THE WAR

Evening Post, Volume XCIII, Issue 99, 26 April 1917, Page 6

THE WAR

The battles on the West front increase in magnitude and intensity day by day; and it is one of the remarkable features of-the war as a whole that, while this major, and possibly decisive, struggle is in progress, the Eastern front remains so quiet ' that nothing at. all is reported about it. It has been almost an axiom that when the great offensive began this year, it would be evident on all the fronts; that the enemy would be deprived of at least one treipendous military asset. No longer would his "interior lines of communication" serve him as they had in the past. Hs would noj> be allowed to take advantage of qu}et on one front to swing his strength across to another. But the axiom was false; •it depended upon factors which did not exist. Russia, thanks to the pro-Ger-man and anti-national influences that have lately been so glaringly displayed, has failed in her great part. The only comfort that can- be derived is that she might have done very much worse. As M. Kerensky, now the dominant statesman in Russia,, has said, "if Tsarism had continued when Germany commenced her spring offensive, the defeat of Russia would : have been inevitable." The probability is that the ctyrefuljyengineered decay in the Russian military machine, manifested in failure to supply the army with food and other essontiwls, would have grown to such an extent that Russia could scarcely have been counted as an effective belligerent.

Even now, when the causes of decay have been exposed and a process of repair is going on, it is clear that the Eastern wing of the great Allied combination cannot, at least for some time, exercise either the striking force which might have been hoped for as its contribution to complete and rapid victory, or even that unrelaxing and compelling pressure which would have been the next best thing. ' General Alexieff, the Russian Chief pf Staff, in congratulating General Nivelle upon the Western successes, has given an assurance that Russia will soon strike again; but it must be admitted that in actual events, as far as they can be judged,-there is little to encourage hope in the early fulfilment of that promise. The German plots, which had for their final object the removal of Bussja ag an enemy, were designed' first to render the army,, helpless.. The revolution instituted a cure; but temporarily it certainly did not improve the position; Reforms cannot be carried out in a day, The. political turmoil, the fresh allotment of authority, the restoration pf discipline into an amazing chaos affecting all ranks and classes, and reorganisation, of essential industries, necessarily increase for a time the evils which had grown up.

The stagnation on the Eastern front was at one stage so marked that a complete cessation of , fighting was reported —a fact that indicated not only the condition of the Russian forces, but the desire of the enemy to let well alone and reap all the advantage passiblefrom it/ The Rumanian front has shown no activity for weeks past. It has long been evident that.the duplicity of the late Russian Government betrayed its eager new ally 'and delivered Rumania into the enemy's hands. How far it' failed '(to give her proper support is sho^jn by the extraordinary statement of Prince Lvoff, Premier of Russia, that undV- the old regime only four wagons, a day, were sent into Rumania' to provide for the army and the civil population, This has now been increased, he

a- vnFt increase certainly upon four, but seems still to. be remarkably small for tho needs of a great host.

It is past doubt that to the present impotence of Russia is partly due the powerful resistance now being offered to the Western offensive. ' Great numbers of fresh troops have appeared against. the British and French fronts, and the fact that many of them may be entirely new does not alter the general position. The east front is contributing men, either active troops or actualor. potential reserves, 1 to the west. Where troops go, guns and shells go also, and in every respect the silence in the east, increases the vigour of the defence in jthe west, . ..■ .■ ■• ' ■■ ■ ■ , V

In the circumstances the results so far obtained in this year's campaign must be regarded as most encouraging. Practically the whole of Germany's might is being used to stop the advance on a single front, and it has up to the present failed, and shows no sign of succeeding. The balance of power, notwithstanding the concentrations that make progress so difficult, appears to be on the side of the Allies, and the German reports themselves fail to maintain the optimistic tone which has jjsually characterised them hitherto. In tho meantime Russia is converting her moral revolution into a physical one. Haying acquired a new brain, she is building up a new body, of which the parts are beginning to work in more and more orderly fashion. The great Empire has sprung several surprises upon the enemy and upon her Allies—• none more remarkable than the blows she struck last summer, when the evil forces within 'her were already in full swing. How rapid the regeneration of the army and of the industries behind it maybe no one outside Russia—and perhaps few within it—can gauge. Russia'is taking up the position that her role is purely defensive, and seeks no new assets; but she has much to regain that has been lost, and before long she may be found striking fresh blows that will find the German railways an inadequate stay.

The day's "news about the Western fightjng is , fined chiefly on the keynote of the extreme severity of the struggle which took place on Monday, and which resulted in imperilling the northern flank" of the Hindenburg line. Sir Dpuglas Haig emphasises . }t; the correspondents find it tjie principal feature of 'struggle. It. is reflected ip. the; German, official report, in which the severity of the pun. ishment suffered by the defending forces is; sldlfuUy. glossed over by enthusiastic (and probably well-deserved) praise for the heroism of the. German troops. This communique is the, subject of special comment by the British War Office. An official message points out the unusual nature of the communique as an index to the anxiety of the ■ enemy command regarding the new situation. -4 very gratifying reference is made;in Sir. Douglas Haig's report to the air-fighfcing on Monday. It was greater mi amount, he says, than on any previous day. The British aviators went far behind the lines, seeking out the German aircraft and blowing tip railways, anwnunition depots, and-aerodromes; and this tallj of losses is very largely in favour of .th^ British,. Fifteen Gernian machine's were destroyed and twenty-four were fought down to the ground; and only two British machines ware missing. This day's work is ..& reassuring, sign aftej? the phase'recently- reported, when the enamy appeared to have robbed the Allied aircraft for the time being of the overwhelming aerial supremacy which had been one of their great possessions last year, .-.■.."■■•'■ , ■'. ..;

, An • unusual incident is reported oft. the : Belgian coast, when jt squadronVbf ■ British: aeroplanes attacked five German destroyers with bombs, obtained some hits, and apparently sank one of the five. A German report-claims that a British airship was' destroyed on the same, day off the same coast, and it is possible that the airship was indirectly engaged jn the same operation. The.victory of aircraft'over'snips, has seldom occurred during the war; but in the case of light vessel's like destroyers it is not surprising, ija view vof the' remarkable skill which is ..being developed in the accurate dropping of bombs. Most warships carry anti-aircraft guns; but these .are, not very reliable protection against aeroplanes, ■ which are. extremely bad targets; and. a destroyer cannot carry much protection against .the explosion. of a powerful bomb from abov«.