Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1915-08-02

down to trench warfare, Wucn as In tne
west, with Germany retaining a large
part of Russian Poland. Russian inva-
sions Of East Prussia resulted in disas-
trous defeats. Further north. the Ger
mans swept into the Baltic provinces of
Russia, capturing Libau. on the sea.
The unprecedented extension Of battle
lines which this war has witnessed
reached it's most remarkable exempliti-
cation in this campaign. in which the
front has been drawn out more than 500
miles. from the Baltic to Bukowina.
Italy, after ten months Of uncertainty.
began war with Austria-Hungary, in
May, and has occupied fringe of Aus
trian territory in the mountainous region
to the north. Trent and Triest are the
detectives of the Italian campaign.
Owing to the difficult nature of the
ground neither OF the antagonists has
made much Roadway.
On the Gallipoli peninsula, in the OAR
danelles and in the Bosphorus Turkey,
with France, Great Britain and Russia,
with possession of Constantinople as the
great stake. Following the failure of the
naval assault on the Dardanelles by an
Anglo-French beet, troops were landed
on the peninsula. Few details Of this
campaign are available, and little Is
known beyond the fact that the fighting
has been particularly severe. and that
the Allies have occupied and retained the
tip OF the peninsula.
Serbia and Montenegro, the former as
sisted fiSh Of
Austria-Hungary. The Austrian invasion
of Serbia ended in failure. On the Mon
tenegrin front there has been only de-
sultory fighting. Both Serbia and Mon
tenegro have recently invaded Albania,
with thet object Of obtaining ports on
the sea.
On Asiatic soil Russia is at war with
Turkey in the Black Sea region. Neither
side has employed large numbers of
troops in this campaign. There has been
fighting in the Caucasus and Persia, with
no great accomplishments. Further
south. in Mesopotamia. there has been
sporadic fighting between Turkish and
British troops. Turkey sent an army to
attack the Suez Canal, but the main body
of troops failed to reach it's objective.
In Africa French and British troop
occupied Togoland and port of the ka-
merun, German possessions. British
attack on German East Africa was de-
feated.
The insular possessions of Germany in
the Pacific were captured by Lreat Brit
ain and Japan.
Tsing-tau. the German fortress in. Chi
NJ 1e1y< hA To to;<l \
by British contingent.
On the seas there have been no great
battles. Great Britain's supremacy
owing to the overwhelming size of her
fleet. has not been disputed to the ulti-
mate issue, the main German feet having
remained in home waters. Two German
cruisers which were in the Mediterra-
mean when war began went to the Dar-
danelles. and were acquired by Turkey.
A few German cruisers and converted
merchantmen. including the famous
Emden. and the Karlsruhe, Kronprinz
Wilhelm and Prinz Eitel Friedrich, raid
ed shipping Of the Allies for a time, but
were eventually sunk or forced to intern
In neutral ports.
The Austro-Hungarian fleet has re-
NAMED in the Adriatic and the Turkish
neet has been kept from the Aegean.
Germany's merchant marine has been
swept from the seas.
There have been several naval battles
OF Importance, however. In the first
month of the war Rear Admiral Beatty's
squadron dashed into Helgoland Blight.
near the great German naval station, and
sank three German cruisers and two tor
pedo boat destroyers. In January oc-
Cured a battle in the North Sea between
British warships and German squadron
which presumably was attempting a raid
on the English coast. In this battle the
German cruiser Bluecher was sunk.
The German Far East squadron defeat
ed Vice Admiral Cradock's British Squad
ron of the Chilean coast on November 1,
sinking the Good Hope and Monmouth.
The British obtained their revenge in
December when, OF the Falkland Islands,
powerful British squadron defeated the
Germans, sinking the Scharnhorst,
Gneisenau. Leipzig and Nuremberg.
German fsquadrons have twice at
tackled the English coast, causing some
loss of life and damage to property.
English towns including London have
also been attacked by German aircraft,
which have made several successful trips
across the North Sea, raiding points on
the east coast.
Methods of fighting have been altered
radically in consequence Of the lessons
learned in the first year Of the war. 1t
has been pte-eminently a war Of ma
chimes. The resources afforded by mod
ern scientific development have been
taxed to devise new instruments of death
and destruction more potent than ever
had been employed. It has been also a
war Of surprises. New problems have
arisen, necessitating reconstruction of
the theory Of war. Plans and methods
heretofore approved by authorities on
military affairs were discarded. and the
stA1s OF the various armies were COM
PEELED to grapple with situations for
which there was no precedent.
The first great surprise OF the war was
the German 42-centimeter O6l inch) gun,
which hurls for some Is miles a shell
Weighing almost a ton. The great forti-
fications which were the pride Of Bel
GUM. and believed to be almost impreg-
nable, were battered into ruins by these
guns in comparatively short time. Two
OF these guns. stationed 10 miles from
Antwerp, wrecked its elaborate defense
works, Liese and Namur fell similarly.
The use Of artillery and machine guns,
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