The Benson signal., 1916-08-05

Will SudTpcuCu III IIeII ud1uS,
Russia was forced to fall back rapidly.
Twice it seemed the flower of the
czar's army would be surrounded, once
in the vicinity of Warsaw, and again
in the great battle near Wilma.
The tale of the taking of great towns
grew almost tedious. 1t seemed the
Germans would never stop. Whether
they did stop of their own accord or
were finally checked by the Russians
is not yet clear. They settled down
for the winter on long line stretch
ing from the Baltic just west of Riga
southeast along the Dvina river, and
then almost due south through POlies-
sic, the PinSk marsh district, to the
Roumanian frontier.
Reawakening of Russia.
On September 8 Gar Nicholas took
command of all his armies in the field,
sending his cousin, the Grand Duke
Nicholas, to the less important COM
mand of the Caucasus operations.
With their "Little Father" at their
head, the Russians forgot their long,
discouraging retreat. Millions Of new
young soldiers joined them, drawn
from Russia's great reservoir of hui
man beings, which produces three and
half million men of military age ev-
cry year.
On September 10 the Russians won
success near Tarnopol and Trembowla,
and two days later they drove the Teu-
tons back IA miles in Galicia. In other
parts of the front the Germans were
still seizing largo slices of territory,
but their enemies were regaining their
energy. On September 26 the Rus
slams recaptured Lutsk, but were driv-
en- out in a short time. On October 20
they recaptured Czartorysk, but they
were not able to prevent the Germans
storming Illuxt five days later. Gar
torysk was lost and again taken by
the czar January s.
Meanwhile the conquest of Serbia,
the greatest tragedy of the war, ex-
cepting only the massacre of 100000
Armenians, was being enacted.
Invasion of Serbia.
The real invasion of Serbia started
in the first days of October. A great
diplomatic battle had been fought in
Sofia, and the allies had lost. On Oc-
tober z Bulgaria in an ultimatum to
King Peter Of Serbia, peremptorily de-
manded the immediate cession of the
Macedonian lands in dispute between
the two countries and then in the pos
session Of the Serbs.
After a general bombardment the
Teutons crossed the river boundaries
of Serbia in many places on October 8.
Two days later they occupied Bel
grade. On the thirteenth Bulgaria in
vaded her neighbor at three points.
The successes of the TeutOns and the
Bulgarians were almost unbroken. The
invading forces consisted of a vast
amount of heavy artillery with small
infantry supporting forces. They
shelled the Serbians out of position
after position in an avalanche Of steel
to which the Serh;ans could make no
reply.
Small forces of French .and English
landed at Saloniki, Creek port to
which Serbia had certain entry privi-
leges, and did something to cover the
retreat of the Serbians by engaging
the Bulgarians in the South.
At the beginning of winter, Novem-
Der p, the Serbian soldiers crossed
their western border and struck the
trails of the dreary, snow-covered
mountains Of the coast. Great num-
bers perished of cold and hunger on
the way. On November % Germany
proudly announced that the Serbian
campaign had ended, having met with
complete success.
Two Blows to the British.
The winter also saw the humilia-
ton of the British in Mesopotamia.
The Indian government recklessly
pushed small, poorly supplied expe-
dition up the Tigris valley and actu-
ally penetrated to within seven miles
of Bagdad. Here the Turks, with Ger
man officers directing them, admins
tered a defeat and the invaders fell
back with the enemy harassing them
to the town of Kut-el-Amara, where
they were besieged December 10.
Another expedition, also insufficient,
was sent to relieve the first. 1t was
beaten off with large. losses a few
miles below Kut, a flood of the river
and swamps assisting the Turks, and
on April 30 the $4,000 defenders of
Kut 'capitulated by order of the Brit
ish higher command.
A further British humiliation was
the evacuation of GallipoH peninsula,
where the British held on doggedly
month after month, losing perhaps
100000 men, until they were finally
withdrawn in confession of failure the
first week Of January.
These two British fiascos were what
was needed to arouse the sluggish
fighting blood of John Bull. They
finally brought England into the war
fully and uncompromisingly to the
same extent as the other great pow
ers.