THE RUSSIAN MOVEMENT.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXI, Issue LXXI, 7 June 1916, Page 4

THE RUSSIAN MOVEMENT.

The news from Russia encourages the hope that at last the Czar's armies are again taking the initiative, and are -strong enough in men and munitions to commence their share of the great push which the world expects from the Allies this summer. The news from the Western front usually engages most public attention, and, indeed, we hear most from that quarter, and therefore become more directly interested in it. But really very great things have occurred ~in the Eastern theatre, the bearing and importance of which perhaps have not been so evident. A recently issued section of The Times' History .of the War gives a most interesting account of the fighting in Russian and border territory during the autumn and early winter of last year right down to January of this year, when, following the great German and Austrian drive of the summer, the conflict developed into a~ struggle for a winter position. The purpose-of the German and Austrian strategy was to establish their armies on a line;-which;.could have been dield with coinpaiai^ely: small 'forces,, and from which the :ihitiatiye vvoul^ been almost1 entirely them: Rigawas an essential point. In possession of this and of Dvinsk, and of a line running south to Podolski, they would have won a position sufficiently good to compensate largely for all the great sacrifices they had made during many months, because, although they had not broken the Russian army, they would have been able to rest comfortably during the winter, with the added advantage of occupying a splendid strategical position for the opening of a new campaign. But the great fact emerging from the autumn and early winter fighting was that this purpose was completely- foiled. ..- The attack on Riga, although energetically pushed from two separate bases, was fruitless, and the sacrifice of thousands of men was in vain. How strenuous the fighting was, and how serious the loss of life one can only begin to appreciate after reading the detailed accounts of the operations, which ranged over a considerable area and included many bitter fights,.many of them large enough to be truly called battles. The-at-tempfc to get Dvinsk was also defeated, and, in fact, right down the line to the Roumanian frontier the Germans and Austrians failed to get the positions they desired. From September 18, when they gained Vihm, the Germans practically made no further advance in the East. All the fighting

after that was of no value to them for any practical purpose. The efforts at further advance made between that date and the end of the year were defeated as surely and as completely, though perhaps not so dramatically, as the daslies hi the West on Paris and then on Calais. Eight frbm the Gulf of E.iga to the Roumanian frontier there h?.d been a strong, well coordinated attack by the German and Au-strian _ armies,. ' : One section of the attack was directed by Hindenburg, next came Prince Leopold of Bavaria, then Genoi'i'1! Linser.gon, and, finally, down towards Roumania the Austrian

Archduke Frederick had charge. Not one of these reached his winter objective-. Virtually, they were each and all held up, and the Russians, after months of disaster and retreat, finally rested on what to them was a satisfactory defensive position, and to the enemy-was a position which gave them uncomfortable -stations for the winter and secured them no advantage for the opening cf a new summer campaign. That has been the general situation on that front for some time. Now the winter and the thaws of spring are

ever, it way reasonably be hoped that the Russians, who have had foroe-s to spare far incursions against the Turks in Asaa Minor, have also so strengthened their position on their Western military frontier that they can act with great for-fie.' A concurrent hope and belief is that the demands of Verdun and of the German Western campaign generally have been so heavy that in the East the fees have passed tha maximum of their strength, and that they no longer are able to move frem East to West or from West to East without considerable risk of giving the Allies a chance for delivering serious blows ova weakened position. We were told in yesterday's cables that ihe Russians had made a haul of some 13,000 prisoners. This reads like being a very good beginning for a summer

campaign