The Ordway new era., 1917-08-03

year ngo or two years ago
| She has to her credit In 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, n 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
legions. They have dealt the enemy
blow after blow which have told heav
lily In lives, If not in territory.
Germany More Desperate.
Germany's plight is rendered more
desperate than it was on August l,
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 belligerent breads another
winter of war. but Germany most of
all. She lacks many things to face the
rigors of Il cold campaign-not only
shells and guns, but wool for warm
clothing and sufficient coal to run her
rapidly detcriOrnting railroads and
her factories and keep those mt 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
| h.. sI,a = te,
hard to realize that the Russians just
one year ago were in the midst Of n
| 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
halt however, we know now was lack
| of ammunition. failure of transport,
treason within the cars armies and
wretched bureaucratic inefficiency.
These handicups seem to have been re-
moved from the courageous Musco-
| vites, perhaps for all time.
Unfortunate Roumania.
Roumania declared war on the Teu-
tonic powers August 81 and immedi-
ately invaded Transylvania, where the
weak Austrian guards were easily
pushed back and the important cities
of Sermannstadt and Kronstadt were
soon in the invaders hands.
The kaiser sent Won Falkenhayn, a
splendid strateglst just displaced by
Won Hindenburg, as chief of the great
general staff, to command on this
| front. while Won Mackensen headed
the Germans, Bulgarians and Turks.
who threw themselves on Roumania
| from the south.
The Roumanians proved no match
| for the combination of foes. Skillful
work by German spies, or the treach-
cry of certain members Of their own
army, put the Roumunnns' plans of
| campaign In the TeutOns' hands, 1t is
now divulged. Bucharest fell Decem-
ber 6, and ten days later all Walachia
was lost. On December 18 Russian
| troops took over the whole ROumanian
| front. and II 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 outfitted 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
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 nm immedi-
ate great enforced retirement.
ON September 90 it was announced
that the French and British had taken
IN. 500 prisoners In the Somme battle
between July and September 1s. This
total was later considerably Increased.
French Win at verdun.
At Verdun. too, the Germans sur
fered. The French In battles of the
fall and winter won back most of the
ground lost In the offensive of the
snr,ng of 1915 and captured more than
1hOOO prisoners, with slight losses
themselves.
The spring campaign in the west
onened this war with the Germans
failing back from the great salient
spearpoint directed at Paris-confess-
ing thereby either their weakness or
their aversion to further offensive, al
though at the time German writer's