The Tomahawk., 1916-01-06
TIE EUROPEAN WAR

that in all the ages to come 1t Will
stand apart from those that have pre-
coded it and from those which are
to follow. During it's entire length
the greater nations OF the European
continent have abandoned themselves
TO a. policy of bloodshed which has
fallen little short of delirium. 10
The neutral onlDoker it has been a re-
viyal on a huge scale OF the lrratlon'
Al and murderous activity which char-
acterized the earlier ages OF manklnd.
It has been the complete overthrow Oh
all the pacific theories which had ap-
parently gained so strong a tootnoio
at the time Of the firing of the nrst
gun in the present conflict.
At the beginning of the year, 1t was
evident that it was to be a struggle
70 the death. 1t was plain that the
Teutonic plan to force a speedy set
cement oy dint of superior armed
Preparedness had failed. Six months
lad ela psed and the Teutonic allies
Eere gill faced by three great ma
lions, heir strength unbroken and
Eaeir determination infleXible. Aus
fla he'd been driven repeatedly by her
iussian invaders and twice the Serbs
lad -outed Austrian armies sent
,gainrt them. On other fields, also,
teutonic efforts had been futile. Thus
lar Turkey had been of little assist
(nce and the holy war had failed to
Tome into being. German Southwest
frica had been lost and German IN
trencc in Asia had been smothered
" the Japanese.
AS an offset, the Germans still held
Practically all the conquered territory
fbich had fallen into their hands.
their lines still held firmly in Po-
Ind, III Flanders and in France 1t
tas apparent that as yet the Teutcnlc
combination showed no sign Of weak
ering, and war Of attrition seemed
pcvitable Both in the cast and
In. the west the military operations
Of the early part of the year were
pl actically without decisive result.
The fighting in Poland had resolved
it.elf into complete deadlock. In
January, the F'rench-Eng.ish combine
.le three attempts to break the
Il. Itcnic hold on French territory, but
accomplished little. The German I'M
successful drive at Warsaw and the
rout OF the Austrians in Galicia left q
slight balance in the January lighting
in lavcr of the allies.
From a strictly military viewpoint
February was promising month for
the Teutonic allies. BY the middle or
the month, German troops were adj
vancing all along the front from
the Vistula to the Niemen, and thus,
seven months after the breaking out
of the war, German soil was practi-
cally cleared of it's Russian INVADERS
1~he deadlock on the western front
was still unbroken.
Scene Shifts to Dardanellcs.
With the advent Of March, there
came a sudden and dramatic change
IN the war situation. The scene or
military activity was shifted to the
lyardanelles. BY the third week or
the month, Rome, Athens, Sofia and
bucharest were centers Of great po-
l,,ical activity. The surrender Of
l.rzemysl, March 20, was the most
stirring victory for the allies since the
battle of the Marine. The German
assertion that the military power OF
Russia had dwindled into insignifi-
canoe was disproved at once and the
CT CT OFT
I'll the neutral capitals. One OF the
greatest strongholds in Europe had
been taken by the Russians.
The disaster to the allied fleet at
the Dardanelles, which occurred dur
ing the third week of March, put an
end to the expectation of forcing the
straits by naval means alone. Ger
man prestige advanced perceptlbly
Lnd the difficulty of the task under
ts'ken by the allied fleet was now I'M
lerstood. In this month, also. the
British won the battle of Neuve
Ehapelle after bloody fight.
In April the French made bold
offensive stroke against the German
position between the Mouse and the
Moselle--the famous St. Mihiel wedge
which resulted in tremendous loss
of men on both sides, with small adj
vantage for either. Nowhere had the
allies made appreciate gain in ter
ritory. The invader held his own
and with success. About
the middle of the month, Zeppeilns
.made their appearance over English
4 WINS, inspiring great interest and not
" little apprehension, but doing COM
pa ratively small damage. About TINS
time, also, the attempted submarine
bio .kade of the British coast proved
to be ineffective. In the closing days
of the month another great Teutonlc
offensive swept against the allied lines
in Belgium, thrusting the enemy back
upon Ypres, with great loss OF Life on
both sides.
In May the Germans sent their pest
troops to the aid of the hard-
messed Austrians. By the middle Oh
the month they had worked a star
ting ,e..~e in the situation. Pre-