Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1916-02-18
HARD TASK
To Crush The Teutons-views of a
Student of The European War
International Complication Writ
ten Specially for the Tribune by
Earl M. Wood.

When the country of Montenegro
was overrun by the armies of the
Teutonic Allies, it was the first time |
in history that these black mountain
eers had bowed their heads to any
foreign power. The sultans of Tur-
key, while victorious in every war
in the Balkans, tried unsuccessfully
for four hundred years to break the
power of this little Slavonic State
and yoke it to the Turkish Empire,
and now, when Montenegro has suf-
fered the fate of Belgium and Ser
bia, it is the first instance since the
beginning of time that it has ac-
knowledged the supremacy of con-
queror.
With the fall of the "Gibraltar of
the Balkans" within gunshot of Get
inje, the capital, the Austro-Ger-
manic armies have advanced to a
point where they will be decided
menace to Italy, for, with Austrian
greyhounds possessing such a for
midable naval base, Austrias' domin-
alton of the Adriatic will be unques-
toned
For Italy to land an army on the
west coast of Albania and march it
through to the relief of the Entente
Allies at Saloniki, would be move
that must be carefully considered
and planned. 1t must be remember
ed that Italy's forces are heavily en-
gagged with the Austrians in the
north and. judging from the slow
progress they have made, they can
i'll afford to withdraw men from a
Balkan campaign. They must con-
slider that such move would bring
about engagements with German
troops and eventually would start
war between the German Empire
and the Kingdom of Italy; and that
such war, even though meaning
the coniscation of all German ships
in Italian ports would mean the
seizure and confiscation of all Italian
ships in German ports, and the con-
| fiscation bv the German government
of King Victor Emmanuel's heavy
| investment in Krupp which would
practically bankrupt the House of
Savov. 1t must he considered that
the Teutonic Allies are possessed
with tremendous strength at present
in the Balkans, and should the Ital-
ians succeed in making landing at
DuraZzo. there can be little doubt
but that the Teutons would sweep
into Albania to check their advance,
and should he Entente Allies at
tempt to sally from Saloniki at such
a time. they must remember that
the Turkish and BULGARIAN watch
dogs are still on the Grecian from
tier.
|. 1t is popular opinion that the OBJ
| iect of the Balkan campaign is the
capture of Suez, but that. no one
knows. If Suez falls into the hands
of the Teutons, it would mean a
serious to England and to her allies,
bnt there has been no guarantee
Piven as to whether or not the Egyp-
tian camnaion is not going to be a
gipantic bluff
English military experts tell us
that the capture of Suez is an i'm
possibility, and laugh at the idea OF
a force trying to take it. They point
out that it would take so many thou.
sand automobiles to transport Sc
many thousand men across the
! desert is Asia to bring them to ths
Egyptian frontier. We must real
ize, however, that the other sid,
makes its calculations also, which
was plainly shown at Gallipoi, which
the world knows was the larges
failure and most costly expedition
of the war. The English forces los
3 almost 115,000 men there, (and tn,
= French losses have not been report
J ed) besides several battleships from
r the largest fleet ever assembled fo
!, an attack upon the Dardenelles. Ye
: everyone remembers the newspape
reports of the wonderful victories o
J, the Entente Allies on Gallipoli. /
is the results that tell.
Turkeys entrance into the wa
was a great diplomatic victory fo
Germany and Austria, but when Bul
!: garia Joined the alliance, it mad
direct communication possible be
o tween Berlin and Constantinople.
y made it possible for German wa
/ supplies to flow into Turkey and fo
n Turkish food supplies to flow int
: Germany, and in time it will sho'
the Entente Allies that the centrs
Powers can never be starved int
making terms.
England's great North Sea flee
can prevent American cotton frol
being landed in Germany, but
tcannot prevent Turkish cotton frol
crossing the Dardenelles and bein
shipped to Germany. When the Aus
tro.Germans started their conques
of Serbia it was a silent warning
Greece and Roumania to "Stay Net
trial." and when Bulgaria entere
the war, it changed the complet
situation in the Balkans-it linke
together the Teuton and the Turk.
This war has shown the countrie
of Europe that Turkey can now tax
her place among them as militar
power, and that the Ottoman En-
pire has "come back" With a mi
lion men or more under arms, sh
has proved to the Teutons that sh
is no mean ally, and her position G
the man enables her to keep tt
handouts on the Russian giant {
the Bosphorous. Those who scoffe
at her military strength when 81
Joined the Dual Alliance admit tn:
she has surprised the world by h
terrible defeat to the allies on Gall
poll. The parts that she is yet
play in the European struggle W
prove that she must still be recogni
ed as the most powerful country
the Balkans.
It will be small credit to the Trip
Entente and their allies if they ca
not inf1ict a crushing defeat on t
I'd. Central Powers and their allies, b
they will find that they have t
biggest job on their hands that HI
tory has ever known.