The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1916-08-11
The Fan Of Goritzla.

Step by step, in careful sequence. the
co-ordinated offensive Of the allies,
planned last winter at the war council IN
Paris, is being brought into play. 1t
was assumed by some military writer's
that il meant a simultaneous offensive.
but that is not essential TO co-ordna-
ton, and circumstances suggested rather
the entry Of one army after another IKE
the instruments in a great orchestral
fugue. In some cases the end sought
could not be attained till the opposed
forces had been weakened to meet at
tacks elsewhere, in other cases the end
desired could be attained by the lmpend-
! ing threat of an offensive at point lelt
uncertain. Sooner or later the allies VIII
have use for all their superiority IN re-
sources, but nothing would be gained
and much might be lost by making the
movements Of the widely separated
armies simultaneous.
To some extent, probably, the central
powers themselves dictated the sequence
OF events BY their strenuous efforts, at
Verdun and in the Trentino, to iorestall
and break up the plans OF the allies.
| That released instantly the Russian OF
fensiye, which may have begun little
earlier than was planned because OF the
| weakening OF the Austrian lines In
France the allies waited upon events at
Verdun while maturing their plans, and
timed their drive SO as TO relieve pres
sure on Nerdun and prevent the transfer
OF German troops to the eastern fronts.
! Italy was known to he ready for a Gull
minatinr attack on Goritzia, when the
\ diversion was made in the Trentino; that
! nostponed the attack but did not affect
\ The result-unless, indeed it 50 augment
ed Austria's misfortunes in the east as
10 compel a weakening Of the army on
the Isonzo, thus making the fall Of Gorit-
zia more certain.
To call this Italy's greatest victory
is an absurd understatement The ltal-
ian army has fought CALAMITY for a
year and three months but till GorltNa
4 fell it had had no success at all. mat
/ CITY is on the Isonzo, and the lsonzo i
practically the frontier-t4oritzla Is but
| 10 miles beyond the border, and after
reaching the outworks in the first rush,
the Italians were held fast, hardly gain
ing an inch. There was nothing, now
ever, TO do except to keep pounding
away. for this bit OF frontier north OF
the Adriatic and south of the Alps gave
the sole chance to break through, ana
Goritzia was the key to it. Its fall is
bound to modify very materially the
whole military situation.
in itself Goritzia is not a strong place,
Tor it lies in pocket between the river
and the hills, but south and north OF the
city are isolated and strongly fortified
heights which command the whole region
including the crossing Of the river; TN
they were taken the passage could not be
forced, When they were captured the
bridgehead could not be held by the de-
tenders. and when the Italians had got
across the city could not hold out. But
that a determined effort was made Is
shown by the capture Of 10000 prisoners
What the next step will be must soon
appear. Ii the Italians had only their
own interests to consult they would nat
urally drive toward Trieste, which was
the objective OF the original attack and
which the sanguine Italian pubic OK
pected the army to reach IN few days
: or weeks. But the allies have learned
much from bitter experience as to the
necessity OF subordinatlng territorial 70
military aims, and no doubt Gen. "a
t dorna will shape his strategy to tit the
| general scheme and to aid the Russians
!, a. far as he can. The defense OF Trieste
must affect the movements OF the Aus
trlan army, but the army and not the
territory it defends must be the primary
, objective OF the Italian strategists II
that crumbles the oyerrunning OF terri
tory will be a simple matter. The one
dominant purpose Of the co-ordinated
campairn is to eliminate the Austrian
iarmy as a serious factor in the war, and
} having broken a gap in the ring of from
tier fortresses, Italy can now contribute
more effectively to this end. Blows from
all quarters fall thick and fast, and I'M
less Hindenburg can soon find the place
to get in heavy commensurate Austria
seems doomed Springfield lMass.) Re
publican.