The Ensign TUESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1917. RUMANIA'S ARMISTICE.

Mataura Ensign, 11 December 1917, Page 4

The Ensign TUESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1917. RUMANIA'S ARMISTICE.

The acceptance by. Rumania of the German, arimstiee has not come as a surprise, us the cables received last week pavect the way lor such an announcement. An American correspondent in liOiulon .stated that a serious etiect of the Russian crisis was tnat Rumania was cut ott Irom her Western Allies and tnat developments in the Balkans wouiu I therefore be •'more. interesting.' 1 ! 'Jragic better describes the position of I Rumania, ihe abandonment of Russia oi her oattle trout makes the position of Rumania, almost hopeless. Her | armies were desperately menaced by the retirement of the Russian forces on | their northern flank to positions east of Lzernowitz and they could not possibly maintain their ersistance if their Hank was laid open. Rumania since her participation with the Allies in August of last year has made a wonderful stand against the might arrayed against her. Her decision to make a stand against the Central Rowers was not taken until alter mature consideration and looking at the geographical position it is not surprising that she hesitated, With one uorder resting on the Black i Sea, the others are surrounded by Russia, Austria and Bulgaria. Embracing the Allied cause in the early days oi the war, when the Central Rowers had the best of laud operations on all sides, Rumania might have been Jammed almost as badly as Serbia, and the country had before its eyes in Belgium and Serbia alike the brutality with which leiitonism treats a weak enemy. Both sides wooed Rumania; but tlie result was Jess a diplomatic triumph than one oi the fruits of military success, which have been negatived by the defection oi her great neighbor. Rumania is tlie si longest military Power iu the Balkan Peninsula, and her action in joining the Allies meant much to the Germans, who exerted their whole strength for two years to keep her neutral. The dream of Germany has always been to make of Rumania a German vassal State, and finally to incorporate her into the vast Empire oi | which the Pan-Germans dream but which the Allies will certainly shatter j eventually. The. armistice that Russia, and with her Rumania, has accepted, means much to the Allies. A war writer viewing the clouds on the Russian horizon not long ago, gave his ideas of Russia made peace. He pointed out that Germany and her allies—Austria, Turkey and Bulgaria—would get much tood and fodder, and it would be a question for the British Fleet to take action, for during the currency of tlie war the ileet has prevented food supplies from leaching the ehemv. "If Russia rats," lie said, "Rumania, after being horribly Jet in by Russia, will f H ? swallowed up and at tlie mercy of the Black Eagle. Germany and her allies will then control a'U the oil supplies l.hey need, and the Danube will.become German- to the Black Sea. General San-ail and his lighting forces at Salonica will also be faced with great and

immediate, trouble. I [Russia rats Austria will release all her armies from the eastern front and attack Italy in full strength, and possibly Germany will be able to supply l,fMK),()()0 men to help in •he operation. Jf Russia rats Germany will immediately hurl her'mighty forces now on the eastern front into France, where the most terrible and bloody battles'will rage." A glowing tribute was paid to Rumania by the British Prime Minister in a recent speech on Allied war aims, when he said, "And who can overlook Urn heroic struggle, of Rumania against overwhelming odtls'r (Cheers.) Rumania has rendered incal culable service to the cause of the Allios by her tenacious defence of the. Moldavian provinces, and her sons are defending the last remnant of their country's soil against a relentless invader. They have- done so with a success thns has astonished the (jermun armies, and when the time comes the Allies cannot forget how little Rumania stood to her guns." The broad military fact which emerges from the. eastern front is that the Western Allies, in conjunction with frho Hinted States, must rely more than ever on themselves. This unpleasant tact may dim successes and darken the future, though it should not alter the ultimate outcome of the war if the Allied peoples preserve their fortil tide.