The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1916-07-31
THE WAR IS TWO YEARS OLD

certed effort of the Allies on three
fronts to crush the Central Powers,
which has developed into titantic
struggle before which superlatives,
already exhausted, are completely
begged.
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, to-
gether 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 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,
continuing their great drive against
the Russians, hurled the Slays back
along the entire eastern front and es-
tablished lines far inside Russian ter
ritory which they maintained vir-
tually unbroken until within the last
three months. They seized all Poland,
great slice of Russia to the south
of that country and expelled the in
lvaders from GaIicia and Bukowina.
On the western front the changes
| in position during the year were COM
lparativeIy small but the twelve
months were marked by three events
| of interest: The battle Of Champagne
and Verdun and the opening of the
great Franco-British offensive on the
Somme took place in this period.
The battle of Champagne opened
on September Is, after weeks ter
rife bombardment of the German
lines by the French, British and Bel
gians. In week of the bloodiest
lighting that had been known up to
that time the Allies announced that
they had taken twenty miles of
trenches, six towns and $4,000 pris-
toner's. But these they halted. They
Icould not break through the mighty
German wall and the grim deadlock
(which marked the western front for
$50 many months was resumed.
In sheer human interest the battle
lof Verdun probably surpassed all
iother individual events Of the war.
lon February % the German crown
lprince began his assault of the his
ltoric French fortress, known through
Iout many centuries as the gateway to
France. For five months the defend
lers withstood storm at the fury of
(which the world stood agast. Foot
by foot, almost inch by inch, the
Germans forged forward, with reck-
Hess disregard of their lives, a ten
lacity and cool courage which was
lonly equalled by the heroic deter
lmination of the French. On June
Ian unofficial estimate of the German
losses at Verdun placed the total at
the appalling figure of 100000. The
lassailants fought their way to within
Iabout three and half miles of the
fortress but for several weeks have
reported no further progress and the
force Of their attacks appears to have
llessened.
The Franco British offensive on the
Somme opened on July 1, 1916. 1t
Twas preceded by bombardment OF
unparalleled duration and intensity,
featured by the appearance of new
land gigantic British howitzers. I'm
der this awful hurricane of big gun
fire the German first line defenses
lcrumbled. When the British and
| French troops advanced they report
ed that they found trenches in which
there was not single survivor, only
n 1.-THE dead guarded the silent rifles and
I|machine guns. German first lines
were carried over an extent of 2E
miles and the second positions pierced
at certain points but up to the pres
ent the fighting has been indecisive
in so far as the forcing of the Ger
lmans to withdraw their main line is
concerned.
II The first move in the great Allied
defensive was not made by the
Franco British however, but by the
Russians. On June the troops Of
the Emperor Nicholas opened ire
mendous assault on the Austro-G Ger
man lines on a three hundred mile
front extending from the Pripet
marshes to Rumania. The Teuton
lines held firm in the north but to the
south General Brussiloff swept with
| irresistible force through the Aus
| TRAN defenses, tearing a great gap
about 100 miles in extent. Through
this the Russians poured, Capturing
Czernowitz, the capital of Bukowina
and overruning the crownland. The
Austrian losses are declared to have
been enormous, seven weeks after the
offensive began the Russians making
an official announcement that over
300 900 prisoners had been taken and
at least an equal number killed OF
lwounded.
As the offensive developed the Rus.
SANS won new successes further north
and at the close of the war year are
engaged in a mighty struggle fol
Iemberg. the caDital of Calicia