The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1916-07-30


three fronts to crush the central
powers, which has developed into a
titanic struggle before which super
latives, already exhausted, are COM
pletely beggared.
France and Great Britain in the
west, Russia in the east, Italy in the
south are hurting wave after wave
of armed men on the Teutonic lines,
together with an avalanche of shells
and bombs such as the world has not
known up to the present time. For
the first time the Teutons are, tenn
porarily at least, on the defensive on
the thousands of miles of the exist
ing battle fronts.
The change in the situation which
he year has brought is striking, al
though the roa
more potential and spectacular than
radical. A year ago the Germans,
continuing their great drive against
The Russians, hurled the Slavs back
along the entire eastern front, cap
tured Warsaw, the great fortresses of
Kovno, Novo Georgievsk and Brest-
Litovsk and established lines far in
side Russian territory which the7
maintained virtually unbroken until
within the last three months. They
seized all Poland, great slice of Rus
STA to the south of that country and
expelled the invaders from Galicia
and Bukowina. Field Marshals ven
Hindenburg and Won Mackensen were
the heroes of these great successes.
On the western front the changes
in position during the year were com
paratiyely small, but the twelve
months were marked by three events
of interest: The battles of Cham
payne and Verdun, and the opening of
the great Franco British offensive on
the Somne took place in this period.
The Battle Of Champagne.
The battle of Champagne opened
on September 25, after weeks ter
rife bombardment of the German lines
by the French, British and Be1gians.
In a week of the bloodiest 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 front for so many months
was resumed. The battle of Cham
payne marked the removal of Sir John
French, the British communicating
chief, from the beginning of the war
up to that time. In December, 1915,
it was announced that he had resigned
to take up home command and Sir
Douglas Haig was appointed his sue.
cessor.
In sheer human interest the battle
of Verdun probably surpassed all 9th.
er individual events of the war. Or
February 20 the German crown prince
began his assault of the historit
French fortress, known throughou
many centuries as the gateway t,
France. For five months the defend
ers withstood a storm at the fury o
which the world stood aghast. Foo
by foot, almost inch by inch, the Ger
mans forged forward, with reckless
disregard of their lives, a tenacit,
and cool courage of which was onl,
equalled by the heroic determination
of the French. On June an unof
fetal estimate of the German losse
at Verdun placed the total at the ap
palling figure of 100000. The assail
ants fought their way to within abou
three and half miles of the fortress
but for several weeks have reporte
no further progress, and the fore
of their attacks appears TO have less
ened.
Unparalleled Bombardment.
The Franco British offcQsivc on tn
Somme opened on idly l, 1916.
was preceded by a 5ombardment Q
!. unparalleled duration and intensit!
featured by the appearance of ne
and gigantic British howitzers. Unda
this awful hurricane of big gun fiji
- the German first line defenses crun
bled. When the British and Freng
troops advanced they reported tn;
they found trel .hes n which they
was not a single survivor, only ii
dead guarding the silent rifles an
machine guns. German first line
were carried over an extent of twel
ty-five miles and the second position
pierced at certain points, but up
the present the fighting has been il
decisive in so far as the forcing !
the Germans to withdraw their maj
lines is concerned. The fighting hi
been of the bitterest possible descril
ton and the reports of press corr
spondents at the front TEEN with a
counts of the most amazing herois
and devotion on both sides. Instanct
have been recorded of the sole 81
vlvor of company, wounded al
without hope, who manned mach,
gun and fought to the last amid t
bodies of his comrades; of isolat
- attachments who stood off their fo
for days until succor reached theI