The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1917-08-10

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less favorable than 1t did either one
| year ago or two years ago.
She has to her credit Ia the last
twelvemonth the crushing OF ill-pre-
pared Roumania and the conquest OF
two-thirds of that nations territory.
But In the principal theater of war,
the west, east and Italian fronts, the
| entente allies have shown, on the
whole, decided superiority TO the
central powers.
In the materials of war the nations
! fighting for democracy clearly have an
increasing advantage over the kaiser's
leglons. They have dealt the enemy
blow after blow which have told heav-
lily in lives, IL not In territory.
Germany More Desperate.
Germany's plight Is rendered more
| desperate than 1t was on August !,
1916. by the accession of the United
| States and several minor peoples to
the ranks of her enemies. Almost the
| whole world is now lined up against
that nation.
| Every beligerent breads another
winter of war, but Germany most of
all. She lacks many things to face the
rigors of cold campalgn-not only
shells and guns, but wool for warm
clothing and sufficient coal to run her
rapidly deteriorating railroads and
her factories and keep those at home
comfortably warm, not to speak of the
famine In the food fats so necessary
to those facing zero weather.
Looking back on the long truce of
the spring on the eastern front, 1t Is
hard to realize that the Russians just
one year ago were In the midst of
splendid offensive much like that
which has surprised the world in the
present month. In the 1916 drive Brus-
siloff pushed far within Bukowina and
Galicia and crossed the borders of
Hungary. He took about 100000 pris-
oners mostly Austrians, and forced the
enemy to concentrate masses of relia-
Bile German troops, aided by few
Turks, to check him.
The real reason his drive came TO a
halt, however. we know now was lack
of ammunition, failure of transport,
treason within the cars armies and
wretched bureaucratic inefficiency.
These handicaps seem to have been re-
moved from the courageous Musco-
vltes, perhaps for all time.
Unfortunate Roumania.
| Roumnnla declared war on the leu
tonic powers August 81 and immedi
ately invaded Pennsylvania, where the
weak Austrian guards We're easily
pushed back and the important cities
Of Hermannstadt and Kronstadt were
soon In the invaders hands.
| The kaiser sent Won Falkenhayn, a
splendid strategist just displaced by
Won Hindenburg, as chief of the great
general staff, to command on this
front, while Won Mackensen headed
the Germans, Bulgarlans and Turks.
who threw themselves on Roumania
from the south.
The Roumanians proved 40 match
for the combination Of foes. Sklllful
work by German spies, or the treach-
cry of certain members of their own
army, put the Roumanians' plans of
campaign In the Teutons' hands, II is
now dlvulged. Bucharest fell Decem
Der Q, and ten days later all Walachia
was lost. On December Is Russian
troops took over the whole Roumanian
front, and few weeks later the Teu-
ton advance was checked along the
line of the Sereth and Danube rivers
Somme Battle Continues.
In the west, however, Germany was
facing far different problem from
the poorly QUILTED and trained Rou-
manian peasants. When the third year
OF the war opened the battle of the
Somme was still going ON vigorously.
with the French and British showing a
constantly growing superiority over the
foe. Bit by bit through the summer
and autumn the ground was wrenched
from the kaiser's men until the coming
OF winter smOthered the offensive 'in
mud and blood" and. according to the
British commander. Sir Douglas Haig
saved his opponents from an immedi
ate great enforced retirement.
On September 80 II was announced
that the French and British had taker
$500 prisoners In the Somme battle
between July l and September Is. Thl,
total was later considerably increased
French Win at verdun.
At Verdun, too, the Germans suf
fered The French In battles of tn,
fall and winter won back most of tn,
ground lost la the offensive of tn,
spring of 1915 and captured more thar
$4,000 prisoners, with slight losses
themselves.
The spang campaign In the ives
opened this war with the German
falling back from the great salien
spearpoint directed at Paris--confess
Ing thereby either their weakness o
their aversion to further offensive. al
though at the time German writer
1 limited darkly that Won Hindenbur
"had something up his sleeve"
The strategic retirement bega
o about March II, and the Teutons tr
d umphantly declared 1t would proven