New-York tribune., 1917-07-29


World War, there is no mistaking the fact
,bst the third year has been a bitter disap-
..;,,rent TO the Allies. Recall for mo-
...rt the situation on the first of August,
,o,s At that moment the Russian offen-
.ive in Bukowina and Galicia had sur
,,ssed all previous achievements in trench
w.,fare on the Allied side. The armies of
Rrusiloff were pushing forward still, and
yovel and Lemberg seemed equally in dan
nor The Russian attack had begun in
lime. All through July the British and the
French at the Somme had pounded on, TAX
ipg thousands of prisoners, many guns, and
At last were making an appreciable change
IN the battle lines in France. On August l
the Italian guns were already active, pre-
n.rine for that attack which in a few
favs was to win Gorilla. Already the
world began to suspect that Rumania was
On the point Of entering the Great War.
Men began to talk Of the liberation Of
France, the fall Of Trieste and of Lemberg
,,d the restoration OF Allied fortunes.
Disappointed Expectations
I. &c clear now that none of these ex-
reetations were to be realized in the next
ear and it is equally clear that there
never was any great chance Of their being
sarzed. In the first and second years Of
ne war Germany had created that Mittel-
uropa which was the dream of her poiitl-
isns. Of her statesmen and Of her soldiers
Or twenty years before the outbreak OF
ne war. and il. 1867 there was still
.acking to the Allied arms the strength to
freak down the trench lines which Ger
:nany had stretched along her frontiers
and beyond. as Rome erected similar fence
lines TO hold back the barbarians between
the Kline and the DANUBE
We saw in this year 1916 one hope after
another crushed: Rumania laid in ruins;
the Russian offensive beaten down; the
Allied drive for Cambria, st. Quentin,
Douai stopped on the western side OF
Bapaume.
And at the end one saw Germany prU-
posing peace, while the whole world for
the first time began to question whether,
after all, it was possible to conquer Ger
rsny; whether, after all, draw in battle
and a white peace were not the limits OF
ssibility.
One more disappointment there was
Il. Russian Revolution, which was hailed
as restoring Russia's battle line to the
slies and as disposing Of the corrupt
aonanoff agents and tools who sought to
make their peace with Germany and betray
he Allied cause. Instead, through long
weeks we saw Russia, having been redeemed
By revolution, hesitant, doubtful as to
wke.her she should retake her place in the
battle line, while goings and comngs be-
tween Russians and Germans, fraternizing
between Russian and German soldiers at
the front. all suggested that a separate
peace was at hand.
The Turn Of the Tide
As the present year ends we see the
turn Of the tide. The United States has
entered the war, bringing vast resources
4 men and money. Russia has returned,
a, least temporarily, to the firing line. In
Germany a political unrest is now claim
Ing attention, and for the first time there
Is a possibility that what has happened IN
fussia may, in some measure, happen IN
Germany, and that those who made the
var and would carry it on may be sepa-
rated from the people, who, while they con-
tented 70 the war, have now grown weary
ef It's sacrifices.
OF the year 1851 one may perhaps
iay accurately that the beginning and the
End were the most hopeful moments for
The Allied cause. Between these two points
hs some Of the bitterest disappointments
d military history.
first among the operations Of impor-
tsnce In the latter half of last year was
the Battle Of the Somme. II had proceeded
sith fury all through July. When the
bird year Of the war opened It remained
stili bsfiing puzzle 10 all who observed 1t
H distance. With relatively little
ekanA< l. A. n-ill.L 81 <hA