The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1915-05-05
GERMANY'SLATEST
VICTORY IMPORTANT
Full Meaning Of Russian Defeat in
Western Galicia Cannot Be Known
Until Further Details Arrive.
WARSAW CAMPAIGN ABANDONED
This is Shown by Announcement That
General Won Mackensen Was in
Charge of Victorious Troops.
BY J. w. T. MASON.

BY J. w. T. MASON.
New York, May 5.-The full mean
ing on the Russian defeat in Western
Galicia cannot be known until fur
Their details are announced describ-
ing the extent of Germany's victory.
The only detail as yet made public is
that the Germans were commanded
by General Won Mackensen. This is
an important admission.
General Won Mackensen, who is
Won Hindenberg's alblest army COM
mander, had control of the German
operations west of Warsaw. His
transfer to Galicia tends to confirm
the suggestion Of the new Baltic cam
paign that the Germans have aban-
doned hope Of capturing Warsaw by
direct attack. The new army with
which General Won Mackensen crush
ed the Russians has probably been
withdrawn from it's lines about the
Polish capitol. A purely defensive
campaign in Northern and Central
Poland would require less men than
offensive operations, and the Galician
fighting, therefore, does not neces-
sarily mean vast new contingents
have Joined the eastern battle line
from the German training camps.
Measures Sixty Miles.
The front along which the Russians
have been forced to retreat measures
about sixty miles. The Russians have
been in undisturbed possession of the
district since early last winter. They
had ample time to construct elaborate
entertainments and perfect all their
defenses. Elsewhere throughout the
war the Slavs have been at their best
in defensive trench fighting. Won
Hindenberg's inability to follow up
his East Prussian victories, as we'll
as the successful defense of Warsaw,
prove the excellence of Russian SOL
diers in entrenched positions. The
sudden expulsion of the Slavs from
their trenches in Western Galicia
suggests, therefore, that the Germans
brought an overwhelming force to
bear against a weakened enemy. IT
is probable the Russians were lulled
into false security by the inaction of
the Austrians and Germans in West
ern Galicia
Too Many Withdrawn.
More troops than safety warranted
doubtless were withdrawn from
Donajec trenches and sent to the
Carpathians. If this assumption is
correct then General Won Macksen's
victory is a duplication of Won Hin
denberg's two major successes in East
Prussia.
The Germans, discovering the weak
ness of the Donajec lines must have
made rapid concentration, and
struck the undetermined Russian
trenches before Slav reinforcements
could arrive. An admirable railway
system runs throughout Galicia. In
the Donejec engagement it was at
the disposal of both sides, and in fact
favored the Russians more than the
Germans, owing to local peculiarities
Of strategic construction. But Slav
officers have never been trained to get
the most out of railways because Of
lack of proper trackage in Russia.
Extent Not Stated.
How far back the Russians were
driven beyond the Donajec is not yet
announced by Berlin. Under normal
circumstances, the distance would be
little if the Slavs have constructed
secondary entertainments behind
their front lines. But assuming that
the price cause Of the Russian de-
feat was lack of numbers along the
entire battlefront, normal circum-
stances of trench warfare would not
prevail. Under this condition, the
Russians would have to continue
gaining ground until large reinforce
ments arrived from distance. There
is no means yet of telling where this
arrival probably occurred, hence the
extent of the German victory cannot
be stated
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men.