The Washington times., 1915-10-15
THE END AT 0ALLIPOLI?


The discussion of the Balkan sit
uation, in the British parliament
yesterday, left some uncertainty
whether the allies intend to abandon
the campaign against Constanti-
nople, for the time being, and use
the forces now on the Gallipoli PEN
insula and elsewhere in the east, to
strengthen the Serbian resistance
against Bulgaria and the Germanic
drive. To adopt such a program
would be startling change of mill
tary policy, and naturally enough
the critics of the allies strategy
are demanding to know why such in
capacity for decisive procedure.
Abandonment of the Constanti-
nople campaign would be a confess
sion of failure; but on the other
hand precisely the same confession
comes from Berlin today. A semi
official newspaper asserts that the
opening of the Balkan campaign by
Germany means the abandonment of
the struggle for possession of the
French channel towns. For the last
year, under inspiration Of the care
fully manufactured hatred that all
good Germans now entertain for
England. the dearest of all Ger
manic enterprises has been that
aimed against Calais and thence
against Britain's control of the
channel. Germany has been Taught
to believe that any sacrifice would
be justified by success in this direc-
tion. The sacrifices have been
made, but the success has not fol-
lowed.
The Berliner Tageblatt is so near
ly an official paper that its declara-
alton of the abandonment of the
Calais campaign may be taken as
highly important. The German pub
lie mind is to be prepared for one
more change of plans, one new ad-
venture in a new field. Abandon
ment of the Calais drive means con-
fession that England is impregnable
on the sea, for the submarine cam
paign against her has failed. It
means that France is able to de-
fend herself. 1t means that Berlin
no longer has hope of ending the
war through a successful campaign
in Russia. The campaign has been
won, but Russia has not been con.
quered. So Berlin, seeking always
with that curiously unexpected in.
capacity for absolute decision that
seems to be weakness of the EN-.
peror's mind, some new weakness OF
it's enemy's armor, is launching q
drive against Constantinople and
Egypt and India. We have neeG
only to recall the wretched failure
of Napoleon's Egyptian enterprise
to see that once more the parable
between Napoleon and Wilhelm il
being worked out.
There is plenty of criticism of the
vacillation of the allies program
but the vacillation of the German
general staff is hardly to be over
looked. Germany, we are assured
is now reorganizing it's war plani
with the purpose of using it's mill
tary machine to achieve that which
its laval failure has made impos
sible to do by combination of mill
tary and naval forces. This is ad
mission of the naval failure; a fail
ure which represents the collapse o.
a magnificent scheme. The newest
German project looks to such scat
tering of the Germanic forces a!
must deprive them of the advantage
of inner lines and better transporta
ton.
If the allies shall withdraw theil
forces from the Gallipoli and ust
them against the Bulgarian Ger
man forces to the north of Constan
tinople, and if finally they shall viii
in the region, then the CONSTANT
nople campaign will have been won
for the same forces that save Serbs
will be able easily enough to turf
about and take the Turk capital.
is easy enough to calculate that i
the Germanic powers fail in thei
attack through the Balkans. the