Imperial Valley press., 1916-12-29
FRENCH REVIEW Of.
THE GREAT WAR
BY Henry Wood

three months of 1916 three events
took place in France which demon
strated as never at any previous pc
riod of the war the apparently mex
haustible resources of Frances mill
tary genius and strength, the equally
inexhaustible resources of her finan-
cial and economic energy, and the alb
solutely mistaken determination both
of her army and her civil population
to continue the war to a successful
close.
Two epic events were the launch
ing on October "a of the French Of
fensive at Verdun, in which prac-
tically all the ground and positions
won by the Crown Princes armies in
six months Of sanguinary fighting
were reconquered within six hours
with minimum of losses to the
French, and, secondly, the subscrib-
ing by the French nation as a whole
in three weeks, from October to
October 20, of an unprecedented war
loan of nearly $2,300,00O,0O0.
The third was the reorganization
of Frances cabinet along the lines
of compaotness and efficiency which
David Lloyd-George introduced in
England. Premier BRAND remained at
: the head of the ministry, and Joffre,
idol of Frame, and former generals
simo of her forces, while still retain
ing supreme command of the French
forces, became counsellor to the war
council. General Nievlle, defender of
Verdun and one of the popular heroes
of the army, was made commander
of French forces in the North and
Northeast.
While the French victory at Ver-
dun, taken entirely by itself, stands
out as an unparalleled achievement in
the military history Of the world, yet
its real significance in the present
war is only apparent when it is
viewed in connection with all that had
preceded it.
When the Germans launched their
great offensive at Verdun on February
|21 no secret was made of at least two
of the objects the Germans had in
view. One of these was to prevent
the Allies from starting their combined
unique offensive and the other was to
deliver an absolute death blow to
France.
While the Germans failed to reach
Verdun, end while their great effort
failed to prevent the launching of the
Allied offensive, yet they openly boast
cd that at least one of their objectives
had been attained, namely, that they
had caused France to bleed to utter
exhaustion before Verdun and that
henceforward she would be incapable
of further military effort.
Despite this boast and despite the
losses which France undeniably sus-
tanned before Verdun, she launched,
on July 1, in connection with the Eng
lish, the offensive on the Somme,
which has never been checked for
single instant, and in which, in addi-
tion to all the villages and ground
regained, all the losses in dead and
wounded inflicted on the enemy, the
French themselves, Independent of
what the English have done, have
captured over $4,000 prisoners, over
300 cannon and over 600 machine
guns.
1t was while still conducting this
Vigorous offensive on the Somme,
which the Germans had boasted
France would never be able TO launch
as a result of her losses at Verdun,
that France, on October "a, launched
even a second offensive, this time
choosing the Germans own ground at
Verdin, where all of Germany's great
infantry and artillery strength had
been concentrated for eight months.
This offensive France launched all
alone, without the slightest help from
any of her allies, and carried it to
SuCn Il SuCCcSol vi COIlCluolOIl IIldC CiIC
Germans withdrew from the fort Of
Vaux without even fighting.
While this great operation at Ver-
dun revealed to the entire world the
present military strength of France
after two years of unprecedented war
fare, it revealed also to the more ex-
pert eyes of the military critics of
Europe something esuall important,
and that is the present military ge-
MUS of France. Almost without ex-
ception competent military critics and
authorities in Europe are unanimous
in declaring the French offensive at
Verdun one of the most remarkable
military operations in the worlds his
| tory.
The offensive, as planned, included
the taking over of half dozen posi-
tions, such as Haudremont Quarries,
TNJ.