The Washington herald., 1916-10-02

srhnd IOtdl at kne stdfL YVES l,S90 DatLaI-
ions OF 1000 men each.
"At the end of August 1914, the first
transport began. The Russians were in
line much sooner than had been expected
and advanced in East Prussia. In France
on the contrary, the French retreated
rapidly, and the Nineteenth Army Corps
withdrawn from Belgium, was sent to re-
enforce the fret line in Eastern Prussia.
After the battle Of the Marne, the west
ern lines stretched east and west, reach
ing the sea. In the east, Hindenburg
made a counter offensive. Units design
ed for both fronts were called UP from
the interior reserve-for the Russian
front, sixty battalions; for the Flanders
offensive, 10 battalions. This made 1,22O
In the west and 400 in the east-a total
Of 1890.
Troops Hurried to East.
winter having arrived, the German
general staff prepared the big offensive
In Poland and Galicia. Troops were hur-
rted from the west to the east and new
reserves from the interior supplemented
them. At the end of the spring of 1915
and in the course of the summer. the ef-
fectives on the western front were dinin-
ished for some days to less than 1,190 bat
talions, while those on the Russian front
were more than 80. Taking into account
Italian frontiers, the total was then 800
battalions.
AT this time-the summer of 1915-the
Germany army came near to attenuation
Of its cadres. At the moment of the
Balkan offensive in the fall. there was
an augmentation of twenty-five battaI-
ions at the front; the process could not
be carried much farther The effect o.
the Champagne battle in September was
a sudden rise in the number of battalions
In the west; there were l,136 at the end Of
August. and LIZA at the end of September
while on the Russian front, where the de-
tensive was for the time adopted, they
decreased from 752 to 569
Concentration in Balkans.
This drop corresponded with the con-
centration on the Balkan front, which re-
ceived ninGt :. nine battal'ons and with
the ucces sive re-enforcements of the
western amy II was further incre7se
by deductions from the army in Serbia
at the end nf December. From sixty to
seventy battalIons only were left in the
Balkans, while the eftectives in the west
rose steadily from 1921 on November :
1918, to l2Y6 az the end Of last January.
Soon after the battle of VerdUn COM
menced, and its preparations had an in
iuenee on the Balkan and eastern fronts.
Inc pTOOI = IDuUu III tue successive ln-
crease Of fore in France and Belgium.
BY May % there were put into line Lab
battalions OF all categories-frst line, re-
serve, ErsatZ, Landwehr and Ian 1sturm
Germany Superior at start.
Note from these figures that from the
Flanders battles in 1914 To those of Yer
dun, notwithstanding a defensive scarcely
interrupted by some local thrusts, the
German army OF the west has continu-
ously absorbed two-thirds OF the total
forces OF the empire, We are justified
therefore, 1t seems to me, in concluding
that despite the strength of the front in
deep and echeloned trenches. the power
OF the artillery and the effectiveness OF
the machine guns. the menace on the
west front has seemed so great to the
Germans that at no moment have they
felt justified in detaching more than one
third OF their troops to the eastern the
alter in which, with the Austrians. they
sought a decisive result all through last
year.
"A second important point touches on
the German organization at the outset of
the war. This organization purposed a
numerical superiority, relative and tenn
porary. over the French, so that a decIs-
I've result could be obtained before the
Intervention of a strong British army es-
allies. So the German imperial stan put
into action. during its offensive OF 1914
three-fourths of its electives in the west.
Despite this proportion. the desired result
was not attained.
The maneuver on the interior line is
now used up. Perfect as is the network
OF the German railway system. it is not
equal to the task Of simultaneous often
sives on the Somme and in Poland. The
Ass ha
which has recast the conditions under
which it started. Attacked with equal
violence on all fronts. the Germans have
to be on the defensive everywhere, and.
having used up their electives in the
fighting that IS past, they no longer have
the reserves that in 1914 they sent some
times to the east and sometimes to the
west. Now they must submit to the
initiative of their enemy"
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