South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1915-08-18

Warsaw was occupied and the German
armies swept on. BY July - tney
| had forced the Russians back to the
| Inc OF the Narew river and pusned
| their way 20 within 20 miles Of their
| goal. The fortress Of Ostrolenka was
| taken and the key to Warsaw on the
north. the NovO Georgievsk fortfca-
/ ton. was approached To the south
E.adom was occupied and the Russian
! lines OF communication in the Lublin
region threatened.
Lines Are frightened.
Then began tightening Of the Ger
man lines around the capital. ne
Teutons forced their way past the
BlOnia line southwest OF the city
pushed their way across the river Ma
rev below Ostrolenka, I'd the batter
ing at the fortified gates or the city
was begun in earnest on tuesday OF
this week by Bavarian troops under
command Of Prince Leopold OF Ba-
varia.
From the beginning of the war the
salient in the Russian line formed by
the band necessary 10 include warsaw
and a large portion Of Poland had
/ been a thorn in the flesh Of the Rus
sim military authorities. They showed
this by their desperate and at times
partly successful attempts TO straight
en- their lighting front Before they
could advance at the center and move
west from Warsaw the wings must
| be brought up 20 prevent successful
thanking movements.
simultaneously. in East Prussia on
the north and in Galicia on the south.
the Russian armies began to push for
ward Twice they were swept back
lin the former region, but before last
winter set in they had succeeded in
pressing their way through Galicia
and were nearing Cracow, which is
almost directly on a lire south of the
Polish capital
In the spring, however, after Per-
mysl had fallen into their hands and
they were threatening to move to-
ward tie German border and to in
wade Hungary, came the organized
AustrO-German movement which re-
captured the great Austrian fortress
and swept the Russian lines back fur
Their east in some sections than they
had been early in the war. The War
saw salient, thus exposed hazardous
~ from the south, was additionally
threatened by the German advance in
the Baltic provinces, which acted not
only as a supporting movement to the
flank attack on Warsaw. but threaten
ed to cut off the retreat of the Rus
sian armies.
First Drive is Made.
The first determined drive against
Warsaw from the west occurred last
October and soon the German advance
guards penetrated TO within a few
miles Of the city, over which aero
planes and Zeppelins flew. The Rus
slams moved troops hastily from Ga
licia, where they had been pressing
the AuStrians hard, and Warsaw slip
ped from the hands Of the Germans in
the face of a vigorous Russian cOun-
ter offensive. which swept them back
TO their borders.
Soon afterward. the second attempt
was launched from the same direction
and gathered force, until a great
battle developed along the rivers
Warta and Nistula. The Germans at
first were reported successful, but the
fighting turned in favor of the Rus
slams They cut off and apparently
surrounded two German corps, who
bravely managed TO cut their way
out. Later pitched battles were fought
around LODI. which the Germans had
captured on Dec. 6, and before long
the two armies found them enthench-
ed along the famous Bzura-Rawka
front. After that the fighting o. this
front assumed the form of trench
warfare. as it had in the west.
Another attempt at Warsaw occur
red in February. after the Russians
had for the second time been driven
out of East Prussia This time the
attack came from the north. and
Field Marshal Won Hindenburgs forces
reached and captured PrZasnysZ with
II 900 prisoners on Feb. 25 Three
days later, however, the Russians re-
captured it and put the Germans on
the defensive. Hammering along this
line and at other sections south and
west from the East Prussian frontier
continued for months. but not until
the inception of the present campaign
was there anywhere a serious break
in the Russian defense.
The city which the Teutonic forces
have taken lies on the Vistula, 625
miles southeast from Petrograd and
APO miles east of Berlin. 1t is an i'm
pOrtant industrial center and it's popu-
lation is estimated at not far from
900, 900 Wars for the possession OF
Poland ragged around il in the middle
ages and in the early part of the nth
century it supplanted Cracow, the an
cient capital, as the seat Of Polish
government Prussia held il from
1895 TO 1906. and for several years
after that ii was in the possession Of
one of NapoleOn's vassals. The Rus
slams entered it in 1913. when il be-
came the capital of the new kingdom
of Poland. In 1880 tn population
rose against the Russians. and in Sep
TENDER of the following year the
forces Of the Russian emperor re-
entered the city
The fall Of Warsaw places in the
hands of the Germans the principal
maritime shops and munitions sup
plies plants of Poland. and leaves to
Russia no other shops nearer than
those along the PetrOgrad- Warsaw
Kherpof railway.
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