El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-08-18
fences at Paris. Dunkirk, LOrienL
Cherbourg and elsewhere
Germany Eorffffes the Rhine

fences at Paris Dunklrk, LoE4eAI
Cherbourg and elsewhere.
Apparently more fearful OF france
than. any other antagonist germany
has concentrated most of her 1oru1lca-
tons along the Rhine. There she mas
fortified Neu Breisach, AIainz, Cob
lentz, Germershiem and StrassDurs- IN
Alsace the Germans have the tortured
camp OF Moleshein- In Lorraine lhey
have the fortresses OF Metz and Dlden-
hofen.
On the east, against Russia, Ger
many has the fOrtresses OF RoSens
Koenigsburg, Breslau and others.
Should Germany be de1eaLed on ner
frontiers. she still would have count
less fortresses, including those at Co
logne, Ulm, Spandau, kustrlns KEEL,
Danzig and Neisso.
Russia Has Two Lines of Defence.
On the German-Austrian frontier
Russia has a line Of Qualifications at
Warsaw, Rowna, Ditowsky, Grodno
and Kowno. In addition TO these, Rus
sia has established a score or more OF
fortified military camps along her
frontier
Russia has a secondary line Of forth
ncations extending through Riga, b.
tebsk, SmOlensk and Kew BESIDES
these forts Russia has massive de-
fences at Warsaw, odessa Helsingfors
and st. Petersburg.
The main Austrian frontier IorJlIlca-
tons are at Cracow, Przemysi, Buoa-
pest and Semlin. Also Vienna and
other interior cities are strongly forti-
fled.
The entire coast line Of Great Britain
is protected by Qualifications, but II
Is scarcely within the range Of pos
slbiliuy that with the huge English
fleet on the sea, there viii be any
land fighting in the British isles.
SerVia EOrtifies But One City
Belgrade, the capital Is the only
fortified city in Seryia,. but the eoun-
try for the most part Is mountainous
and the ridges and valleys form natural
defences OF the Balkans that would
make IL hazardous for Austrians and
Germans TO invade the country.
Supplementing the forts built along
the frontiers Of the various countries
now at war almost the whole Of Eu-
rope is well protected by natural de-
fences, mountains rivers and valleys,
narrow passes and defiles- The country
along the French border the eastern
part of Belgium and western Germany
is billy and crossed by mountain
chains Three rivers and their valleys
Of prime military Importance cut TINS
billy country, the Rhine and It's west
ern tributaries, the Moseu and the
Heuse on the French side and the Main
in Germany
In the valleys Of these rivers lie the
principal lines Of communication OF
the entire region The Franco-Gcr-
man border may be considered IN TWO
parts, the southern or Alsatian IRON
TIER ana uQL4CA OF LlAAaAAAE 4 ne ASA
tian border is formed by the Voges
mountain range, so miles long, crossed
by seven roads passing through defiles,
but the narrow nature Of these passes
makes their defence comparatively
easy. That is the reason why both
Germany and France rushed their
armies into Alsace as soon as mobili-
cation was begun and war declared
To the west Of the valley Of the
Moselle and separated from IL by the
massive mountain formation Of the
Eiffel, is the river Meuses coming from
France. and entering Belgian territory
at Sedan II flows through Liege and
the Dutch province of Limburg-
Three Natural Lines of EntrJ.
Thus there are three natural lines
for any advancing army from Ger
many into France. or from france mo lhIo
Germany, through the Iroue De Bel
fort, the Moseue valley near Metz or
the valley OF the Meuse through Hol-
land and Belgium AL three passages
are naturally well guarded by the NV
ers and mountains and easily defended.
II is where the natural defences are
weakest that the rival nations have
erected their chains of fortifications
stretching from the Baltic sea down
to the Black sea, comprising eastern
Germany, western Russia ana NORTH
eastern Hungary, is composed mainly
and divided by the Carpathian noun
tains. forming a natural defence Tor
hungary against Russia
The Carpathians in their western
part have an Alpine character and are
extremely difficult to pass by large
bodies Of troops and heavy artillery.
The eastern part Of these mountains
is lower but heavily wooded.
OF Secondary importance.
The southern Sheater" OF war IS
APPARENTLY Of secondary importance at
this stage. 1t seems probable. that
the first great engagement Of the
war will take place in tie west. be-
tween Germany and the allies, France,
England and Belgium II a great battle Z
should occur there and not bring the
beIlfgerents to terms, the next decisive |
action probably would take place In
the east. either in Russian Poland or
tween Cracow and Breslau. In all
proba bility, Austria will remain wholly
on the defensive. and the fate OF the
combatants in the southern "theater
be decided BY the fighting on the
west and east