The Daily Missoulian., 1914-08-29
ASPECT OF BATTLE
HAS CHANGED IN
SHORT WEEK
ALLIES, ON OFFENSIVE FEW
DAYS AGO, ARE BEING
DRIVEN BACK NOW

London, Aug. --(Midnight)-F
day has been day of momentou.
news. News of the gravest charac.
ter came from France, where in a sin.
gle week the aspects of the operation.
have changed entirely.
Last week the allied armies were
pursuing an offensive campaign on al
the frontiers. Now, according to of
ficial news received from Berlin, EN-
peror William is congratulating his
people on the success of the German
arms in the task of putting the .iroI
ring around the allied armies from
Cambria, department du Nord, France
to the Vosges, while Lord Kitchener
the British war minister, came into
parliament with the announcement
that troops from India are being called
to help the British arms in France
and that the British army is to be inn
mediately reinforced.
The Only Consolation.
The only consolation offered the
British was the testimony from Field
Marshal Sir John French that in the
heavy fighting against tremendous
odds the British troops, who suffered
severely, bore themselves with con-
spicGous bravery.
It is already realized that the ter
rible struggle is only at it's beginning
and that the German plan of campaign,
openly revealed to Sir William Ed
ward Goschen, then British ambas-
sador to. Germany, by Gottlied Won ia
gov, the German foreign secretary, as
shown by the official paper published
yesterday, namely, to strike the swift
est and strongest blow to France, re-
gardless of Belgian neutrality or any
other hindrance, and then, when
France is at Germanys feet, for Ger
many to turn her attention to the
Russian attack, is being carried
through ruthlessly.'
Offense Abandoned.
The offensive strategy of the allies
is abandoned. The German army, in
vastly superior numbers, has imposed
on the allies a purely defensive STRAIT
egy, which is devoted to delaying as
much as possible what now seems to
be an inevitable advance on Paris.
Little can be gathered from either
British or French official accounts of
the great battles of the last week
In fact more is learned from what is
omitted than from what is stated. The
only thing that is clear is that the
allies, are fighting on the defensive on
ever-receding lines, while it is be-
coming increasingly clear that the de-
lsn hr5l Mt in l.
SAGE Lorraine was a weak spot in
French strategy.
A Fight for Time.
On the side of the allies, whose eff
forts are devoted to gaining time while
the Russian hosts overrrn Prussia,
however, is the fact that their armies
are still gathering and that Germany
may run some danger from their ever
lines of communication.
That this danger is not negligible is
shown by the news that Emperor Will
liam has ordered the mobilization of
the last reserves to protect communi-
cations and occupy Belgium, SO that
the, troops now engaged in this work
may be released to go to the front,
where they are badly needed to re-
place Germanys heavy losses in killed
and wounded.
The work Of provisioning and sup
plying the German army is greatly
facilitated by the Germans being able
to draw on Belgium for supplies.
British Are Patient.
The British public is facing the dis
news with patient deter
mination. In an editorial today the
Spectator says:
There is cause for anxiety and
there is cause for unflagging military
but there is no cause for
despair or even dependency Time is
with us and against our enemies"
On the eastern battlefield the war
news continues favorable to the al
lies. The Russians continue to ad-
vance in East Prussia and Poland
neither the German nor the Austrian
forces apparently being able to with
stand them.