Evening star., 1915-12-19

IN the meantime he played the,'
ossible to satisfy completely, butt;
:
changed. as yet-in tight hole It was,
In overwhelming numbers. directed at
the French. who had evacuated Kri-
violak. let go OF the Damirkpu pass
and were now coming back upon Gin
gheli approaching the Greek frontier.
Meantime the British. who were easth
Dorian. covering the Dedeagatch-
Saloniki railroad were under heavy.
pressure and were being drawn in on
the French with heavy losses and in :
some d1sorder, having confessed to the
loss OF eight guns and some hundreds
of prisoners.
The single question now was: could
the allies get back to the district about
Saloniki and dig themselves in suffi-.s.
GENTLY to hold OF the Austro-German-n
Bulgar advance. aided by the guns Of
the great fleet in Saloniki harbor?t
Ihere was-and is-a plain chance thater
their enemies coming east from Mon
astir may cut them off from Salonikf..
by forcing the passage of the Vardar,.,o
just west of Saloniki. There was an
even graver peril that their enemies
valley might get astride the roads and
railroads leading south to Saloniki
from Gingheli and Dofran.' 40
TO all intents and purposes the allies
were now In the position of Sir John
Moore's army in the peninsular CAM
paign. when Napoleon made his great
drive in Spain and left Marshal Soulra
to finish the task by driving the Btit-,a
ish into the sea Soult followed the
British to Corona and just failed tor
destroy them. but they lost their conn.,
mander and were compelled to take.
ship. This inglorious precedent now.l
stared the British in the face, unlessw
hold on. -
what strength the Anslo-FrenchAi
force now has remains in doubt Prob.
ably the total force does not exceed
100000. certainly it is not above 200-e
600. This Is inferior to the strength h
OF the Bulgarians alone and the cen-
tral powers can call up Turkish troops y
and make use of Austrian and GeraIr
man forces. Every consideration which =
can count urges the central powers d
to expel the Anglo-French forces fromst
the Balkans altogether and thus com-ct
plete their great campaign. "a
Divided Councils. ~
To add to the difficulties Of the allied =. :.
situation it is known that there are -
divided councils as to the course to bepl
followed. The British have urged theW
withdrawal Of the whole expeditionaryns
army since their mission has ended,
with the failure to relieve the Serbsoi.
British apprehensions for the safety of
Egypt, coupled with the realization,
that Britain must supply the majority.
of the troops for this campaign, il
it is to be continued, explain this de-
sire.
objected and apparently carried the,
day. They recognize that If the allies,s
leave the Balkans, Greece will prob
ably join the central powers. when heroo
nnrfa haxr <N
will hardly hold out long against COM
bined pressure and persuasion, based ~
upon allied prospects In the near east.
This would mean that not less than ::
the battle line Of the central powers !,
and Saloniki and other Greek ports
would become the bases OF German :.
submarine operations. d,
Allied prestige in the near east has
gone. The failure in the Balkans has,
followed the utter defeat at Gallipoli. :.
peninsula and preceded only by few;
days the crushing reverse before Bag,
than this triple failure. which will have.
an enormous effect, not merely in the q
Balkans but in Egypt and even in
India. -
To hold Saloniki is to hold a base.Te
which may be used hereafter. It is to-
keep the Bulgarian armies in the feld,n
putting the Germans to very heavy ex-
pense. 1t is to maintain threat. slightH@
tion hereafter. and it is to preserve
the impression. in part at least, that
the British and the French have not
a abandoned their Serbian ally. whose
foreign help. as Belgian liberation can :
only arrive with allied victory. Ifid
Gailipolis is to be evacuated presently
all that there Is left to represent alliedo1
power in the near east.
The Prize Of the War. ~
There is little profit now In appor-
tioning the blame for the Balkan and
Gallipoi fascos. The failure Of the
fleet was perhaps failure in a justii-s1
able gamble. The prize of the play. as
Winston Churchill pointed out, was So,
great that try was perhaps defensi-Hts
ble. But when the fleet had tried andEs
failed. thus warning the Turks OF the
langer and giving them time to pre-
pare. the sending of the armies seems a
lopeless blunder. "a
ID, led to the dispatch of a second, which
vas flung back from Saribahr. as the R'
irst had been halted before Achi Baba.@'
Turkey. victorious but lacking in muni-.
md the Balkan campaign followed
rhis. campaign gave Germany and her..
lilies the real prize of the war. To-
lay. thanks to her Balkan victories.
Germany is in a better position to-
make terms with her enemies than
ver before.
She can now give over all claims to-
french or Belgian territory. She cansU
ven consent to a complete return to-
he boundaries Of 1914 all over Eu--
ope, save only in the Balkans-inn,
act save in the case of Serbia. Peace 90
n these terms would still give her the
pen road to Constantinople, to Asia :
1inor. the chance to organize tho,
turkish empire and to prepare for a 4,
ew thrust-this time directed at the.
british in Egypt and even in India. So
The successful Balkan campaign has,w
hanged the whole face of the war. It s&
as provided Germany with a basis for,
laims, not unreasonable, in view of ng
er success. and commensurate withog
er ambitions, which do not threaten,--
he integrity of France or Belgium
nd only cross the ambitions of Russia,m
nd in the future the safety of the Il,
british empire.
British failure, then, has brought its =.
wn bitter fruit. The war has becomesis
many respects duel between Brit|
In and Germany. II Germany can last. IL
In stand the economic pressure while
olding back attacks of her foes until VI
II are exhausted. she will have mades-
ood her place in the sun" and laid v.
le foundations Of great empire in'ig
ae future. l2S