Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1915-08-04

Turkey should become demEorali0ed
three nations would fall over hem
selves to join the allies-Roumania,
Bulgaria and Greece. They are so
situated, strategically, that they
could cut the communications Of the
Austrian armies operating northeast
of the Carpathian mountains. sRus-
sian forces would be enabled to aid
them in a sweeping advance over the
level Hungarian plateau, and Ger
many would be stripped OF her
allies.
Also, Germany is practically unde-
Tended along the Austrian frontier.
An advance across Hungary would
be the most terrible blow which
could be aimed at the military posi-
ton Of the Kaiser's realm.
Plainly, though, these are not con-
sid erations affecting even the early
part of the second year Of the war.
Turkey is not SO badly off as some
of the reports from London would In
dictate. And the Balkan nations can
not be put down today as essentially
u%nfriendly to the Teutons. Russia's
.reverses, and the failure of the allies
in the west, must. be creating a pro-
found impression in the near east.
Teuton kings occupy all of the Bal
kan thrones, among the nations that
have not already gone to war, and
there are powerful pro-German par
ties which will not permit the recent
German Victories 10 be under-em-
phasized. =,
All of the operations in the south
east should be classified with the
second year of hOstilities, for they
deal with the future strategy of the
war. The attack upon Turkey has
been frightfully m"ismanaged, but it
is the one real indication of foresight
marking the, campaign of"the allies.
They know that their hope CT ultl-
mate victory rests upon the forcing
of the Dardanelles, and the German
leaders realize that Gallip oil is of far
greater Importance than Warsaw.
The present status of the belliger-
ent nations is known to everyone.
Germany holds several thousand
square miles of French territory, in
Guiding the greatest industrial and
mining districts, and has possession
Of nearly all of Belgium. Germany
and Austria together occupy one
third of Russian Poland
The only German soil held by the
allies is a little strip in Alsace. All
Of the German colonies have been
captured by the allies, except Ger
man East Africa, which is under
complete blockade j"
Great Britain has established a
partial blockade Of Germany, but has
not been able to interfere with traf-
fic between Baltic ports of the Teu-
tonic empire and Scandinavia.
a- III, ~ n ~, - W. 1o,r@ -~aN,~4>J
to probably 10000, 900 men, of whom
Teutons hold $500, 900 prisoners, in
Guided in the figures of losses.
Scarcely any diminution is per-
ceptible in the fighting strength of
the nations. They still have all the
men they can crowd onto their
frontiers. ~ /. g.
In an industrial way, the war has
caused terrible losses. All Of the
nations have a staggeringt indebted
ness, which is increasing at the rate
of $5O,000,000 a day. The foreign
trade OF; the Teutonic empires and
OF Belgium is interrupted, France
has suffered a loss of about 80 per
cent of her commerce, and the Brit
ish colonies have been heavy losers.
a near peace was never more un-
likely than it is today. This is be-
cause the allies recognize that Ger
many is the victor up to the present
time, and they feel that their
strength will increase as the war
drags on. They r unwilling to end
the war, even on terms satisfactory
to themselves, while their prestige
is at a low ebb. The wal will be
fought, therefore, until the Teutons
strike a blow which will retire one
OF the allies, or until tire allies tight
en- the ring about Germany to a point
where, peace will not be the peace of
One Of the outstanding features
OF the first twelve months of war is
the fact that there has not been a
single naval engagement on a large
scale. Three pitched battles have
been fought, but not a single dread
naught has been engaged. The Ger
mans were victorious in a naval fight
off the coast Of Chile, and their
squadron vas afterwards .,annihilated
near the Falkland islands, not far
from Cape Horn. In one good-sized
engagement in the North sea, a Ger
man battle cruiser was sunk. Half
a dozen battleships have been sunk
by German submarines, and there
have been many skirmishes result
ing in the sinking of small cruisers
and destroyers, but the great fleets
have not engaged each other. The
German battleships are hugging the
Kiel canal, and the British dread
naughts are supposed to be off the
north coast Of Scotland! Prospects
for a big battle are very poor. One
side refuses to come out, and the
other won't go in. . G~
-. Of 49,
! sl--t Fl