Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-07-02
The Evening Star Newspaper Company
The First Day of the Drive

The first day of the big push as
the rejoicing Londoners styled the Brit
ish offensive against the Germans in
France. yielded greater gain for the
allies than they have scored in the west
since the German retreat after the bat
tie of the Marine Save at isolated points,
as at Neuve Chappelle, and in the counter
fighting at Verdun, the actual territorial
advance have been negligible. Here
and there trench has been taken, per
haps to be held. or to be lost in few
ho&rs. but in the main the great cam
paign has been a stalemate. Now, after
e furious bombardment the like of
which the world has never before wit
messed, a charge by an army Of perhaps
two or three hundred thousand men has
carried the British and French colors
FIVE miles ahead, over the first line of
German trenches. at points we'll beyond
the second and third lines. Instead of
taking trenches the allies have taken
villages in their first days work as ag
gressors.
The net result of the drive at this
time appears to be gain of about five
miles at one point, with the capture of
number of important strategic positions.
The evident object of the British com
manders is not merely to straighten the
line, which was bent to the west above
the Somme and was difficult to defend,
but to destroy the German position and
to demoralize the Teutonic army. This
may be merely a repetition of Verdun.
with heavy allied gain for few days.
followed by stiffening of the defense
and realignment on trench basis at
a point more to the east. But Verdun
was defended by strong concentration
of French forces. permitted, first, by the
assumption by the British of consid-
cradle area for defense and, second, by
troops.
The German lines can be reinforced
at this stage only by weakening of the
lines somewhere else There are no fresh
supplies of troops to be had. With the
Russians pounding in vast numbers and
with greatly increased artillery
strength on the eastern front. and the
Italians driving northward into the
Tyrol, there is no source of assistance.
No single part of the great line can
safely be stripped of any part of its de-
Tense lest vigorous and alert foe
break through. Austria can lend no as
sistanee to Germany now. She is in the
sorest straits to hold the Russians from
capturing her armies entire in the east
and the Italians from gaining command
ing positions in the Tyrol and the
Izonzo. Bulgaria can do nothing, for
upon her sill depend the resistance Of
the allies if drive north from Saloniki
begins Turkey is fully occupied in
Mesopotamia and Armenia. holding the
Russians and British from advancing
upon Bagdad and eventually upon Con-
stantineple.
Yet it is imperative that the allied
drive north of the Somme be checked if
Germany is to hold her ground in
France A breach of the line that reaches
into the field of communications will
neeessitate a general retirement. The
German danger at the Somme is more
grave than the French danger at Yer
dun, for France stood to gain, in a mill
tary sense. from a yielding of the
great salient around the historic citadel,
while Germany cannot now lose many
. miles of ground in her right center
without inviting disaster.