The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1916-01-06
the EUROPEAN WAR

that IN all tD0 ages 70 cone u Wtll
stand apart from those that have pre-
ceded II and from those which ara
10 follow. DQriag Its eatire length,
the greater natieus OF the European
coatinent have abandoned themselves
to . policy Of bl0Odshed which has
fallen little short OF deliriun. To
the neutral 0alo0kor II has been . 70
vivai ON . huge scale Of the irration.
al and murderous activity which char.
acterised the earlier ages Of mankind.
It has been the complete overthrow Of
all the pacific theories which had ~.
psrentiy gained 20 strong 4 foothold
at the time OF the firing Of the nrst
gun In the present conflict.
At the beginning Of the year. 1t was
evident that 1t was to be . struggle
to the death. 1t was plain that the
Teutonic plan to force . speedy set.
lement by dint Of superior armed
preparedness had failed. Six months
had elapsed and the Teutonic allies
were still faced by three great na-
tions. their strength unbroken and
their determination innexible Aus
tris had been driven repeatedly by her
Russian invaders and twice the Serbs
had routed Austrian armies sent
against them. On other fields. also,
Teutonic efforts had been futile. Thus
far Turkey had been of little assist
ance and the holy war had failed to
come into being. German Southwest
Africa had been lost and German in
nusnce In Asia had been smothered
by the japanese.
As an Offset. the Germans still held
practically all the conquered territory
which had fallen into their hands.
Their lines still held firmly In Po-
land, In Flanders and in France. It
was apparent that ~ yet the Teutonic
combustion showed no sign Of weak
eninE. and . war OF attrition seemed
inevitable. Both in the east and
in the west the military operations
Of the early part Of the year were
practically without decisive result.
The fighting in Poland had resolved
itself into = complete deadlock. In
January, the French English combine
made three attempts to break the
Teutonic hold on French territory, but
accomplished little. The German un-
successful drive at Warsaw and the
rout Of the Austrians in Galicia left Q
slight balauce In the January fighting
in favor ct the allies.
From q strictly military viewpoint.
Februar! was promising month for
the TeItonic allies. By the middle Of
the mouth, German troops were ad-
vancins all along the front from
the Vistula to the Niemen, and thus,
seven months after the breaking out
of tue war German soil was practi-
caily cleared Of its Russian invaders.
Tue deadlock on the western front
was still unbroken.
Scene Shifts to DardanelIss.
With the advent of March. there
came sudden and dramatic change
In the war situation. The scene Of
military activity was shifted to the
Dardanelles. BY the third week Of
the month, Rome, Athens, Sofia and
Bucharest were centers of great po-
litical activity. The surrender Of
Przemysl. March %, was the most
stirring victory for the allies since the
battle of the Marne. The German
assertion that the military power Of
Russia had dwindled into insignifi-
canoe was disproved at once and the
allied cause gained instant strength in
all the neutral capitals. One of tho
greatest strongholds in Europe had
been taken by the Russians.
The disaster to the allied fleet at
the Dardanelles, which occurred dur
ing the third y esk Of March, put an
end to the ey,ectation of forcing the
straits BY EAval means alone. Ger
man prestige advanced perceptibly
aud the difficulty of the task under
taken by the allied feet was now un-
derstood. In this month, also, the
British won the battle Of Neuve
Chapelle after bloody nEht.
In April the French made q bold
position between the Meuse and the
Moselle-the famous st. Mihiel wedge
which resulted in tremendous loss
Of men on both sides, with small ad-
vantage for either. Nowhere had the
allies made appreciable gain in tor
ritory The invader held his own
stubbornly and with success. About
the middle Of the month. Zeppelins
made their appearance over English
towns. inspiring great interest and not
4 little apprehension, but doing com
paratively small damage. About this
time. also, the attempted submarine
blockade of the British coast proved
to be ineffective. In the closing days
of the month another great Teutoni'
offensive swept against the allied line,
in Belgium, thrusting the enemy bacl
upon Ypres. with great loss Of life OF
both sides.
In May the Germans sent their bes
troops to the aid Of the hard
pressed Austrians. By the middle O