Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-07-09
HUNGARY D|SP|RITED
BY RUSSIAN GAINS
Piercing of Line by Army of
Brussiloff Came as
Great Shock.
MEN GETTING DISCOURAGED
Families Back at Home Write
More and More Despairing
Letters to Them.

LONDON. July s.--A Hungarian cor
respondent Of the Daily News describes
conditions in Francis Joseph's empire
very bad and says the recent Rus.
sian advance has dispirited the popula-
ton exceedingly. coming when every
one had been led by the authorities to
believe the Car crushed. Tho letter
reads:
The piercing OF the Austro- Hun
garian line by the forces Of General
Drussiloff and, In general. the offensive
movement on a line OF 500 miles came
as the most unexpected shock the
tro-Hungarian army ever has sus-
tanned They knew of the Russian in
Judging from the reports OF the CORE
spondents. but all they expected was
another half-hearted attack like the
one early this year.
Their immense Notifications and the
thirteen months experience on the Rus
sian front taught the general staff and
the people of the monarchy to regard
any Russian rally with a fatherly kind
Of smile This quite unwarranted feel
Ing due to the constant illusions
In the Austro- Hungarian official COM
muniques and in the papers of the
monarchy to the defeated hosts of the
Gear.
1T is evident now how greatly they
were mistaken. IT also is clear that
had the Austro- Hungarian general staff
believed that the Russian; we're in such
strength IS to afford an offensive on a
line of 800 miles, they would not have
| undertaken an offensive against the
Italians only two weeks before. but
would have concentrated against the
Russians.
SPIRIT OF SOLDIERS
HAS BEEN BROKEN
The greatest miscalculation. never
theless. lay in the confidence they
showed In the spirit of the Austro-
hungarian forces on the. Russiap,s{{Eaat-
This spirit was not the same as It
proved to be last tAias,aIwh s1athssbseak
through at Gorlice and Tarnows was
accomplished. Since then many things
happened, and thousands OF letters
written home by these men show that
they are not at all satisfied with the
position. Taking into account only
those letters which appeared in the
newspapers. one can deduce that It was
not their condition in the trenches
which affected them most What made
life unbeatable was the fact that they
were constantly haunted by the knowl-
edge that their people at home. their
wives and children, We're suffering prac-
frn CO tio
did no, see when the war ever would
| come to an end.
These people have. in most cases,
been at the front for more than eigh-
teen months. and many OF them ever
since the mobilization began. They
were promised a dozen times that the
war would be over If they took Lem
berg back. II they advanced into Rus
sian territory. IL they got as far as
Brest LitovSk. If the ytook Lutsk. etc,
and yet when they have done all they
were wanted to do the war is still
going on. and there is no hope of
peace within another year
Meanwhile. the family at home wrote
daily more and more despairing letters.
AZ hrst they sent parcels of food to the
soldiers. Now they beg the soldiers to
send them bread and timed meat, for
they cannot get any at home. There
are cases where the soldier father went
home on leave, and. although he had
fourteen days to while away at home.
he only remained TWO or three, for he
could not see the suffering of the
FAMILY. and because lie wanted to re-
iieve them of an additional mouth
The effects of the Russian successes.
hrst of ALL will show in Hungary.
where they have begun to rebuild the
ruined villages in the Carpathians 1t
VIII not be at all surprising II tho
hungarian Parliament--seeins that the
whole game begins all over again, and
! that the hosts of the monarchy are not
now powerful enough to stop the on
s!aught of the Russians-should order
me government to put forth peace pro-
poSais and ask for an armistice for the
period of the preiiminaries. The peo-
pie would not stand the strain of
another winter like that OF 1915
But, above all. the most important
factor in this great drama is from the
point of view OF the monarchy, the
losses they sustained and will yet have
TO sustain. There Is little doubt even
In vienna that the losses have been as
great as stated in the Petrograd re-
ports for these have not yet been de.
nied"