NOTES ON THE WAR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15684, 11 August 1914, Page 6

NOTES ON THE WAR.

BRITISH EXPEDITIONARY FORCE. Although tho decision of the British Government on the question whether V expeditionary force shall, 0 shall J ? sent to the Continent has not been'™ iiounced, there are several indi » that steps arc being taken to prepare f! action in this direction. Earl KitA„, , ' appeal for 100,000 territorials t r Th' second army is the most significant f Uieso indications. Mr. Ililairo Bell,! whoso forecasts of tho progress of the war have so fur proved remarkably correct, has indicated the effect a British o.xr*d' tionarv force might have on the op J' Hons round Liege. The fact, that ala army was preparing to gather in the flat country to the west of the town would inevitably compel the German plan to de \elop upon the Lower Mouse. It M - o uld fix the seat of the war, and it would fix it in a field eminently calculated to ad. minister that first check to the Gemitm offensive, which, seeing that the whole German plan depends upon a verv rin'rt and immediately fucccr-sful offensive would be the best. possible opening 0 tho combat for the allies. Summit up his conclusions Mr. 801100 said'-! " It seems inevitable that in case of ho*, tilities Liege and the Lower Mouse would bo the point of attack ; that the old German conception of ' rushing' a ring.fortres?, even with no stronger resources behind it than the Belgian, must be abandoned; that a regular siege of Liege would have to be undertaken before a general German advance into Belgium was safethat the forces required to conduct such an operation would have to be larger in proportion to opposing forces that might soon be gathered in the Belgian plain; that Britain was peculiarly suited to afford aid at this point, and that the ospeditionarv force which was prepared to leave for the Continent last September would have landed upon the stretch of coast between and including Boulogne and Cstecd and would have been asked to operate fa the flat country, whose limits upon the east run somewhat beyond the line ol Namur and Louvain."

AID TO FRANCE.

The strategy of a European war Ms discussed in a reccnt issuo of the Edinburgh Review, wherein it was stated that, French soldiers would like to fee the British Expeditionary Force, expanded by men compulsorily trained, and ready to be employed on French or Belgian soil for the protection of their left flank, in the Valley of the Sambre, or along the lino of tho Mcuso. They gather soma confidence in this matter, because prominent British soldiers have been over to Franco taking a very practical interest in the manoeuvres and exercises of the troops, and doubtless on occasions fami. • rising themselves with tho topography of the countries. "Here," says the writer, " we see the relation of the Mediterranean naval' situation to the British Army, and to compulsory service. If tlw French guard, or help to guard,' the pathway of tho Mediterranean, should we not place our expeditionary force at their disposal fo- Continental operations ? Lord Roberts's plan, sot forth in ' Facts and Fallacies, 1 is to have a permanently mobilised long, service army distributed between India, England, and the colonial stations, and & short-service force, which, with the available portion of the long-service army, would give us 'a mobilisation strength equal to our estimated requirement of 300,000 men immediately available for oversea purposes in any great war,' and behind it 1,000,000 trained men, ' both for Home defences and for voluntary expansion in a great struggle ovexieas."

FLEETS IN THE BALTIC.

A report from St.' Petersburg states that a German squadron' of 19 vessels passed twice between Memel and Libau, and then disappeared northwards. Memel 16 a Prussian town, situated on the Baltic coast, close to the German and Russian frontier. Libau, which lies about 70 miles northward up the coast, is an important Russian naval arsenal, with two docks able to take any chips afloat. That German warships are in the vicinity of the Russian coast is confirmed by another cable which reports that 14 German warships passed through the Great Belt and steamed northwards towards Sveaborg, in the Gulf of Finland. Sveaborg is a strong fortress, guarding Helsingfors, the capital of Finland. Helsingfors is situated on the north bank of the Gulf of Finland opposite the great Russian naval base of Beval, from which it is dirt-ant about- 60 miles. The Germans are reported to haro laid mines in the Kattegat, between Denmark and Sweden, with the intention of closing the entrance to the Batic from the North Sea. The Russian fleet, which no doubt is the -object of the German squadron, cannot be regarded as seriously threatened so ldiig as it remains within the Gulf of Finland, which is strongly fortified on both coasts,

THE AUSTRO-SERVIAN CAMPAIGN.

The Austrians appear to be making as little headway with their invasion of Soma as the Germans aro with their invasion of Belgium. Fighting is still taking place on tho ba.nks of the River Save, which forms the boundary of Austria and Servia for nearly 100 miles. The bombardment of Belgrade, which is situated just across the Austrian frontier at the confluence of the Save and the Danube, also continues, but so far the Austrians have not been able to tnke the town. Early last week Austrian forccs endeavoured to cross the Save at Avalala, nine miles soutn-cast of Belgrade, and at Obrenovatz, 16 miles southwest of Belgrade, but both attempts were frustrated. Heavy fighting is reported to be taking place along the River Drina, which forms the north-west boundary of Servia.

ITALY AND AUSTRIA. Neither Italy nor Austria appears anxious to risk her fleet in a conflict with Britain. The reason for this is not far to seek. It is not long si tiro Austria and Italy entered on an era of naval development, an neither would desire to see her new Dread* noughts sunk, particularly if the navr of her neighbour survived. Italy has heel roused to greater naval efforts by her struggle with Turkey and by the consciences that her successful enterprise in Li"' 4 was watched enviously by Austria-Hun-gary. The two countries, though allies, o not love oach other. The spirit of 'It 1 * Irredentais not dead in Italy, 3,1 awakes responsive chords in the want® region of Trieste. Tliero is, too, the ever present fear that Austria might over-*® 4 Venetia and attempt to regain her gra*P upon Lombardy. Reciprocally Italy dig l throttle the commerce of Austria-Hungary. Tho Auetrians consider the control of til® Adriatic vital to themselves, and there f ls agitators like Herr Mai Schloss who, M a pamphlet recently published in Vienna» said the two nations must, sooner or M <r ' como to blows, for Albania is a "still-bof® State," and Volona must fall to tho D" Monarchy, Italy aspires to the comroan . of the eastern basin of the Mediterranean | . <11