Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-10-29

necessary to. defend the front. #. in
stead Of following the great circle OF the
Rumanian frontier from Kronstadt west
to the Danube. where Serbia. Hungary
and Rumania meet and then east by the
Danube to the Dobrudja. the front were
straight line south from Kronstadt
to. the Danube. several hundred miles
would be cut of the extent OF the front
and this would reduce very greatly the
task OF. the central powers. If they are to
stand on the defensive.
,s May Strike at Odessa.
On the other hand. II the central
powers are now able to crush Rumania
and then support an offensive, we may
before spring see the combined forces
Of Mackensen and Falkenhayn moving
eastward beyond the Pruth into Rus
sia and aiming at Odessa, Russia
thrust would threaten the whole Rus
sian line from the Baltic southward
and it would abolish all peril OF Rus
sian advance in Galicia.
We must now bear in mind that Ger
man strategy, under the direct control Of
Hindenburg, is turning Onward new
campaign against Russia. All that we
can hear from Berlin, all the German
sympathizers in this country say, sug-
gests that Berlin has new hope of per-
suading Russia. probably after new dis
aSters, to make a separate peace. And
the true line of attack would. 1t seems
to me, be toward Odessa, with the line
of the Danube as a line of communica-
tons from Austria to the Black sea.
Rumanfan resistance may hold north
and south Of the capital The German
attack may wear itself out in the Tran
sylvanian Alps and at the crossings Of
the Danube: but 1t is well to recall that,
thanks to the same heavy artillery that
he has now used effectively in the Do
brudta, Mackensen forced the crossings Of
the Danube into Serbia last year. And
we may yet find that the apparent check
to the Germans in the mountains is only
temporary; that, in fact, the Germans are
training alternating blows. first from the
north and then from the south, and thus
confusing their foe and keeping him
weakening, first one front and then the
other
Situation Plainly Critical.
The situation Of Rumania. at the
moment I write. on Monday night. Is
plainly critical. There is no longer
any question of an invasion either of
Bulgaria or Pennsylvania. We have
now to see. not whether Germany can
save Turkey and the Balkans, but
whether Russia can save Rumania.
The main stake in the latest game, the
railroad, has been won by the Ger
mans. Six weeks ago we wondered if
the allies in Saloniki would be able to
push north and join the Russians and
Rumanians coming south across the
Danube. Now the question Is whether
Mackensen and Falkenhayn can meet
in the Rumanian plain. Here is a real
ly brilliant success won in the face Of
the most unpromising prospects. Ger
man strategy has never done anything
better ia foi IN no
of the long list Of allied blunders has
been more complete.
Last spring I wrote Of the tremendous
moral lift that the French experienced
brought hope and confidence to the whole
nation. 1t is hard to believe that the
shining success in the Balkans will fall
short of giving the German people the
same sort OF lift"
: Comes at opportune Moment.
1t comes at an opportune moment, 1t
destroys the moral effect Of the long pro-
cession Of allied successes east and west
beginning in Volhynia and Galicia, en-
tending through the Somme advance and
including the capture Of Gorilla None
of these successes. whatever their event
ual effect, has been Immediately complete
or SO instantly unmlstakable as the dis
sipation of allied hopes in the Balkans by
the joint successes of Mackensen and
Falkenhayn.
Actually the Germans have disposed of
new danger and a new foe in brilliant
fashion. This does not materially help
them In their position with respect to
their old foes; on the military side it may
weaken them. because It has cost them
men and munitions: but measured by its
moral effect the Rumanian triumph has
been the biggest German success since
Tannenberg and it has come at an equally
critical moment 1t also gives emphatic
refutation to the assertion that GERMANY
possesses no strategic reserve. Falken-
hayns army was a strategic reserve: its
very existence argues powerfully against
the belief that Germany has yet reached
the end of her manpower