WAR NEWS.

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 24 January 1918, Page 3

WAR NEWS.

MONDAY.

Disorder in Austria—Troops Refuse to Quell Riots — Advance in •* Palestine — Russian Assembly Meets—Bolshevik display of force Independent reports indicate extensive and widespread strikes accompanied by serious rioting throughout Lower Austria, Trieste, and the Trieste Valley, while the whole of Bohemia is in . a^state of commotion. Important Vojjg^Stmition and railway workshops at a standstill. The garrison troops in Vienna refused to march against the strikers, but clashes between police and rioters have occurred elsewhere. The British line in Palestine a has been advanced to a depth of BK a mile on a four-mile front near Wf Durah, 12 miles north of r Jerusalem. mL Sinister preparations were A made by the Bolsheviks for the V meeting in Petrograd of the ™ Constituent Assembly, which is now in session. Machine-guns were installed in commanding positions, while warships were brought up, their guns dominating the city. The Bolsheviks have sent a second ultimatum to Roumania demanding a free passage for a Russian army through Jassy.

TUESDAY Naval Success—Dardanelles Action —End of Breslau and Goeben— Peace Agitation in AustriaRussian Assembly Dissolved. The British Admiralty reports that an action was fought at the mouth of the Dardanelles on Sunday between the Turkish cruisers Goeben and Breslau and a British force. The Breslau was sunk. The Goeben was beached in a badly-damaged condition at Nagara Point, in the Narrows, and is being attacked by British naval aircraft. The British lost two monitors. The strikes and riots occurring in Austria are largely political in character, the food question being of secondary importance. The anti-German feeling has deepened in intensity since the revelation at Brest Litovsk of the -German -an&exafcib'nist designs. A delegation of munition workers informed the authorities that the movement was political arid economical, and aimed specially at concluding peace. Theifirst meeting of the Russian Constituent Assembly resulted in a prolonged sitting. The Bolshevik deputies, after submitting a demand for the recognition of the decrees issued by the Bolshevik regime, withdrew. The Assembly decided against the immediate discussion of the peace position or the land question. It was dissolved next day.

WEDNESDAY Peace Demanded—Austrian Demonstrations—Resignation of Ministry —Ukraine Negotiates TermsGreat gaps in Russian Front. The strike in Austria has assumed preat proportions, 1,200,----000 workers being idle, while Hungary is also seriously involved. The Austrian Ministry has resigned. Strikers and police have clashed many times. A feature of the upheaval is the marked hostility displayed towards Germany. Demonstrators in Vienna repeatedly cried "Down with Prussian militarism." A German report states that a basis of peace has been agreed upon with the Ukrainian delegates. The terms are to be referred to the respective Governments for ratification, but their nature is not revealed. German reports indicate an extraordinary condition of demoralisation on the Russian front. On many sectors up to 150 miles in length no troops oppose the Germans. Food and ammunition supplies have practically ceased.

THURSDAY Austrian Crisis—Extension of strike k —Violent Scenes in Cities— Official Promises Ignored—Reign V of Terror in Russia. ■ Optimistic reports of a practical ■O'lilefflent of the strike crisis in l&Jstria have been proved incorygct. -The demands of the strik- . ers, which were summed up as " Peace, Bread, and Freedom," were practically guaranteed by the Government. The strikers have adopted the terms enunciated by Mr Lloyd George and Mr Wilson as a basis for peace negotiations. An account of the chaotic conditions prevailing in Russia states that the country is ravaged by she cruellest murders and excestes. The tyranny of the Bolshe^ viks is worse than that of the Tsars.