Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-06-15

Russia has two enemies in her coun-
try. She IL disposins Of only one, so
fer. She will have 20 meet military
difficulties before her political plans
all work out.
ENOR the kind Of war which is now beinl
Il prosecuted on the eastern front th'
stories OF battles and intrenchments IL
France offer no guide and no parallel
The entire line from verdun to the ses
equals In extent only that part of th'
Austrian line which has been under at
tack since the first of the month.
battle front at least twice as long has moi
yet entered into the account The ter
rain is different. the style of warfare is
different, and the gains made must be
reckoned by different standard.
At the end of the magnificent Austro
German drive into Russia last year the
Russians found themselves facing three
armies The northern army which had
| failed to take Riga and Dvinsk, halted
on the Dvina- The central army ex-
tended from the region of Wilma to the
| Pripet marshes. South of these marshes
and extending to the Rumanian boundary
was the army which is now in such des-
slams. No geometrical figure can quite
give the shape of this frontier If the
reader will lay a wire on the map from
Czernowitz to Riga and then bend 1t to
follow various rivers, snap it about three
fifths down (for the Pripet marshes), and
tie little strings at various points for the
railroad lines, he will have some idea of
the battle line. Hardly otherwise.
The Russian attack has been on the
five armies Zone German. four Austrian)
which extended from the Pripet to Ru-
mania. Virtually every point Of attack
has been aimed at a railway junction,
and the general direction of the major
attacks makes the lines look like a some
what sharp angle, with the apex at the
strangely fated fortress of Przemysl. South
and east of that point Czernowitz has
been isolated by the capture of a railroad
town above it. Due east an attack is
being directed in the region of Tarnopol
North and east the most spectacular Of
fensive goes on with Lutsk as the famil-
lar point. These three drives seem all
directed at Austria and the centres of
attack are either in or near the Austrian
border. There are reasons, military and
political, for this.
But before these causes are considered
there remains one question. What will be
the German reply? The German army
under Won Linsingen, cooperating with
the four Austrian armies, has suffered
with the rest; but to the north lies still
the menace of Won Hindenburg, with an
4,
slams in understanding of the country and
we'll supplied That army, as the Rus
SLAMS facing it, rests on the marshes, not
yet adaptable to large-scale strategy. 1t
Is under no desperate compulsion to keep
its lines true to that of the southern army
nor is Kuropatkin compelled to advance
or retreat as BrusiloR moves. Yet the
Russians know that they must eventually
meet and defeat the northern armies or
their southern victories will not bear per-
feet fruit. Petrograd, influenced perhaps
by its hopes, reports that German troops
have been shifted southwark to stiffen
Austrian resistance-an outcome already
noticeable. But so far there is no reason
to believe that Germany will forego her
own offensive. It is even possible that
the northernmost of the three Russian
offensives nows has, besides its Austrian
objective at Lemberg or Przemysl, the
important junction Of Kovel. cutting the
line from Brest-LitovslS, on which part of
the upper German forces depend. 1t re-
mains to be seen whether the army of
Kufopatkin is as we'll supplied and as
capable as that which is reclaiming vast |
ana fnt- In ba
The reclamation OF land could hardly |
have been a motive in Russias campaign. |
Russia has so much to spare. The Rus |
sian drive in it's military aspects. was in |
fiuenced by conditions in the west, at |
Verdun and in Italy among others. 1t |
had. moreover, certain political motives, |
in which both Austria and the Balkans |
are involved. For Austria a decisive de- |
feat from her major enemy might deter |
mine that separate peace of which she has |
never ceased to think. Her Slavic regi- |
ments have not been heroic fighters and |
her mixed population has not been en-
tirely loyal. In Budapest and at Vienna |
the murmurings have been loud for peace. |
Yet long abefore the Carpathians are |
crossed there must be an imposing Rus
sian army in Bukowina, the Austrian dis
trict nearest Rumania, the district half |
promised to Rumania as a prize If she
joins Russia in the field In that way
the Russian offensive is a demonstration
for Rumanias benefit. 1t explains to her
that while Germany has lost the driving
power which took Novogeorgievsk (of
which Verdun is the proof, Russia has
regained the power which threatened the
plains twenty months ago.
The invitation TO come in is rosy, with
OF short and decisive stay. for
with Rumania on their side the Allies can
eliminate Bulgaria. settle the
Balkan question and open Russia's way TO
the sea- 1t is prize worth winning. Yet
vast as the operations must be in the
game, they are less than half Of the COM
plieations in Germanys scheme OF vic
tory