Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1915-08-03

The second year CT the European
war Is on. On August |, 1914,
Germany declared war on Russia
and the last chance vanished of local,
izing the Austro.Serbian war, declar'
ed three days previously by Austria
Hungary.
All the great powers of Europe
were drawn into a struggle the like
Of which history has not heretofore
recorded. Eleven nations are at war
and almost all lands are affected, d.
rectly or Indirectly. Millions Of
men have been killed, wounded or
carried to captivity in hostile coun-
tries. Billions of dollars have been
expended. Thousands of square
miles of territory have been devas-
tated and hundreds Of cities and
towns laid waste. Half the world is
in mourning for the dead. And al
though the al has been in progress
with unexampled fury for a year, the
result may be summarized in one
brief sentence: No decisive results
have been achieved and the end is
not in sight.
Determination to pursue the war
to a decisive ending has been eX-
pressed by high officials of all the
'b%elligerents nations, preparations arc
being made for next winters cam
paign, and, in fact, indications from
TNvy M n ~ $1,nt - i, y,DpO 1;1n1,y n
increase in size rather than decrease.
1t Is still an open question whether
Bulgaria, Rumania or Greece will be
drawn in.
immensely Of Struggle.
In view Of the immensely of the
struggle, previous standards count
for little in considering the price the
world is paying. The figures involv-
ed are so vast as to convey little
meaning. The nations at war have
poured out their treasures Of men
and gold without limit. The usual
standards of life have been subordin-
ated or disregarded, and in some
cases social, industrial and political
activities have been virtually reor-
aanized on a militaristic basis, to
make all contribute to the supreme
necessities OF war.
1t is impossible to obtain accurate
gagged, the casualties and the cost.
For obvious reasons the size of the
various armies is kept secret. Most
of the nations do not consider it ex-
pedient to reveal the number ofcasu-
a'tise; In fact, Great Britain is the
only n which has given out official
totals. AS to the money expended,
there are available only partial sta
tistices.
More than half the population of
the world lives in the countries at
war. The population of the warning
countries is estimated roughly at
947y 900, 900, and of the countries at
peace at 797, 000, 900. The population
of the Entente nations is perhaps
five times as great as that Of their
opponents. The number of men at
armes has been estimated variously,
usually in the neighborhood Of 20
000,O William Michaelis, writing
recently in a Berlin magazine, put
the number of soldiers at war at
24,77O 900; for the Allies, ~12,S20,0oC
for Germany, Austria Hungary and
Turkey $3.50
No Previous War.
No previous var has approached
the present one in wholesale destruc-
ti?n of life. This is due not only to
the number Of men involved, but to
the terrible efficiency OF modern
weapons. Trench warfare on a
great scale, with it's deadly charges,
mining operations and extensive use
Of artillery and hand g%ranades, has
contributed to this end. Whereas in
the past it has been calculated that
the proportion of killed to total casu'
alties runs 1 to s or 1 to 10, the pro
portion in trench warfare, as indi
Gated by official British statistics, is
about l to 5.
Battle In Russia.
The battles on the plains Of Elan
ders, on the Warsaw front, in the
Austro-German advance trough Gal
icia and in the Carpathians were at
tended by frightful slaughter. Rus
sian losses in the Carpathians alone
were estimated unoficially at 800.
O0O.' Along the battlefields from AS
ras, in northwestern France, to the
Belgian coast whole fields have been
covered with corpses, and at the time
Of the German attempt to reach the
English Channel the User Canal was
choked with the dead. According to
official British statistics, the British
army alone has been losing of late,
in killed, wounded and missing 1000
a day. On June 8 Premier Asquith
announced that British casualties
since the beginning Of the war Tex
GLIDING navel losses of 1S,549 up to
81 amounted to 25S,069, of
-yhich the total of killed was 5O,342.
The losses of Germany, France and
Russia, by reason Of their larger ar
mics, have been far greater. The
Heer Und Politik OF Bedlin early in
June estimated that more than s.
900, 900 soldiers Of the countries at
with Germany and her Allies
have been killed, wounded or captur-
ed. Hailaire Belloc, the English mill
tary writer, said Germany's potential
manhood for actual fighting probab-
" had diminished from all causes by
nearly one half in the first year OF
war. and asserted q conservative
was that Germany had
much nearer 100000 than 100000
men permantly out OF the field. EST
Of the total casualties run