WEEKLY WAR REPORT.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XLII, Issue 11580, 2 July 1918, Page 5

WEEKLY WAR REPORT.

REVIEW QF THE SITUATION

Press Association, We lington, July 1. The following telegraphic review' of the war situation during the week ending June 29th bus been received by the Governor-General from the Secretary of State for the Colonies:

Von Kuhlmann’s declaration in the Reichstag, “When one makss a wide fsurvey of events, one must ask. ‘Will the war, according to human calculations, last b&yond the autumn aud winter, or beyond next year?’ ” caused a sensation in Germany. The Germans are no longer told that their great sacrifices on the battlefield will bring a speedy peace. Perhaps the change is partly attributable to,the Austrian situation Even while Kuhlinaun was speaking of the “noteworthy succesa ;, of (he Austro Hungarian armies, their shattered divisions were struggling back across the Piave. Austria is almost starving. Many Austrians are blaming Germany for their predicament. AUSTRO-GERM AN FRICTION. The Austro-German negotiations seem to make no progress. . The Austrians apparently insist upon their own solution of the Polish qnestio.i, making this a condition precedent for future negotiations, and thh Germans tire*- unlikely to accept it. The difference is fundamental, and most embarrassing to Germany. Th« c ompletirn of a new alliance wit!; Aust in is the keystone of the “Mi (tel Ercropa” policy. Germany's whole position will he seriously compromised if she is unable to complete this speedily'.

Tlie Austrian defeat on the Piave is attributed iu Vienna partly to'the refusal of Hungarian troops to fight because the war in It-ly is not considered a menace to Hungarian territory’. The pan-Germans, on the other hand, argue that tins is treason, and renders it necessary to increase German cor.troliu AustriaHungary.

NOTHING ABOUT A MERIC. Kuhlmaun and other German statesmen have little to spy about the share of the United States in' the war, yet they must know that 900,000 American troops are already in or on their way .to France, and that the number -'of American-built ships to be launched on tne”4th July will surpass all records. Kuhlmaun does not expect peace soon. What sort of peace may the German people expect “beyond next year?'’ THE ITALIAN VICTORY. On tbo Italian front the latest campaign began on the Uih June and had readied the. end of the definite phase by the 20th. The operation being of enemy initiitive, the Italian victory may best he measured ia terms of tbs Austrian failure. After ten days I'cf heavy li.-hting, the Austrians 'were less well pi seed than before. They lost some .20,000 prisoners lusides about ISO. 000 killed and wounded and considerably material. In one of (lie most important actiors British troops contributed materially to 1 the success, taking over a thousand prisoners and several guus, The operations .in tne Dalian the;.tie emphasise the unh-.ppy situation of the small Juationalifi-s fenced c> figlin under the Gerivnn yoke. It was noticeable th r. no German units assisted the Austrian army except certain ‘rcpuisiriomng battalions, ’ who were armed apparently only with paste brushes and labels with which they affixed ro every desirable movable property, showing that it had become ihe “property of ihe Imperial German arrav. This apro-ns to have specially annoyt'd tne Hunger isn croons on hte 1-iave sector. There is evirha: the Creel.s and Slav units,on the north era front destroyed their own ammunition dumps everywhere th.cv w* re able. The Czechs. Slavs mid Poles are lighting ay air st the Germans. Slavs are enlisting ia special antis of the American nrmv. and Polos in a special legion in France, while many soldiers in t::e American armv arc of German extraction, and glory ie the opportunity to destroy" the tyranny to a vein which they or their sr*.;rs v/ers io:c. u ro emirguct* to America.