PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2702, 23 February 1916, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Reports from the Western theatre contain good news, notably in regard to an outburst of air. fighting in which the Allies have accounted for a Zeppelin and seven enemy aeroplanes, including a Fokkcr and an Albatross. The Fokkcr, it is to be noted, was brought clown by a- single French aeroplane, so that its powers as a fighting machine are evidently not on all occasions as great as they have recently been represented to bo. The Albatross, a large and powerful battle-plane, was brought down by. artillery lire, but most of the enemy losses mentioned were sustained ill an extended scries of air-combats in which the Allies sccni to have been uniformly victorious. The appearance of a Zeppelin on the Western front is exceptional, but since the one now reported was brought down in the' area south-west of Verdun, and its destruction is announced on official authority, the facts cannot be in doubt. It was accounted for by an armoured motor-car; possibly at night with the aid of a searchlight. If it ventured over the French lines in daylight it was courting the destruction which it met.

These air-combats in which the Allies have done so well were incidental to a scries of attacks on depots and communications in 1 which both sides have Jbcen engaged. As reports go, the Allies have had much more powerful squadrons at work. One of the most important attacks reported was made by a squadron of twenty-six British machines upon the junction of Don. This place stands five miles east of La Basses, and constitutes a vital link in the enemy communications between La Bassee and Lille. Much damage is Baid to have been done to stores and to the railway, and all the machines ,returned safely. The French meantime have been raiding further afield in Lorraine and in Alsace, attacking airship sheds, munition depots, and other establishments. Especial significance attaches to this outburst of air-fighting from the fact that such activities have invariably preceded and accompanied abnormal activities on the Western battle-front. There has also, it is'true, been much airraiding at intervening periods, but the present is a time when a blaze of battle may break out at any moment. A hint is already given that if the Germans develop their threatened assault upon the Ypres salient they are likely to fincl themselves simultaneously engaged elsewhero. At the moment there is no news of any further attempt by the Germans at I Ypres, but the southern side of the salient is named as one of the areas in which the Allies are heavily bom- | ba?cling the enemy lines. '

Matters of interest are. touched upon, though with disappointing brevity, in an official report of an aeroplane reconnaissance over the area east of the Suez Canal. In tho first place tho report affords definite evidence that Turkish troops are still established in the interior of the Sinai Peninsula, though it does uot follow that they are in any great strength. The chief incident ot the reconnaissance was tho dcstructi' u of an enemy power station at El Hassana, in the hilly country, about 80 miles cast of the Canal. What purpose the power station served is not disclosed, but it was destroyed with a single bomb weighing a hundred pounds, the weight of the projectile thrown by a six-inch gun. Possibly tho power station was intended for the generation of electrical power for portable searchlights, such as are now in common use. The presence of such an establishment, whatever its purpose may have been, in the interior area of the Peninsula, lends some colour to the stories about the construction of a narrow-gauge l-ailway and other elaborate preparations made by the onemy for an attack on the Suez Canal, but obviously the chances of such an enterprise taking shape are greatly lessened now that the Russians have made their great forward movement in Armenia. t » * » Nothing but good news is given of the Russian campaign in Armenia. Chief interest attaches at the moment to the area between Erzerum and the Black Sea. Here, as reports go, a Turkish army corps'is out off from Us base with the Russians across its line_ of retreat, and the Russians are said to be closing in upon the Black Sea port of Trebizond. The outlook is distinctly promising. * * * * The Germans give an official account of the air-raid on the Norfolk and Kentish coasts, which may bo set aside as inaccurate, since it is at variance with the definite accounts of the damage done issued by the British authorities. For instance, the statement that a gasometer collapsed is presumably intended to convey the impression that it was blown up, whereas the British reports state that bombs dropped harmlessly in its vicinity. Evidently tho Germans are trying to mend a very poor performance with' words. One or two hints are given of a state of tension between Greece and Italy which it is to be hoped will not be allowed to develop. Tho Greek Government has found it necessary to apologise to Italy for offensive 'language used by deputies in a recent debate, a suggestive indication that Geiman conspiracy is not at an end of its resources in Greece. Ibo dispatch of a Greek cruiser to DuX'azso "to pratoot Greek residents, in view of an exuected early attack oy

Turks and Bulgars" also wears a peculiar look. If an enemy attack on Durazzo is imminent, a Greek warship is not likely to play .more than ,-i nominal part in the character suggested, but her presence might easily give rise to one of those "incidents ' which sometimes lead to trouble ■hetwcen_ one country and another. There is a distinct suggestion in the current news that efforts arc being made to sot Italy and Greece by the ears, an achievement which may seem the more possible to German conspirators since the two countries have more or less conflicting ambitions in Albania and the Aegean, perhaps in Asia Minor as well. Needless to say, a conflict between Italy and Greece would seriously complicate the position of the Allies in the Balkans, and it is to be assumed that every effort will be made to avert even'the possibility of such a misfortune.

Little has been heard for some time about Mesopotamia, but an official dispatch to-day' mentions that the reinforcement of Colonel Aylmer's relieving column, on the Tigris, below the Beleaguered post of Kut-dl-Amara, is proceeding satisfactorily. From the absence of any news oi recent fighting, it is to be inferred that both the Kut-el-Amara garrison and the relieving column arc benefiting materially by the powerful diversion created by the ilussians in Armenia.

, Somb- rather sweeping statements regarding the state of public opinion in Germany, and other matters bearing upon the resources of the Central Empires in continuing the war, are credited by the Weekly Dispatch to Colonel House, who went to Berlin a little time ago as Pkesident Wilson's envoy. The American envoy has been pictured hitherto as cautious and reticent to a fault, and it must he considered very doubtful whether he would talk as freely,- not to say recklessly, as he is now said to have done. In any ease, both as regards the internal state of Germany ancl the extent to which she is likely to be able to draw profitably upon the areas into which her armies have extended their sway, the statements attributed to Colonel House are in some material respects' unconvincing. He is made to say, for instance, that while the German Army and Navy are absolutely confident of victory, the'.civil population is dissatisfied, uncomfortable, and weary. It "Is unlikely that the sentiments of dissatisfaction and w r eariness noted in the civil population are non-existent in the Army and Navy, while the statement that the latter service Is confident of victory seems to border on the absurd, even if libera,! allowances arc made for hopes based on the alleged construction of wonderful ships and guns about which scare stories have been rife of late. Apart, however, from the fact that they are inherently improbable, and unconvincing, no very definite rebuttal is possible of these accounts of the state civilian and military opinion in Germany. All that can bo said about them is that they would need to be backed up by some definite evidence in order to deserve attention.

It is possible to criticise somewhat more confidently the statements made in the same message about the steps Germany is taking to obtain siicn supplies 'of material from Poland and Asia Minor as will enable her to carry on the war for some indefinite period. Here the assertions attributed to Colonel House 'are plainly fanciful in character, and of a kind more likely to originate with German publicity agents than with a neutral envoy. The colonisation and cultivation of Poland and Asia Minor, we arc told, ire proceeding apace; the Turkish cotton fields are being developed, and Germany hopes that the forthcoming harvest will enable her to carry on. The statement that tho cultivation of Poland is proceeding apace is certainly false, since that territory is only now emerging from tho §r,ip of winter, and with tho opening of spring, which will. make agricultural operations possible, it is likely that the Germans will find much more pressing enterprises demanding their attention and absorbing their energies. The picture of Turkey as a great storehouse from which Germany will be able to immediately draw great supjilies to her profit is certainly overdrawn. Asiatic Turkey is undoubtedly a country rich in natural resources, 'but its richcs are largely undeveloped, and there aro distinct limits to the possibility of development of these resources by Germany while she has a world-war upon her hands. British authorities have been quoted oil this point, and even enemy newspapers have felt it necessary to sound a note of warning on the subject. Thus a writer in the Berlin Fost not long ago stated that what Turkey lacked in the way of industrial products would henceforth be supplied to her by Germany, ,but he held out no hope of Germany receiving in return more raw material than would "rendfer our economic situation easier." He goes on to point out that owing to the undeveloped state of Turkey, years of labour and the investment of a great body of capital will bo .needed to develop Turkish resources in anything; like full measure, and that meantime "our successes in tho Balkans a,re taking us ho nearer to tho cotton crops, worth millions of marks, which are not yet growing in A.sia Minor-" This is in keeping with what has been said and written by British and American authorities, and what is known of the chaotic internal conditions and misgovernmcnt of the Ottoman Empire, and there is no reason to suppose that it has been written with intent to deceive.

From a practical standpoint, it is to ki borne in mind, that while Germany is in occupation of, or in touch with, extensive foreign areas actually or potentially rich, it is highly probable that she will presently have to defend these gains of war against an onslaught pressed with the whole military strength of the Entente. Poland is likely to bo again a battle-ground before tho time of the next harvest comes round, and as matters are shaping, Germany's possession of tho' road through the Balkans, by which she is in touch with Turkey, may at any time be decisively challenged. If it were necessary to assume tliat Germany and her Allies arc capablo of fighting a- long defensive war on the lines they now hold, tile prospects of extensive economic development _ of the areas these ' lim.-s contain would have to be seriously considered, but it is at least extremely doubtful whether the Germanic combination is capable of such a defence. Some commentators liavo based gloomy anticipations upon the high pitch of efficiency to which defensive tactics have been carried in modern war, but such ideas, as they apply to enemy prospects of holding out on the lines now occupied, lose

mucliof their force when consideration is paid to the immense extent of these lines and the consequent strain upon enemy resources. Vield fortifications have been developed to a- point at which they are -all but imprectnablo, so long as men and material a:-e available in adequate strength for their defence, but this is a. condition which Germany and her Allies in the present war :u'o likely to find jt impossible to satisfy. It will be time enough to regard Poland as indefinitely a German granary, and Turkey as indefinitely an open storehouse of cotton, ! oi)d. and other essentials, when a practical test, such as the spring and summer should witness, has sho>vn the enemy capable of defending and retaining these areas long enough to develop and utilise their resources.

Tall talk is credited to Here Maximilian Harden, who suggests peace proposals, with the threat of a still more frightful war if they are rejected._ The addition of a noted publicist to the ranks of peace advocates in Germany possibly counts for something as an evidence of enemy weakness. The threat counts for nothing. The nations opposed to Germany expect nothing of her but the worst of which she is capaisle. _ However, power as well as \v;ll is needed to give a threat effect, and the power of Germany is declining in a fashion that no nere words from Herr Harden or anyone else can avert".