New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-10-30
The Serbian Campaign.


;.o, n the campaign is TO relieve the
Turks defending the Straits whose ammu-
,ition is beginning 10 fail A victory IN
the limited sense therefore is achieved
when the Germans have opened the road
Tor munitions. whether by water or by
land
The second purpose is to dispose Of al
possible peril in the Balkans. Rumsnia
aud Greece have greater material as well
O., sentimental reasons for favoring the
Allies than they have for fsvoring the
Austro- Germans. The entrance Of Ru-
mania and Greece on the Allied side can
only b. permanently prevented # Serbia
is crushed. as was Belgium.
Finally. and this should always be re-
ncmbered. Germany is now striving for
peace. Her numbers and her resources
are failing. She cannot hope to keep pace
in the future with her enemies IN men,
money or munitions. Her population is not
starving. but il is suffering from the lack
Of many things. and the absence of things
not essential 10 life. but things to when
the people Of all prosperous modern ma
tions are accustomed.
triumphant progress 70 CONSTANT
nople is the cheapest way now IN which
Germany can impress the imagination OF
her own people and Of neutral nations
alike. To the uniformed il seems that
Germany marches from victory to victory
and from conquest 10 conquest. The TACT
l. If course. that she has failed in France,
in Russia. that the certainty Of ultimate
defeat has been established and only early
peace now can prevent this.
Turning 10 the Serbian situation 1t VIII
he seen that Germany has already opened
the Danube 70 munition transports. Barely
n hundred Of miles Of Serbian territory,
the northeast corner Of the country facing
Rumania. touch the river. The forhhca-
tions in this region commanding the Iron
Gate have been reduced. the river IS open.
Henceforth it is possible to send munitions
by boat from Hungary
Turkeys necessities, then. are about to
he disposed of. This seals the fate of the
British expedition on Galipoh Peninsula;
1t NAV he able to stick, it certainly VIII
not he able 10 advance. But the river
route is precarious and dificult-precari-
Gus because from Orsova onward 1t IS
along the Rumanian bank Of the Danube,
difficult because the river Is swift and
transfer from train to boat and boat TO
train is slow and laborious.
It is then necessary 10 reopen rall con
nection between Austria-Hungary and
Constantnople through Serbia. This
the Austro-G German forces are steadily
doing boy pushing along the Orient Rail
way from Belgrade and Semendria tow
ard Nish. At the same time a Bulgarian
force is moving north toward Nish on a
wide front from Bulgar territory
The main Serbian army facing north
hes been driven south along the railroad
for nearly forty miles The Bulgarian
army coming north has captured Prot
third Of the distance from Bulgarian
territory TO Nish. and is now about fifteen
miles from this town, the temporary cap
i,al Of Serbia. Thus the Serbs are caught
between two slowly closing mllstones.
Within few weeks. perhaps even more
quickly. the Germans and Bugars may be
expected 70 meet about Nish. The Serbs
for their part. will be driven west out of
the Moraya Valley through which the
Orient Railway passes, into the hills
which separate the former Serbian King
dom from the old Turkish Sanjak of Novi-
bazaar.
AZ the same time the Serbs will be ex-
posed to al attack coming east out OF
Bosnia from the Austrian railhead east of
Serajevo, which will follow the valley of
the Serbian Morava, that joins the main
Morava stream north OF Nish. East.
west and south the Serbs are being driven
ir upon centre north Of the famous
battlefield Of Kossovo. where the Turk,
I'VE centuries ago destroyed Serbian
kingdom
ms NAieV4Viu abNaNh II the main Ser
ban phase. 1t hes already opened The
Danube II is rapidly pushing In,
Serbs to the point where they will nav,
70 leave the Orient Railway and give tn,
Austro-Germans clear rail route from
Berlin 10 Byzantium. The secondary phas,
is supplied by the Allied and Bulgar oper
atoms in Macedonia.
To understand this Macedonian campaigr
il is simplest 10 think Of the Serbian King
dom as resembling an hourglsSs. one halt
made up by the older kingdom Of the period
before the Balkan wars the other by the
Macedonian territories acquired by the
two campaigns Of 1912 and 1913 The
narrow point in the hourglsss corresponds