PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3112, 16 June 1917, Page 6

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Some expectations arc entertained of an extended enemy retirement in Inlanders, but the. actual operations reported to-day have taken shape in a comparatively small extent ot country. The gist of the news is that the enemy has evacuated a short section of his defensive in Southern Flanders which was doubtless made untenable by _ the- overwhelming power of the British artillery. The positions abandoned, extending from St. Yvon (two miles south of Messines) to the lliver Lys, about two miles further south, wero exposed to enfilading fire- from the higher ground lately captured by the British to the north. T,hc enemy has-not to any material extent improved his general situation, and it remains true- that he is very seriously menaced in Southern Flanders. In the locality of the enemy 's latest retirement the lliver Lys runs close behind his front and immediately to tho north ho. is holding ground in the angle formed by tho Lys and the Yprcs-Comincs Canal. The steady British advance eastward of the Messines Ridge and further south has brought the. Germans perceptibly nearer to the time when they will Have to defend the angle between the river and canal against direct assault or execute a retreat which will enable the troops of the attacking army to reach positions almost due north of Lille and imminently threatening that great depot. 'The existence, of the River Lys and the Ypres-Comines Canal in their immediate rear is likely to tell heavily against the Germans in the near future. In tho circumstances that obtain these waterways will seriously complicate the , enemy's transport problems, and it is possible that he may find them fatal impediments to a successful retreat.

It has to bo remembered that the Germans have retired and are fighting in low and mostly open country where tho British artillery superiority and aerial supremacy will toll with maximum effect. Ono correspondent mentions to-day that although the country over which the enemy is retiring is low and marshy it has dried up in a long drought, and tho progress of the British troops is not difficult. Evidently the enemy has not found it practicable to resort in Southern Flanders to tho device of inundation.. Sometime ago he contrived to check the French advance- on Laon by inundating the Oise Valley, and he would undoubtedly have pursued similar tactics in Southern Flanders had it been possible. As matters stand he is faced by tho problem of maintaining .crossings over the river and canal for purposes either of continued resistance-or retreat. Since tho British bold dominating positions on the. Mcssines Bulge and are masters of the air it is tolerably certain that, their, guns will be 'brought to bear with deadly effect on the German bridges spanning both waterways long before the enemy is clear of tho angle between the river and the canal which have been mentioned, Aeroplanes also will concentrate in attack upon tho bridges, and the enemy will bo more than ordinarily lucky if he escapes a local disaster in this region. . ,

Even tho immediate features of tho situation lend point to current speculations regarding tne likelihood of an early cnoray retreat m Flanders. There aro good prospects of a British advanco in Southern Flanders which, apart from its local results, would gravely endanger the enemy's hold on Lille and on tho area, to tho north of tho present battlefronfc. It is therefore not impossible that.tho enemy, is crmtemplafc-

ing retirement to the. line which ho is reported in one message, to-day lo lie fortifying—a lino extending south-west from the Antwerp fortifications to a point about, thirty miles east of Lille. Retirement; to this line, however, would intensify the salient formation of the enemy's front which even as matters stand has tho effect of complicating Ins problem of defence. It seems likely that when Ihe Germans find themselves compelled to undertake an extended retreat they will aim at straightening and materially shortening their front, and if these considerations ruled they would not attempt to hold permanently a hue extending south-west from Antwerp. All that is certain meantime is that the stability, of tho. enemy's, existing front is threatened not only in Southern Flanders but in a number of other localities .in such a- fashion as to make an early retreat distinctly probable.

A message from Petrograd to-day states that many newspapers, especially those of the Socialist persuasion, express dissatisfaction with the French and British replies to the Russian Note. It is added that they complain of ambiguous phrasing and that some interpret the replies as a direct refusal to accept the Eussia.n platform. These _ are somewhat astonishing complaints. France and Britain are certainly not open to the charge of having stated their war aims in ambiguous terms. Both-havo made it clear that .they are fighting for the liberation of oppressed nationalities and • are determined to obtain secure guarantees of future peace. As to details Britain has formally offered to review, and if need be to revise, her agreements with her Allies, and Franco is no doubt equally ready to 'take this course. On the other hand Russia's war policy, if she- any longer has one, is shrouded in mystery. According to a Washington dispatch tho Allies are about to demand from Russia an explicit statement of her future stand in the war. It is extremely unlikely that the Allies will address any peremptory demand to Russia, but they are certainly entitled to a clearer expression of her policy than is available at present. In reference to Poland, for instance, the Provisional Government, in a- proclamation on March 30, promised .to constitute a free Poland consisting of the three divisions at present separated and including all the territories of which a majority of the population is Polish. Upholding this policy Russia would have no difficulty' in reaching complete agreement with.her Allies. Disownit, she would probably break with them hopelessly. The Russian Government has not recently stated its views in reference to Poland, but the fact that the formation of -a.separate Polish Army is being discussed at Petrograd possibly implies that the project of Polish liberation has not been, abandoned, it is at best, however, an inconclusivedetail in a generally gloomy and troubled situation.