Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-07-30
SITUATION CHANGES
. IN SECOND YEAR
OF EUROPEAN WAR.
Period Closes With Con-
certed Effort of Allies to
Crush Germany.
TEUTONS, FOR FIRST TIME.
ARE ON THE DEFENSIVE
Battles of Champagne and YER
dun and Opening of the Sornne
Offensive Chief Events.
COST IN MEN HARD TO TELL
All Bciligerents Have Ceased Issuing
Casualty Lists for Public
Consumption.
'osT IN MEN HARD TO TELL

The second year of the world war
closes with the battle of Europe" a
concerted effort OF the allies on three
fronts to crush the central powers,
struggle. before which superlatives,
already exhausted. are completely beg.
CARED
France and Great Britain in the
south. are hurting wave after wave Of
armed men on the Teutonic lines. to-
gether with an avalanche of shells and
bombs such as the worldkhas not known
up TO the present timeH For the first
time the Teutons are. temporarily at
least. on the defensive on the thou
sands of miles Of the existing battle
fronts.
The change in the situation which
the year has brought is striking, all
though the results so far have been
more potential and spectacular than
radical. a year ago the Germans. con-
tinuing their great drive against the
Russians. hurled tho Slavs back along
the entire eastern front. captured War.
saw. the great fortresses Of Eovno,
Novo Georgicvsk and Brest-Litovsk
and established lines far inside Rus.
sian territory. which they maintained
virtually unbroken until within the
last three months. They seized all
Poland, r great slice OF Russia to the
south of that country and expelled the
invaders from Galcia and Bukowina.
Field Marshals Won Hindenburg and
Won Mackensen were the heroes OF
these great successes
On the western front the changes in
position during the year were COM
par atively small. but tho twelve months
were marked by three events Of inter-
est. The battles of Champa gne and
Verdun and the opening Of the great
Franco-British offenslves on the Somme
took place in this period
The battle of Champagne opened on
September %. after n weeks terrific
bomba rdment OF the German lines by
the French, British and Belgians. In
week of the hloodest fighting that
had been known up to that time, the
allies announced that they had taken
twenty miles OF trenches, six towns and
$4,000 prisoners But there they
halted. They could not break through
the mighty German wall. and the grim
deadlock which marked the western
litHt LOT 80 many illOHlnS WIS feSutneQ
The battle of Champagne marked the
removal OF Sir John French. the Brit
ish commander in chief from the be-
ginning OF the war up to that time In
December. 1915 it was announced that
he had resigned to take a home COM
mand, and Sir Douglas Haig was ap-
pointed his successor.
BATTLE OF VERDUN
ECLTPSIIS ALL OTHER EVENTS
In sheer human interest the battle
of Nerdun probably surpassed all other
individual events of the war On Feb
ruary % the German Crown Prince be-
gan his assault of the historic French
fortress. known throughout many CEN
turtles as the gateway to France. For
five months the defenders withstood a
storm at the fury OF which the world
stood aghaSt, Foot by foot, almost
inch by inch. the Germans forged for
ward. with reckless disregard of their
lives, tenacity and cool courage which
was only eGualled by the heroic deter
mination OF the French. On June an
unofficial estimate of the German
losses at Vcrdun placed the total at
the appalling figure OF 100000. The
ASSISTANTS fought their way to within
about three and half miles of the
fortress. hut for several weeks have
reported no further progress. and the
force of their attacks appears to have
lesscncd
The Franco British offensive on the
Somme opened on July /. 1916 1t was
preceded by bombardment OF un-
parallclcd duration and intensity, fea-
tured by the appearance of new and
gigantic British howitzers. Under this
awful hurricane of big-gun fire the
1,f
When the British and French troops
advanced they reported that they found
trenches in which there was not a
single survivor. only the dead guarded
the silent rifles and machine guns.
German first lines were carried over
an extent OF twenty-five miles. and the
second positions pierced at certain
points. but up to the present tho fight
ing has been indecisive in so far as
the forcing OF the Germans TO with
draw their main lines is concerned
The lighting has been of the bitterest
possible description. and the reports OF
press correspondents at the front TEEN
with accounts OF the most amazing
herosm and devotion on both sides.
Instances have been recorded Of the
sole survivor OF n company, wounded )
and without hope, who manned ma.
chic gun and fought to the last amid
the bodies of his comrades; Of isolated
attachments who stood OF their foes
for days until succor reached them, or
death; OF captured surgeons who bound
up the wounds OF their captors; Of q
heroic rescues Of wounded comrades
under fire. and OF countless similar
deeds that thrilled the watching world.
The first move in the great allied