PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2526, 29 July 1915, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

News from the Western front is good as far as it goes. It tells mainly of local actions in which the Allies have had the advantage. Their most important success was won in Alsace, where tho French have captured another dominating position in the valley of tie .River Fecht, on the approach to Oolmar. In this valley the French have been pushing forward at intervals for weeks past.

So far as actual events are concerned, the position in the Eastern theatre has changed very little, A measure of_ progress is claimed by the enemy in Southern Poland and also in the angle of the Narcw and tho Bug, north of Warsaw, but tho Russians state that in the latter area they are holding their own. Not a great deal of light ig thrown .upon the essential facte of the position in the messages received at time of writing, and it must be regarded as critical and quite uncertain until it is known whether the Russians have obtained the supplies of artillery and munitions which alone will enable them to make head againfc tho enemy and retain Warsaw, unless action on the Western front affords them relief before the German blow has been driven home.

One messages declares that Marshal Hindenbuiic, on the immediate approaches to Warsaw, and General von • Maokensen, in Southern .Poland, are both threatened with complete defeat. This, and the theoretical arguments with which it is coupled seem to be a mere development of floating rumour to which no weight can bo attached. A review of tho position by a correspondent at Petrograd deserves more attention. ■ He states that the forcing of the. Narew, if it is not quickly retrieved, may force a general retreat. For tho rest, the Gkand Duke Nicholas is putting up a good fight in Southern Poland, and has slowed down, but not stopped,- General von Hackensen's advance around tho flank of tho Vistula line. In the Baltic Provinces, where General von Bulow is threatening the PetrogradWarsaw communications, matters are much less satisfactory, and it is suggested that a oontinued failure by tho Russians to arrest the enemy advance in this region may result in their being compelled to fall back to ■ the Os'owiec-Brest LitowskWlodowa line. This line runs south through Poland about 120 miles east of Warsaw. In other words, this correspondet assumes that in the not impossible event of'a Russian defeat they will be compelled to evacuate an additional tract in Poland equal to about half the areS. now occupied by tho enemy, and with it any early prospects of being able to resume the_ offensive against the Germans. This is no doubt a lucid presentation of the facts as they stand, and it is not exactly encouraging, but the position- remains open until it is seen whether the Russians are able to obtain necessary artillery and supplies, or the Allies are able to spoil the German plans by creating a powerful diversion on tho Western front.

Messages in hand record no new development at the Dardanelles, but some interesting descriptions are given of the character of the fighting and tho areas in which it is proceeding. A Greek report states that Bulgaria, has sold to Turkey all the war material _ captured by her from that country in the Balkan War. This, if true, is an unsatisfactory indication of Bulgaria's attitude, but as to tho supplies, it is somewhat unlikely, that Bulgaria, in critical times like the present, would part with war material of any great value. Unbroken success is reported by the Italians in their operations on the lower Isonzo, and the Italian achievements gain in importance from revelations as to the comprehensive nature of tho Austrian preparations for defending this section of the front.

The Cologne Gazette, acting, it is said, under the inspiration of the German Chancellery, has published an article inviting Russia to believe that she is betrayed and sacrificed by England, and urging her to conclude a separate peace. It is suggested that England has not honoured her promises, and that as a rc; suit the tripartite declaration of September, by which England, France, and Russia, each bound themselves not to conclude a separate peace, is void. Ifothe article has really been published at the direct instigation of the German Government, it may be accepted as an encouraging symptom of the extent to which Germany is feeling the weight of the war, and an indication that she, or rather the German Government, regards the future with apprehension. That the suggestions made by the Colo/pte Gazette will have any effect on Russia is most unlikely. It is perfectly truo that Britain is not yet exerting anything like her full strength in the land war, and it is also true that it now rests mainly with_ Britain to build up such a force in the Western theatre as will definitely turn the balance of strength against the Germans. But the Russians are well aware of th'i difficulties with which Britain has had to contend in creating an army, and know that they would derive no permanent bene 111. from a- premature effort by the Western Allies.

The Allies made their agreement in September with their eyes open, and with a knowledge of each other's limitations, and there is every reason to believe that they have worked in harmonious concert ever since, whatever the immediate fortunes of the war may happen to be. The German attempt to paint England as a weak and unfaithful Ally is distinctly feeble, considering that only tho other day German newspapers were admitting that the new British Army (which "has yet to be thrown into the scale) represented a triumph of Lord Kitchener's organising genius, and was a force to ue reckoned with. At the moment prospects in tho Eastern theatre are not bright, but a situation otherwise dark is lightened by the knowledge that Germany is pursuing her supreme effort to disable Russia, under the vspur of compelling necessity and in the knowledge that a mighty force is being prepared to assail her in the other great theatre of war against which she can scarcely hope to prevail. That knowledge, on tho other hand, is llussia's stay and comfort in her hour of desperate trial. It is not at all impossible that the article in the Cologne Gazette represents an actual effort of German diplomacy, and it is perhaps enough to add that in the field of diplomacy the Germans, since Bismarck left tho stage, have been as blunderingly incompetent as they are efficient' in war. Where they have prevailed in diplomacy it has usually been by a policy of blustering intimidation, and now their last card is on the table, and they aro not likely to accomplish anything by diplomatic wiles where a country like Russia is concerned, though they may still hope to dominate some of the littlo Balkan States.

British military casualties, which passed the quarter million mark at the end of May, have now reached a total of close upon 322,000, and in addition there have been naval losses numbering nearly ten thousand.' An outstanding difference in the two lists is that in the casa of the Navy an overwhelming proportion of the total number (more,than three-quarters) have been lost outright, whereas in , the case of the Army slightly less than one-fifth of the total number were killed in action. So far as the military casualties arc concerned, there is thus a considerable margin for recoveries by the restoration of wounded men, but to the number of permanent losses by death in action must bo added the 'number posted as missing, and that of men incapacitated for further service. As to men who died from wounds," the position is not clear. Tho permanent losses of the British land forces, however, must considerably exceed the number returned as killed.

Britain supplies more definite information regarding casualties than any other Power engaged in the war, but even tile British returns furnisii little detailed information and even comparison of one period with another is hindered by the fact that the returns aro not always in uniform shape. In. the latest return particulars of missing were cither not announced or have not been cabled. In the return of casualties to the end of May the number of missing was slightly greater than-that of the killed. One remarkable feature disclosed by tho latest casualty return is that while British losses have mounted to a total which brings home tho cost of. the war, the weekly average of losses in the .Western theatre and at the Dardanelles has fallen considerably in the period since a return was last furnished. During the seven weeks to May 31 the aggregate permanent and temporary losses in these two theatres averaged approximately 17,000 per week. During the seven weeks (less one day) from May 31 to July 18, tho average rate of casualties, on tho same basis, was about 8200 per week, or less than one-half the rate for the preceding seven weeks. There was heavy fighting at the Dardanelles during the seven weeks to July 18, and the drop must be_ largely attributed to changed conditions in the Western theatre. As they stand, the figures seem to bear striking witness to the manner in which the Russian armies in the Eastern theatre have borne the strain of the war during this period, and relieved pressure on the opposite front. The reduction in the rate of British casualties may doubtless be due in part to improvements in artillery and equipment generally, and more liberal supplies of munitions, but when every allowance has been made for factors of this nature, it must be attributed in large measure to a reduced intensity of fighting on the Western front, which has coincided with the German offensive in the Eastern theatre.