The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-07-29
One Year Of the Great War
As Seen in England Germany and France United Press
Feature Series of Stories for This Week

As SEEN in GERMANY.
!. BY Carl W. Alderman, United Press
STAFF Correspondent
y Fourth StouD
I BERLIN, JuEy zs-In the western
campaign Germany met ne~ condi
tons o. modern warfare and oFs-czls
them before the enemies were able %
4 do Sc In tie eastern ~ar area old
/ col1it1ons OF fighting hare prevailed
!. Throughout. the twelve months, and
I Germany again las shown that size
\ Is zs ssflfri With the Old as ~3th the
new.
The more valuable territory which
has fallen 10 German zDs n this
Esr Is Belgium and northern France.
These conquered districts are far Eore
reality than are the captured Polish
and Baltic areas. Yet. without Doubt
tie chief gicr.ss OF the German arm
! les hare been Eon IN the east Ger
many Is pro-d OF the Fears uagnid-
cent record n the vest. bu, Il Is the
march Of events II the east that
thrills the German people 10 their Eery
souls In popular i0aEi1atton. the
might Of ths Russian empire Vas the
most ssqHisring fact O. the var
THIS belief YES encouraged By the
general feeling that II Germany Eere
10 nold her Own IN the great var,
France must be overwhelmed before
Russts's mighty millions could be
modified But Russia came on be-
fore France was overwhelmed Ger
many lad 10 meet her enemies on two
fronts at once The people OF the en-
pirs trsmbled last summer as Rus
sis's hcdss crept further and further
into east Prussia while the campaign
against the western allies was yet TO
reach its height Ge<1nany was not
afraid Of the western campaign. but
the fact IS privately confessed that
tire Germans did fear the outcome OF
the Siayonic rush
Then, almost over night came the
news that the battle OF the Mazurian
lakes had been fought and had ne
sa;ted in one Of the greatest victories
for Germany In all history. Seldom
is a nation thrilled even IN wartime
as Germany was thrilled by the news
that Marshal Won Eindenburg had
cleared east Prussia of the invaders.
Nothing that has happened since and
nothing that is likely to happen will
equal In Ge-many's estimation the
bAiitAA-C Va 3
cess Until the Mazurian battle. Ger
many was not sure of herself. Won
Hindenburg gave confidence to his
country and demonstrated so absolute
superiority over the Russians that
the fear OF the Slavs vanished as
light dispels the terrors Of the dark
Won Hindenburg turned the light on
the Russians and they are now the
chief inspiration of the contributors to
Germany's numerous weeklies.
Warsaw has not yet fallen. but in
stead the Germans have captured Rus
sia's great Baltic port Of Libau, which
Is second in importance only to War
saw and Riga, as an eastern objective.
The Baltic operations, in fact, would
be considered worthy record Of the
years warfare against Russia even IL
nothing else had been accomplished
on that side Of Europe. But in fact
the Baltic campaign ranks last in i'm
portance among the three great often
sives which the Germans have sue
cessfuIIy developed against the Slavs
since last August
The first of this Is the advance
across western Poland to the gates OF
Warsaw. Germany believes this drive
alone. coming after the earlier retreat
from Warsaw, is greater success,
judged purely as a military problem,
than all the victories that the allies
can claim.
Second in Importance among sue
cesses against the SIavs is the freeing
Of Galtcfa- This campaign is ranked
in Germany as an offensive one, diff
fering from the rescue of east Prus-
STA. which was a defensive thrust The
Galician province was German terri
tory but had passed almost entirely
under Russian control when the Ger
mans undertook to rescue 1t for Aus
tro-Hungary The offensive campaign
developed by Marshal Won Mackensen
during the last three months is spec
| tally praised by German critics, be-
cause the Slays had 80 long time to
prepare their defenses. When the
| Galician operations began 1t was be-
coming the general conclusion OF mill
tarist students that properly en-
| trenched army could not be driven
back for any considerable distance.
| The Germans. however, showed that it
could be done.
! The winning of Galicia has bound
! Austro=Hungary closer to the German
empire, and has banished all hope
among the allies Of enticing Vienna or
/ Budapest into making separate
/ peace Fully as important, too, the
( Galician campaign has been the cul-
minating influence which is prevent.
( ing the neutral Balkan countries from
4 entering the war. The diplomatic
work Of maintaining the neutrality OF
| Roumania, Bulgaria and Greece has
caused many sleepless nights at the
German foreign Office in the past
months.
Perhaps when the historians begin
to write about the events Of the past
year, they will rank above everything
else in Importance. the influence which
! Germany's mighty victories in the east
! has had on the Balkan states II the