WAR SITUATION TO-DAY

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 60, 8 September 1914, Page 6

WAR SITUATION TO-DAY

At the moment the dominant factor in the war is the Russian success against the Austrians in Galicia, the PolishRutheninn province of Austria lying on the Russian side of the Carpathian mountains. Advancing by -way of Tarnopol and Brody, two Russian armies couverged upon the Galician capital, Lemberg, which they Occupied after- a decisive victory, on the Austrians enormous losses. Having pierced the heart of Galicia, the Russian army has three lines of advance. One, probably thp least important, is southward towards Kolomea and the Austrian province of Bukovina (capital Czernowitz) ; this southward movement is represented by the Russian capture of Halicz. The second line of advance is via the Carpathian passes into Hungary, which is ringed by these mountains,* already Russian cavalry Ib in the passes, but whether they are practicable for the passage of the Russian •armies is not yet clear. In any case, occupation of the passes is excellent policy wherever possible, with a view to cutting off or impeding the Austrian retreat. The third and possibly most important direction o? Russian activity is westward through Galicia, via Przemysl, to Cracow. Already the Austrians who attempted a counter-invasion of Russian Poland are at a big disadvantage, and it is now possible for the .Russians to sweep the Galician plateau along the base of the Carpathians right to the spot where the German and Austrian frontiers meet, thus opening up a new front against Germany ; and a Russian offensive against Germany is, obviously, the best assistance that can be given to France. The most striking indication of this is Russia's partial investment of the stronghold of Przemysl, and the withdrawal of Austrian and German troops from Russian Poland. The sudden collapse of the Austrians in Galicia, due partly to racial disaffection, not only depreciates the value of Germany's ally by 50 per cent., but makes Germany vulnerable in uhe south-east as well as in the centre (Posen) and the north-east (East Prussia) of her Russian frontier. Meanwhile, the Germans have not crushed the French army, and if they return east without doing so, they will have failed. For Germany, a defensive campaign on two fronts will nob work. Before she leaves France she must so cripple the French forces that they cannot follow up a-nd strike at the lower Rhine, the industrial heart of Germany. It is Germany's misfortune that her coal and iron region lies close to her frontier, and, without it, she would cease to be self-contained. So far, the policy of defence in France and offence in Russia, plus the , indispensable naval blockade, is giving all the results that can reasonably be expected.