Barton County democrat., 1915-01-22
GERMAN PROGRESS
SLOW BUT SURE
Present Day Coalitions Mean An
Entire Change In Drawing
Conclusions From Bat
tie Lines.

have undergone a radical change.
Prior to the RuSSo-JapaneSe
War we only knew of single bat
ties. That side which was sue
ceSSful in gaining or holding the
disputed territory regarded and
announced such conflict as a vic
tory, greater or smaller, accord
ing to the number of combatants
and the booty of war; and even
then the general bearing of a bat
tie on the general war situation
was taken into consideration. 1t
was first in the RuSSo-JapaneSe
War that an evolution of tactics
became necessary owing to the
huge masses of troops engaged in
the conflict.
Formerly, fighting for en-
trenched positions or bomb-proofS
took place too, but only in limit
ed areas throughout the theatre
OF war, the fighters having no
close touch with the whole army
(thlnk of Plewna), but now the
relative position of the entire ar
my in the field has become the
SSue round which the battle RACES.
In these modern contests which
cannot be developed more fully
the Franco-German front ex-
tends from the mountains to the
sea, from the Swiss border to the
German Ocean-Separate indepen-
dent battles are out of the ques-
ton. If some ground is gained,
II fewer attacks are repulSed, if
a thanking movement or attempt
to break through is frustrated, a
victory that is won with the great
est sacrifice at that particular
point of the battle line is as i'm
portant as ever, but an outsider
cannot recognize the true Signifi-
canoe.
The OnloOker at the theatre of
war cannot possibly have a clear
conception of what a partial sue
cess really means. Although the
victories achieved in former wars
were nothing else but partial sue
ceSSeS, they appeared to a casual
observer to have no connection
with the events occurring in other
parts of the fighting area, and
therefore to be a complete sue
cess. This was a wrong view to
take, since it only represented a
part of the picture, yet had its
good points because every little
victory became a matter of re-
jolcing. This satisfaction with
partial successes (and such were
separate battle in former wars.
had to go in the age of "fulI bat
ties" when no longer a mere part
OF the army, but the whole host
of the nation had to contend with
the enemy. The public has quick
ly learned the lesson that we no
longer fight at different battle
fields, but at one theatre of war
only, and impatiently wait for
the one grand piece of news that
the great and common battle has
been won.
"The public is not always able
to appreciate partial successes in
their full significance, and how
ever great the successes that are
reported, the man in the street
makes light of them. This strange
collective peSSimiSm has quite
taken root among thoughtful peo-
pie. After the victory of Worth
and Metz, people rejOiced in the
good news. If they had said
We'll and good, but that is not a
decisive victory yet their remark
would have met with a hot recep-
ton. People, then, were delight
ed with partial successes, they
were more patient and content,
and did not expect a decisive VIC
Tory all at once. Today if a sue
cess at the right wing is reported,
the unbelieving newspaper read
er observes: Yes, that is all very
well, but we don't make any head
way at Verdun.'
Il am perfectly convinced that
we are bound to win in the end.
| derive full satisfaction from the
partial successes we have had be-
cause | can infer from them our
full and final victory. little ex-
pect a sudden, decisive and COM
plete success, as little as | should
expect to win the great prize in
a lottery. Considering that we
have to fight with half the world,
it seems to me that our trium-
phal car is proceeding fast
enough.