The Washington times., 1914-11-10

l No" IL ItuSSid III the great war udO
been the Russia of the japanese war all
this would have been impossible. Kuro-
patkin could retreat as c1everly. In as
! mastery fashion as the Grand Duke
Nicholas, but once committed to retreat
he lost the will to attack. Bernhard
analyses this with admirable clarity.
The retreat to Mukden was a deliberate
attempt to draw the Japanese on until
the Russians should have superior num-
bers at the decisive point, but this
object attained. Kuropatkin could not
attack-he, not his army, had been con-
quered.
In the present conflict it is plain that
the moral quite as well as the material
resources of the Russians are incom-
parably superior to those of the other
war. First Of all the mobilization was
accomplished with wholly incredible
was even in France the Slav hosts were
n East Prussia and Galicia- Before
France could be beaten down 1t was
necessary to send army corps to East
Prussia. Before the battle of the
Marine. Lemberg had broken the spirit
and the offensive power of Austrian
armies.
For the East Prussian audacity Rus
sia paid dearly--an army larger than
the combined forces of Wellington and
Bluecher at Waterloo was more COM
pletely crushed than Napoleon's on that
famous field. But the defeat in East
Prussia was in fact small price to pay
for the victory at the Marne.
Remnant of Army Rallies
After that defeat, too, Russian mill
tary skill and determination remained
unshaken. The remnant of the army
defeated at Tannerberg was rallied and
REINFORCED, and a few weeks later,
having stood victoriously at the Me
men, flowed west again toward East
Prussia and triumphed at Augustowo.,
German offensive launched suddenly
against Warsaw was met and beaten.
From all directions Russia began tre-
mendous concentration. Her victorious
troops came north from Galicia, from
Bukovina- One of the most colossal of
military movements, the transfer OF
hundreds Of thousands of men over
hundreds of miles, badly served by
railroads and worse by highways, was
accomplished, and as the Kaiser's army
approached Warsaw its northern flank
was suddenly decisively turned, and the
offensive in Poland checked.
Since that time, for more than two
weeks, Russian armies have been flow
line, from the Baltic to the Carpathians.
Every German and Austrian effort to
stand has failed. Today the advance
has reached Posen, passed the Warthe
river, conceivably the first line of Ger
man defense, and driven Austrian
armies back on Cracow.
Fight Foot By Foot.
In viewing the present phase Of the
great war it is no longer possible to
reach satisfactory conclusions by min
ute examination of day to day opera
tions. In the west the campaign has
in fact almost fallen dead, as spec
tacle, become a terrible but concen-
trated struggle for rods and miles. ham,
lets and hills, on which the opposing
lines sway back and forward.
To such a condition it is wholly prob /!
aJie the eastern struggle may now
sink. There has been no rout Of the
CT rmans. They will unquestionably be
as strong on the defense in Silesia and |
Poland as they have been in Champagne |
and Alsace. Bloody and terrible checks |
are the natural thing to expect now |
that Russia is on the margin Of Ger
many itself
Yet, east and west. it Is possible to
perceive certain unmistakable and
wholly vital circumstances. In the east |
l. is no longer to be doubted that there |
is a real. efficient, powerful Russian
army. well equipped. effectively led:
The Russia that the Kaiser has to deal |
with Is comparable not with the Slav |
fate which lost Port Arthur. or even
that which faltered before Plevna and
failed at Sebastopol Rather 1t is the
Russia that fought Napoleon at Boro-
dino and Frederick at Zorndorf: Rus
sia bound to give. capable Of enduring.
terrific blows
Different Than In 1870.
All this unexpected Russian effective
ness might go for nothing If France
were the France of Napoleon III. If the
sr,rit of Bazaine were reincarnated in