PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 149, 25 June 1915, Page 7

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

RUSSIA'S GREAT RETREAT FROM TARNOW TO LEMBERG. SURVEY OF THE GALICIAN "DRIVE. 1 ' With the fall of Lemberg there ends the principal stage of the eneihy's great effort to clear the Russians out of Galicia, which represents the only large hold which the Aljies have upon any of the enemy's territories in Europe. The story of the sensational campaign to which this event forms the crisis is one of remarkable interest, if only because the enemy has, for once, achieved to a, notable extent the object for which he set out. The latest mails from England, by providing fuller surveys of the events of the war, enable one to obtain a better understanding of the completeness of the surprise which was. effected by the enemy's great attack in Galicia. There are indications that the German people were as slow to understand its significance at first as the rest of the world. It is impossible in the space available to quote extracts giving the sequence of events leading up to the big struggle, but a flying survey will suffice. .It will be remembered that, following upon the great battle of ' the Bzura, which ended in the complete frustration of an enormous frontal attack upon Warsaw, the enemy made a fresh movement, swinging great forces round through East Prussia and driving the Russians out. _ This was an attempt to take Warsaw in the rear ; but it, too, was. doomed to failure. Its collapse probably dates from 2nd March, when the enemy were severely defeated at Prasnysz. Since then the line reached by the Germans has remained almost unchanged, as in fact the Bzura line has. About this time, the Russian advance in the Carpathians had progressed to the extent that their hold of the Dukla Pass was supplemented by practically complete control of tlie Uszok Pass. Hungary seemed in imminent danger of a serious invasion, and the Government appeared to be likely to sue for a separate peace. _ Germany was thus compelled to relieve the pressure ; and the political importance of the situation sufficiently explains the sacrifice of men and munitions involved in it. THE BALTIC RAID. The first important development was of an unexpected and sensational kind. G/ernian warships appeared off the coa-st of the Baltic provinces, and, the enemy reports, began clamouring about an invasion of the country round about the Russian port of Libau, and south of Riga*. Libau was subsequently captured, and more or less serious fighting has been going on ever since in that region. The Russian authorities at once announced that the invasion was v a mere foraging raid; and its real importance as an individual campaign has not yet been announced. Except as a. possible menace to the Russian conimuncations, requiring certain defensive precautions, it is probably not very great, especially as the country is difficult for the movement of large armies. Nevertheless, though the presence of large enemy forces was denied, the movement progressed with great rapidity As late as the Ist May Petrograd denied the strategical importance of this raid, and declared that it arose from the desire to include within the foraging area a portion of the froitier country not hitherto ravaged by waxlike operations. The Russian experts, however, for sonio time frankly admitted to being puzzled by the way in which the enemy "boomed" their new departure, a procedure not usual in the early stages of their attacks. This booming may have had effects contributing to the present uneasiness in Russia concerning the attitude of Sweden. CONCENTRATION AT CRACOW. Ifc soon appeared as if the northern raid was a clever device to draw attention away from Western Galicia, though it surely could not have deceived the Russian command as completely as was hoped. As early as 23rd April it was announced that great enemy reinforcements had been brought to the Cracow region, and this concentration must have been on an extremely heavy scale. The military correspondent of The Times, de"scribing the situation on 7th May, just after the "thrust" began, estimated the total enemy strength in Galicia prior to its commencement at a million and a-half. It is now estimated by a Petrograd authority at close upon two millions and a-half. At the commencement of May, the Rusjan line upon the Dunajec and Biala Rivers, that is, from the Vistula to the Carpathians, fronting Cracow, was only thinly held, largely by a cavalry screen whose duty it should 'have been to warn the Russian command of approaching danger. Apparently the position was misconstrued, for the enemy began their great effort before a sufficient concentration had been made to i check them in any marked degree. BEGINNING OF THE ADVANCE. The " drive " began on 2nd May, with the penetration of the Russian West Ga-lician front and its immediate retirement. For the next few da-ys there was clamour in Germany, and no doubt far more excitement there than in. any of the other countries concerned. In the early stages a great victory was announced, and tremendous captures were reported. According to the current 1 reports, the German press ' and public suddenly suffered a. revulsion of feeling I because no reliable partieuk-re wpjre |

available, and a few days later tho report of the Auetro-German success in Galicia was, according to the Vossische Zeitung, "proved to have been a hoax, and proceedings have been instituted on behalf of Wolff's Bureau against the perpetrator?." (Daily Telegraph, 7th May.) Nevertheless, the reports were well founded, and Berlin was again put en fete, though all sorts of totals, running as high as 100,000, were announced as the number of prisoners captured in the first stages of the fighting. LOSS OF THE PASSES. From that time the Baltic provinces campaign fell into a position of minor importance, and the Galician campaign progressed with an almost continuous advance by the enemy. The Carpatluan passes, which had been won by a winter campaign of the most arduous nature and by magnificent efforts on the part of the Russians, had one by on© to be given up. The most westerly, Dukla Pass, went first, and the Russians, who ! had been holding it to the last, got away with difficulty. There was hope that, the Wislok River, forming a line roughly parallel with the Dunajec and Bialaline, and almost covering the Dukla Pass, would enable the Russians to make a stand. But, as events have proved, such was the weight and impetuosity of the enemy's attack that it formed a frail barrier. FAILURE OF THE SAN LINE. Later event* have shown that the Russians were levered away from the whole Carpathian front, to fall back upon the San and the Dniester, .which afforded them at least a breathing space. But Przemysl, at the angle of the two river lines, was, after its long siege, no longer a real fortress, and it quickly fell. The Dniester line did not fail ; but the San was forced by the enemy without real difficulty. The later events' are fresh enough in "memory not to need to be recalled. As far as can be judged from the cabled reports, the Russians have reason to be satisfied with the method, if not with the fact, of their great retreat. Probably they lost very great numbers of men in the first stages'; at all events, _ the enemy's figures were not corrected in such a way as to show that the losses were not very heavy. But there have been no sensational reports of great captures of Russian forces during tiie rest of the retreat. It was probably clear wheii the San was forced that Lemberg i could not be held, though the line of river, lakes, and marshes running through Grodek was described as a final line of defence, which as it happened failed utterly. The Russians took no chances at Lemberg, for, according to Austrian reports, the captors of the city, the heart ; of the Russian organisation in Galicik, found there no booty, and few prisoners. Lemberg was abandoned by the Russians on Tuesday, 22nd June. They captured it from the Austrians on 3rd September, just over a month after the declaration of war. WHAT COMES NEXT? Speculation of the most lively sort as to what a wili happen next is bound to follow the Galician crisis. It is by no means certain that Russia is seriously exhausted by the happenings of the last two months, at least by comparison with the enemy; and there is the possibility that they may make an early return under new circumstances. It must be remembered, tpo,_ that although for the time being Russia is losing very valu« able transpprt ' facilities in the Galician roads and railways, she has" the option of falling back (if she cgn do so quickly and safely) into Russia behind a protecting buffer of poorly roaded country, where the enemy's difficulties will increase with every advance, while Russia's will be reduced. But Russia may be , much exhausted. In that case, Britain 1 and France, and their small but valorous ally, Belgium, must be prepared either to undertake immediately a heavy offensive, so as' to shatter the German defensive before it can be buttressed by the victors of Galicia, or to meet a new German attack made possible by the return of the victors' of Galicia. The recent great activity in organising labour for the production of munitions is a measure of the eagerness of tho authorities not only to provide the Army now at the front with adequate supplies, but to be in a position to forward more men, and so to occupy more than the present small front of a little over 30 miles, not much more than one-twenfcie'th of the total Franco-Belgian front. The fact that the present total British strength pn the Continent is probably still below three-quarters of a million, is good reqson to believe that the British are not yot prepared fully for a general offensive, and would wish it delayed. The throwing back of the Russians, which was totally tmexpecteid two mouths ago when the munitions orißis was at a head, has made a, great difference in the outlook. A very great deal depends now, ajs ever, upon the state of Russia. If her military strength is not temporarily shattered, and if her. political determination is as sound as it was, little harm has been done, But in any case, the spring* are set for great events j and an early day may see them released.