, and which, he declared, would leave the Italians in a supreme position. He said it was expected there would be a general movement against the Austrians on other fronts, especially the Balkans and in Russia. Besides these, contemporaneous attacks were expected to be sprung by Italy's Allies in France. Military critics advise the reconstruction of the Italian front by the abandonment of far advanced positions in order that the Italians may be better able to repulse the Austrians' forward movement. Several indications confirm the statement that the design of the present strenuous campaign of the Austrians is to prevent Italy participating in the struggle on the French front, also to paralyse action which might result from the Salonika army and the Italian force at Valona, Albania, making a simultaneous effort. Another message states that the Austrians have transferred to the Italian front a number of heavy guns taken from the warships bottled up in the harbour of Pola. Among the British. French, and Belgian soldiers on the western front there ,s a general opm.on that the war will be brought to a conclusion before the end of the year. The expression of this opinion is constants heard in England from soldiers on leave. At the front there is a prevailing spirit of confidence .n the abil.ty of the Allies to bring matters to a successful decision betore the winter sets in again at the close of the year. In both men and guns the Allies on the western front outnumber the Germans. The superiority in men is certainly three to two. and probably almost two to one. The British and French output of munitions now exceeds the output of Gcrmanv for both her western and eastern fronts. Russia is also prepared to conduct a vigorous offensive campaign. The Russian problem last year was not that of finding enough men to outnumber the enemy, but of finding the necessary equipment for placing in the firing line the great masses of troops at her disposal. Thauks to the efforts of Russia's Allies in supplying her with arms and ammunition— and particularly the efforts of her former opponent. Japan—the Russian deficiency in rifles, guns, ammunition, and war stores, has been overcome. There are many indications that during the next few months tiic war will be conducted on the various fronts with a vigour arising from the determination to bring the great struggle to an end. In this determination the Germanic empires and the Allies arc agreed. The Germans realise that if the war drags on they must lose all hope of securing a victory. Theyaarte t confident of their ability to hold out for years if need be. but they recognise that with their own strength diminishing by the wastage of war. and that of the Allies increasing by calling up reserves of men, Germany cannot win a dragging war. And the human element, apart from the military view of it. has to be taken into consideration. The German people at home, and the bulk of the German soldiers in the trenches, are weary of the war. , Thq reports from neutral travellers in Germany- show that-thc' talk of the people iff no longer of great victories, but of peace. The Allies also want peace, but they want victory first, because victory over Germany is the only guarantee of a lasting peace in Europe. But the Allies do not want the war to drag on for another year. To that extent they have abandoned the idea of a war of attrition. They know that by conducting the war on defensive lines they can wear Germany out, but the financial burden of the war is so great that it is necessary to bring the struggle to an end as soon as possible. The military advisers of the allied Governments arc convinced that victory can be won in a few months by a vigorous offensive, because of the superiority of the Allies in men and guns. In the past the offensive lay chiefly in the hands of the Germans because of their long preparation for war and the initial superiority of their military equipment and resources. They were able to hold the Russians on the eastern front while they attacked the French lines in the west; and at a later stage of the campaign they concentrated their main strength on the eastern front, and drove the Russians out of Galicia and Poland. But in the campaign of 1916, which is now opening after the inactivity brought about by the winter, the offensive will be in the hands of the Allies. At the conference of the representatives of all the allied Governments held in Paris during the last week in March it was decided to bring about "unity of action and unity of front. ,. This means that for the first time since the commencement of the war the enemy will have to face the whole strength of the Allies combined in one united tiffort. In the next .few weeks the war will enter on a new stage—a stage in which the Germanic empires will be compelled to fight simultaneously on all fronts. Such an effort will demonstrate the numerical military superiority of the Allies in soldiers and guns, and will, it is believed, usher in the final phase of the war.