The Leavenworth echo. [volume] (Leavenworth, Wash.) 1904-current, 1916-07-21
is THE GREAT WAR
DRAWING TO A CLOSE
The Tremendous Advance Made By the
Allied Armies Points to Such
a Conclusion

To every one who has kept up with
the war news from Europe since the
great and united drive of the allies be-
gan the first OF July, this question has
suggested itself. Russia came back
two months ago, first on the Asiatic
front and more recently on the Aus
trian sector of the battle line has she
made it evident to her confederates
that lack OF war munitions alone was
responsible for the poor showing made
against the German armies in the year
1915. The real squeeze began stimuli
taneously, about July first. Italy
turned on the Austrians in the southern
angle. On the western front, France,
reinforced by the great English army,
in training for fifteen month, and Rus
sian troops coming by way of the Suez
canal, began an assault on the German
lines from the channel to the Swiss
frontier; supplied with everything that
they had formerly lacked in big guns
and ammunition, literally ploWed their
way thru the first and second lines OF
supposedly impregnible German trench
es, are now hammering away at the
third and last.
Up to this time on the western front
from one to five miles OF advance has
been made. If the third line of de-
fensive trenches are passed the battles
will be in the open until the German
frontier is reached. On the Italian
front the advance has been slow, the
fighting being in a mountainous coun-
try. On the eastern front Russia has
fought her way deep into Hungarian
Austria. Between Riga on the Baltic
and the Austrian frontier lies a large
part of what is known as Russian Poland,
where Won Hindenburg pounded the
Russian armies so numerically last
year, and where he is still in command
of the German armies, slight advantage
has been gained by the Russian armies.
If one should attribute all the allied
success 10 a plentiful supply Of arms
and ammunition he would be only
half right. The gains made by the
allies is due more to two causes, num-
bers and simultaniety of attack. Aus
tro- German armies are defending a
line about FIVE thousand miles long.
to defend this long line her armies
have to be spread out too thin against
the overwhelming numbers of the
allied armies. All during 1915 she
fought French armies on the west and
Russian armies on the eastern front.
Her splendid and highly developed
railway system made it possible when
necessary to quickly transfer troops on
a comparatively short line from one
front to the other, but when attacked
simultaneously by large numbers OF
troops on almost every mile Of her five
thousand miles OF frontier she did not
have the men to meet the assaults on
anything like an equal footing. One
might admit that a German soldier
is equal TO three OF the allied soldiers
but falls down before six. One soldier
is about equal to another if trained 10
the use Of arme and led by competent
officers, tho the Austrian soldiers have
made a poor showing. Due, doubtless
to lack OF training and leadership.
Russian soldiers, if we'll led, are said
to be among the best in Europe.
Largely due to their implicit obedience
to command and phlegmatic indifer-
ence to death. French soldiers are
fine, but do not like to return to a
charge over field covered with dead.
There are all sorts of rumors about
an early peace. An early cessation OF
hostilities is not likely but may come
about before the snow flies. So far
the integrity Of German soil is not
threatened. When that time comes
peace talk is in sight OF course a
break may come any time, and is most
likely, come thru Austria. The German
people are beginning to feel the dis
comforts OF war but the war party in
Germany, the nobility, will be slow to
admit defeat. Should Russia make
further advances into Hungary, threat