Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1914-10-15
DRAMATIC SHIFT
FORCES RUSSIANS
TO CHANGE TACTICS
Warsaw Now Scene of Ter
rife Struggle Gar Com
PEELED to Defend Own
Cities Because of German
Aggression in East.

NEW YORK, oct Except for tn,
sharp turn in fortune that came with tn,
battle of the Marne, nothing in the his
tory Of the western campaign can com
pare in dramatic effect with the chang,
that has come, almost over night. on,
may say, in the military situation II
Poland and Galicia. This is the view ex.
pressed by the military expert of the
New York Evening Post
1t may be summed up in a sentence
the world was expecting news of the he.
ginning Of battle for the possession OF
Cracow and 1t learns that there is a great
battle now under way for the possession
of Warsaw,
On their northern wing the Russians
had won a notable victory over the in
vader from East Prussia whom they had
driven back over the frontier on their
southern wing they were apparently
pressing the siege of Przemys with vigor
and had sent their outposts at least, as
far as Tarnow, IS miles east of Cracow.
On their centre in Poland, to be sure,
there were fraEmentary and isolated re-
ports of collisions with the enemy and
Berlin claimed successes there, but so
little attention was paid by the rival
war offices to the conflict in that region
that one was compelled to assume that
the fighting in southern and central
Poland was merely maneuverng on a
large scale while the issues were being
fought out north on the East Prussian
frontier and south in Galicia. Today It
appears that the fighting on the wings
has been regarded, on the German side.
,1stI To. o., tl,.. t,y,.,
for the main thrust through the heart of
Poland against the capital.
At the same time there is no reason to
suppose that the sudden change in the
mere aspect Of things means an equally
startling change in the actual situation.
If the contest now under way in Poland
Is for the possession of Warsaw and not
OF Cree it is not because Russia has
met with disastrous defeat which has
forced il to suspend aggressive operations
and stand on the defensive. The ahan-
donment of the siege of Przemysl was not
TO all appearances the result of battle
In which the Russians were beaten, but
was the result of the application of Ger
man pressure along another part of the
battle line, which has hitherto remained
In almost complete obsCurity. Ominous
though it may seem for Russian pros
poets that the fall of Warsaw should he
spoken of as among immediate pOssibili-
ties there is nevertheless justification for
the Petrograd War Office when it speaks
of the withdrawal from Przemysl as die
tated by strategical reasons.
What these reasons are will appear
from a brief resume of the eastern cam
paign. Russian Poland is a wedge 22o
miles long and 200 miles wide thrust into
Germanic territory. The Russian plan
for an invasion of the enemy's territory
naturally demanded an advance on an
even front So that before the forces in
Tl,IE a{,,,t
lesia, it was necessary for the Russians
TO the north and south TO fight their way
through East Prussia and GaliCia respec-
lively till they reach approximately the
longitude of Warsaw. In the north the
Germans were successful In beating of
ire attack. \ great victory was won
near Tanenberg, and the Russians were
pursued into their own frontiers, only to
make stand on the Niemen and force
back the invader. In the north the fight
ing has been draw.
Russian successes on the south in Ga
licia have been noteworthy; but they have
also been exaggerated in many respects
to the damage inflicted on the Aus
trian forces and as to the menace to
Cracow. Even II the Russian advance
had reached Tarnow, as is reported, ii
would have meant that the Cars armies
had attained a point on the general front |
line with Warsaw, and that before |
there could he any talk of a move on
Cracow the forces In central Poland must |
be brought into play. But in central Po- |
land there had been going on in a silence |
favored By the developments of events |
elsewhere an extraordinary concentration |
of German troops
During the first weeks OF the war the |
Germans occupied Lodz. only so miles |
from Warsaw, and virtually stretched /
themselves in a belt 90 miles wide across |
Poland from Thorn through LODI Piotr- |
kov and kielce to the Nistula- They did |
this without resistance because II ap- |
parently entered into the Russian plans |
TO permit the occupation OF that part of |
Poland, while the Russian advance was |
under way on the north and south fanks |
in East Prussia and Galicia. The Ger |
mans, on the other hand. once the men
ace to East Prussia had been shattered |
by General Won Hndenburgs victory at
rannenberg, We're content 10 concentrate /
in southwest Poland, confident that the
Russian advance into Galicia could not !
be pressed dangerously near to Cracow
without the cooperation Of the Russian
central armies: ana these they were pre-
psFing 10 face. The story Of German
army corps rushed 10 the defense Of
Cracow probably has no basis Cracow
was indirectly but effectively defended
b" the powerful German concentration
In southwestern Poland, which must be
shattered before the Russian armies Of
the South dared press further into Ga
llcia.
Consequently when we read OF the Ger
mans now attacking the line OF the Vis-
tula and threatening Warsaw We must
recall that the situation Is largely one
cf Russia's own choosing. The march
of the Germans 70 the Eistula has been .
uuopposed since the first seri-
Gus fighting We hear of occurred about
90 miles west Of the river The really
important question is in what strength |
the Russians are now present on the Vis-
tula, Large forces have been engaged
In the hghring on the Niemen. Large
forces have been engaged in Galicia. IL
may be that under the veil which has
covered operations in Poland a third
strong Russian army has been conceu-
trated on the Fistula. though the falling
back of the Russians from Przemysl, for
strategic purposes, " would indicate that
the bulk Of the Galician army has been
shifted northward for the defense Of the
river.
AS 10 the outcome of the battle Of the
Vistula We have only this fact to go by:
That Won Renuenkampfs beaten army. |
pursued into Russia by the Germans,
made a fine stand on the Niemen River,
and beat back the enemy across the from
tier The Russians now confronting the
Germans and Austrians IN Poland are
made up OF troops that have been vic
,orlOus over the Austrians and of fresh
troops With the stimulus Of previous
on ground of their own choos-
ing the Russians should give a good /