PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2661, 5 January 1916, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

— $ There is. a promise of developments about the news from the Balkans to-day, though it is still, as it has been, vague in some particulars, and embodies inconsistencies which will only be cleared up by events. The most definite and comprehensive account in hand of the position reached in the campaign comes from a correspondent in Italy. He states that the bulk of the enemy forces in the Balkans, by which must bo understood troops available after pro* viding necessary garrisons for the invaded territory, are n6y concentrated against Albania. The objective of the. Bulgarians is Valona, which is situated on the Adriatic coast, opposite the _ south-western corner of Serhia, while the AustroGermans further north aim at crossing Albania to Durazzo, a port 60 miles north of Valona. According to the same correspondent, though the enemy is devoting the bulk of his available strength to this Albanian offensive, and is leaving only a few Bulgarian troops to guard against an Anglo-French attack from Salonika, he has made little headway as yet, and is held in check in the north by the Montenegrins, while in the south he is not yet in contact with the Italians based on Valona. This must mean that the Bulgarians have so far been checked in Southern Albania by the Serbs. Cleaf.ly as the dispatoh under review outlines the position; _it is rather doubtful whether it gives a really comprehensive picture of the major developments at present astir in the Balkan campaign. Whatever designs ho may harbour of reaching the Adriatic coast through Albania, it is unlikely that tho enemy is treating as cavalierly as is suggested the possibility of an attack J)y the Allies based on Salonika. This consideration carries all the _ more weight since troops engaged in invading Albania, if they make any important headway, will of necessity be deeply involved and not readily available if an emergency should arise elsewhere. However, if_ the enemy is concentrating for an invasion of Albania, there is an obvious implication that he discounts the prospects of any early attack by the Anglo-French Army, and definite proof that he is so concentrating would tend to discredit recent stories of a new landing by the Allies on the Greek coast west of Kavala, and also suggestions that it is proposed to transport the Serbian Army, hi whole- or part, from the Adriatic coast to Salonika.

On visible evidence the enemy should have an arduous task in hand if he meditates a drive through Albania to tho Adriatic seaboard. The Serbs and Montenegrins are now reinforced by a strong Italian expedition. The area to be invaded is without railways, and the passage of troops and transport through the Albanian mountains will of necessity Ire seriously impeded by conditions incidental to "the winter season. These conditions will bo cased by the return of better weather, but the same factor will equallv favour aggressive action by the Anglo-French Army, which represents the chief problem confronting the enemy in the Balkans. All accounts agree in stating that the Allies have now landed a numerically powerful and formidable amv at Salonika, juid

it is doubtless being rapidly equipped with the transport suited to mountain, country, which will facilitate rapid movement when the advent of better weather introduces conditions lending themselves to offensive operations. The position seems to be that the enemy has poor prospects of speedy or decisive succcss in an invasion of Albania, and further,_ that embarking on this enterprise he will jeopardise his prospects in the greater struggle which must open when the Allies set in motion their whole available forces in the Balkans.

An interesting section of the struggle in the Balkans is thai whichis being waged for the possession of Cattaro. This place is tho most southerly naval base possessed by the Austi'ians in the Adriatic, and the point is emphasised in the news today that tho possession of Cattaro has a very important bearing upon the contest for naval mastery of the Adriatic which is being carried on chiefly by submarines and the lighter kinds of surface warships. So far as attack from the sea is concerned, the naval base at Cattaro is practically impregnable. The Gulf of Cattaro consists of a series of basins connected by narrow ohannels and is easily defended. The head of the gulf, however all but touches- the Montenegrin frontier, and so far as local topography is concerned Cattarol is vulnerable in .a high degree to land attack. That no successful attempt has yet been made to capture Cattaro by an advance from Montenegro is no doubt due to tho aggregate difficulties of sea transport in the .Adriatic and land transport in Albania and Montenegro hindering ths concentration of an adequate force. As the position is now described the Austrians are attacking a dominating position on the Montenegrin frontier overlooking the Gulf of Cattaro. If the attack succeeds their hold upon Cattaro will bq greatly strengthened and Allied prospects of establishing secure transport routes in ths Adriatic will be correspondingly prejudiced. On the other hand', it is stated that if the Austrian attacks fail the Allies will ultimately be able to compel an evacuation of Cattaro. For the time being the issue is in suspense.

At the moment there is hardly any news directly bearing upon the offensive lately opened by the Russians on their southern front, between the Pripet marshes and .Rumania. A statement by the Petrograd correspondent of an Italian newspaper may be tentatively noted, however, as affording additional evidence that fche importance of the new Russian move 'is fullj; recognised by the enemy. It_ is that half a million Austrians and Germans are now concentrated near the Rumanian frontier. The absence of other rews at time of writing may mean nothing more than that the censorship has closed down, as it often does when great events are under way. In the light of facts definitely attested, German official reports attempting to belittle the importance of recent fighting on the Russian southern front carry no weighty except as indicating that the enemy is anxious to make the best of

a bad job. It is not true, as the Germans allege, that the battles dealt with in recent reports were minor engagements, and that the statement lias been -made proves conclusively that the Press publicity arrangements of the enemy are in disarray. Austrian reports, published on Mouday, stated that the Russians had concentrated. three divisions and 200 gunJ on a front of three miles, and engaged in a preliminary bombardment of 36 hours. Further the Austrians' claimed that they had repulsed twenty-two assaults by the Russians, most of them involving desperate hand-to-hand fighting. Evidently this is an occasion on which the Austrians and Germans have neglected- the necessary precaution of agreeing to tell the same story. ■

Reading in conjunction the Austrian and Russian reports, which were touched upon at some length yesterday, the only conclusion possible is that the Russians have opened such an offensive on the southern section of their front as it has not witnessed for months. They succeeded to the point of storming strong positions, forcing heaVily-defended river crossings, and capturing some miles of enemy trenches, and the enemy launched a series of costly counter-attacks apparently without regaining the ground he had lost. There the matter stands at the moment. The Russians may develop the offensive rapidly, or an interval of relative calm may succeed to the blaze of fighting lately, in evidence, but that the offensive has opened on a great scale and has compelled the enemy to concentrate heavily in defence to the detriment of his prospects elsewhere is not open to doubt. » * * » V

A late official message from Petrograd shows that on a great part of the Russian front fighting is proceeding as vigorously as ever. At the northern end of the attacking front, where they drove the enemy across the River Styr, the Russians have repulsed numerous attacks, inflicting heavy loss. -Still, better news is given of events further south. In Bukowina,_ not far f?om tho Rumanian frontier, the Russians are forging ahead, despite desperate efforts by tho enemy to stay their progress. * * »

Mobe losses by submarine, attack are reported to-day, one case at least involving considerable loss of life. Incidentally prominence is given to the fact that some merchant vessels are now going to sea armed against piratical attack. Proof that they are capable, so armed, of giving a good account of themselves is supplied in the experience ofi the steamer City of Marseilles, which exchanged shots with a submarine in the Mediterranean some weeks ago, and in tho upshot got away safely, leaving the attacker badly damaged and perhaps destroyed. 1 The submarine disappeared listing to port, and a submarine disappearing in such a condition is apt to disappear for good. , *\* k *

One of the ships armed with a gun for purposes of protection' was the ill-fated Persia, and though a merchantman so provided is not a warship, tho circumstance will no doubt assist the American Government to follow its customary policy where submarine outrages arc conocrned. From the British standpoint and as a reply to the policy of attacking without warning, the arming of merchantmen is obviously sound policy. A ship carrying a gun is not immune from being taken unawares, but there may yet be many eases like that of the City of Marseilles in which the presence of a gun- and of capable gunners was responsible for the preservation of tho shin.

A great many people will be inclined to endorse the suggestion of the Daily Graphic that peace should not be made cxcept on the condition that the Kaiser, ton Tirpitz, and the German Ministers, should be hanged, as the authors of the coldblooded murder of civilians on the high seas. It may, perhaps, be raised as a practical objection that the time for adopting such a policy has passed—that it would be unjust now to create a penalty of which no mention has been made, during the year of war in which the Germans have committed many crimes on all fours with the sinking of the Persia. Undoubtedly the right course would have been to fasten direct responsibility upon the Kaiser and his chief advisers as soon as they opened their campaign involving the murder of defenceless women and children. But even if objection is taken to making the proposed penalty retrospective, this could not apply to making it prospective.

The idea of making tho Kaiser and the leaders of the German State directly responsible, however, is "to be defended on much wider grounds than the atrocities of tho submarine campaign. The Kaiser and the men by whom be is immediately aided and abetted are primarily directly responsible for a war which is costing millions of lives, and it is difficult to conceive any penalty too severe for them. There is an absurd anomaly _in the conditions that exist. Millions of human beings are dying, some as the victims of outrages which will everlastingly dim thf; _anna,ls of civilisation, and all as victims to the insensate ambitions of the Kaiser arid his party. Yet the authors of this most infamous crime fever' committed against humanity are granted not only secure protection against the risks of war j>.it immunity when the fighting is over and peace has been restored.

It would be a strictly practical stop to fasten direct responsibility on the Kaiser and those who share his culpability. So acting, the Allies would make clear to all the world the ends for which they are fighting, and they would likewise bo making the first move towards driving a wedge between that section of the German nation which is wholly enchained or dominated by militarism and the section in which some lingering traces of sanity may be supposed to survive. A sharp realisation would be brought to all Germans capable of thinking for themselves that they were fighting not in defence of their own welfare and liberties, but to protect the authors of their misfortunes and the misfortunes of the world from the fate which they richly merit. As the terrible burden and drain of the war become more and more felt in Germany the possibility correspondingly increases of these issues assuming practical shape before the eyes of the German people. At all events, it is right, even in the most limited view, that supreme responsibility for tho war should be placed on the right shoulders'. It may bo noted that the principle of direct responsibility has alreadv been effectively asserted by the Allies, though in an affair of minor importance judged by the standards of the war. In the early days of tho Dardanelles campaign the Turkish Government proposed to reply to Allied air attacks by _ lodging detained European civilians in the danger zone, where they would be imminently exposed to destruction by the bombs of their compatriots. Great Britain at once announced' that in the event of harm befalling these prisoners she would hold Enver Pasha and other leading lights of the Young Turk party personally responsible. The threat was effective, and the Turks forthwith removed their prisoners to a place of safety.