The Washington times., 1915-02-05
CAMPAIGN IN POLAND

The German protection against in
vasion of German soil by the Rus
sian armies, lies in the exposed po-
sition of warsaw. Whenever the
Russians have, since the beginning
of the war, undertaken huge drive
against either East Prussia or Aus
tria- Hungary, Germany has counter
ed by making a lunge toward War
saw. Two or three times the Ger
mans have been within very short
distances of the old Polish capital.
It's capture would have been equiva-
lent to German occupation of Rus
sian Poland. In order to protect War
saw, then, the Russians were COM
PEELED to abandon their projects in
other directions.
But in the present case the Ger
man counter against Poland is not
drawing off the Russians in other
sections. Grand Duke Nicholas is
sending one army into East Prussia,
another across the Carpathians
against Hungary; and these armies
seem to be keeping up their often
sive with all vigor despite that the
Germans are again launching huge
movement against Warsaw.
There is only one explanation, and
that is that the Russians are now
confident that they are strong
enough to hold their own on the
Warsaw lines and at the same time
push forward their campaigns in
other directions. This is testimony
that Russia's millions of fighting
men are now at the front in vast
force. They have had six months to
mobilize and prepare for just this
state of affairs; and, once ready at
anything like their potential
strength, the ultimate outcome is not
to be doubted. Germany cannot for
ever match its millions against the
tens of millions that its adversaries
possess.
To keep the Germans from draw
ing yet larger forces away from the
line in France and Belgium, the al
lied armies in the west are pushing
the campaign in that quarter with a
vigor that, considering it is mid
winter, is remarkable. Yet the stale
mate in the west continues, and ev-
cry week makes it increasingly ap-
parent that the war is likely to be
decided on the plains of the east.
The Russian pressure on Austria is
constantly maintained, probably eas
much for political effect as for mill
tary advantage. 1t keeps Austria
from crushing Servia, and if at last
successful it may open a route by
which to outflank Germany through
Galicia.
The war is six months old, and
has seen one battle which may fair
ly be regarded as decisive. That
was the struggle on the Marne,
when the Germans, having reached
with the utmost advance the very
purlieus of Paris, were suddenly at
tackled all along the line by the al
lies and hurled back in a fearful dis
aster that came near being a rout.
That battle, it is now plain, saved
Paris; saved France; made an ulti-
mate Germany victory in the war
all but impossible. 1t gained the
time which Germany's enemies must
have if they were to match the Ger
man state of preparedness.
In these months that have since
passed, German offensive has made
new effort: the assault through
Flanders on the channel coast towns ;
and that effort has been stalled, with
stupendous losses: There is no.
where place where German often
sive is much more than defensive Of
fensive. The British, whose "con-
temptible little army" in the begin
nings almost deserved that charac-
terization, so far as it's numbers
were concerned, are getting their
second million of men into action,
and they will not be regarded from
this time forth as deserving any,
thing less than the distinguished re-
spect even of the greatest military
power on earth.
But the war is as far from its end
as it was week after it opened, so
far as general opinion can Judge. In
the opening days Of August there
was widely entertained opinion that
it would end in three months with a
German victory. Against this was
the view, also extensively held, that
it would end in the spring with a
victory for the allies. Today there
is less hope of victory in three or
| six months than there was at that