New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-02-24
The Battle of the Mazurian
Lakes.

Measured By the decisive engagements
Of the Nineteenth Century the casualty
list Of the Russians in the Battle OF the
Mszurian Lakes is impressive. Accept
ing the German figures, and there Is no
real reason TO question them, the loss
OF 100000 prisoners must represent q
total loss in killed and wounded of above
15O 600. At Waterloo Napoleon's army
was less than 10000, his loss 10000. AT
the opening of the Appomattox campaign
lee had $4,000 and less than 26,OOO sur
rendered at the Court House. The
French army which Napoleon III sur
rendered at Sedan was about $4,000.
Yet German and Russian official re-
ports agree that the great disaster which
the Cars forces have suffered has moth
ing Of the character of the earlier con-
tests. each of which settled war. In
the present world war the Mazurian
Lakes engagement is an incident. More
than this, it is the third successive IN
cident" of this magnitude which has come
70 Russian arms. At Tannenberg in Sep
TENDER. at LODI in November, the Ger
man captures were equally large. But IN
each case the Russian resistance was not
broken: new armies returned TO East
Prussia in October, reinforcements ar
rived in time to halt the victors of LODI
at the Bzura in December.
Certain revisions in early judgments,
however. the Battle Of the Mazurlan
Lakes imposes. The progress Of this
brief and terrible campaign has demon
strated quite conclusively that talk OF
Russian advance to Berlin is as prema-
ture in February as it was preposterous
in September. Three times great Russian
armies have approached or crossed the
German frontier. Three times, aided by
the splendid system of strategic railways
but equally by the marching capacity Of
the soldiers, the tremendous superiority
OF the high command and Of the corps,
division and brigade commanders, the
Germans have struck the invaders, rolled
them back with losses greater than the
strength OF the armies of the last CEN
fury, and terminated the campaign far in
Russian territory.
In the Civil War Lee repeatedly
achieved similar result. The battles in
the Peninsular campaign, Chancellors-
vile, the long battle from the Rapidan to
Cold Harbor were a demonstration Of a
similar skill in handling perfectly organ
lied and disciplined troops on interior
lines and taking the offensive with inferi-
or numbers in the aggregate to put supe-
rior force at the decisive point. The
advance TO Richmond took four years
and the distance was a quarter of that
between the Silesian frontier and Berlin.
From the German point of view, how
ever. the Napoleonic parallel is the best.
What the Kaiser is now doing Napoleon
did for ten years. Fighting in the enc
my's territory, crushing the armies of
states whose collective population far
exceeded that Of the French Empire, Ma
poleon finally succumbed. Austerlitz,
Wagram, Jena, victories which TO the
future may seem no more splendid than
those of Hindenburg, proved ultimately
of no avail.
The reason was found In the enduring
hostility Of Great Britain. Sea power and
invulnersbility of England prevailed in
the end against Napoleon. II is dawn
ing realization Of this that the recent
German actions have revealed. Napo-
leon, after Jena and Austerlitz, issued
the DEGREES Of Berlin and Milan, pro-
claiming a blockade Of the British ISL
ands, which he had not even submarines
20 enforce, and warned neutrals away
with precisely the same language the
Kaiser's ministers are now using.
What happened to Napoleon the
Kaiser must now consider. All the mar
vellous cycle Of military triumphs which
make the Napoleonic era so fascinating
for all later generations failed TO win
decision. Year after year the life blood
Of France-the seed corn" of the nation
to use jefferson Davis's famous phrase,
was ground up in distant lands until the
nation itself became weary of sacrifice
without end and without complete
achievement
To-day the casualty list Of the Ger
mans is approaching the 100000 mark
In seven months the death roll has
reached up well toward the Napoleonic
total for France in a decade. Future
generations will read of the German vic
tories in these seven months with wonder
and admiration. There is yet no evidence
Of q weakening in the spirit of the nation,
But is il not likely that sacrifices so
sterile may presently weary the German
people?
Il /. conceivable that France, England,