The Washington herald., 1917-11-11
British Gains in Flanders
Are Turning Point of War
Balderston Says Spirit of Germans Has Been
Broken by Great Drive of Sir
Douglas Haig.

west front altogether, and yet there
were such assaults as those upon
Eerdun.
Front Not ImpregnabIe.
But the battle of the Somme having
finally and cOnclusively demonstrated
that the front was not impregnable
to assault the state of things was
radically changed. The change did not
come about all at once but when the
Somme was followed by its sequel,
the loss Of the Vimy ridge. and that
in turn by the loss of the Aisnc ridge
and the Champagne ridge. the posi-
ton became this: The enemy had at
once to increase the number of men
holding his line. and found his re-
sources in the form of movable re-
serve cut down. He increased his total
force OIL the west by some thirty dl-
visions, but. despite that, he had fewer
troops whom he could play about.
Now a movable reserve is a very
important part of the German defen-
sive, and that defensive, by any
change which cuts down such a re-
serve, is materially weakened. The
change makes resistance to attack the
more risky. by making it more diff
cult to provide against attack. Fur
ther. the necessity of thickening the
troops in the line has meant, in the
face of the superiority of the allied
fire. a consistently heavier rate of
losses.
Evidently. as a matter Of plain
common sense, these effects had to be
brought about before the operation of
attacking the enemy front with the
object of turning it could be entered
upon. Further. there had to be the
source. the attempt would have been
reasonable assurance that attack
would be stronger than the strongest
defense the enemy could put up.
without some such reasonable as
surance, the attempt would have been
counting of failure.
The Ypres Sector.
'As to the point of the front where
this operation was to be looked for.
there was never any mystery. The
point was the sector east of Ypres.
1t has always been manifest that the
Germans violated the neutrality OF
Belgium because. without the roads
and railways through Belgium, their
expedition into France, dependent on
the route through Metz, could not
have ben on a larger scale than the
attack of 1870. 1t had to be on three
times the scale at the very least And
the present application of these facts
is that for all essential supplies the
Germans on the West are absolutely
reliant on the Belgian routes.
Now the question of whether they
might continue to rely upon the Bel
gian routes was in this attack to the
East of Ypres to he put to the test.
If they could defeat that attack, well
and good. They might then consider
themselves secure, their hold on Bel
Sium secure. their armies in the West
safe so far as supplies were concern
ell, and, what Is more, the German
alliance or confederacy assured by the
effect of this success, and the way
opened for peace negotiations more or
less in accordance with their own
views.
But II they could not defeat the
attack, then equally all this was alter
ed. They were insecure; their hold
upon Belgium must become pyecari-
GUS; their entire force on the West
must be jeopardized; the effect of de-
feat undermining the faith of their
allies must undermine their confed-
GRAFTON; and the hope of a peace up
on anything like their own terms
must be destroyed.
1T will be seen that the battles
east of Ypres are much more than a
fight for system of ridges; certainly
much more than a fight to decide
whether the British or the enemy
shall through the winter stand on
wet ground or dry; much more even
than a struggle for the coast, or for
presumed submarine bases; much
more than the impressing of German
public opinion. These battles decide
whether or not a vital operation is
possible or impossible; vital opera
ton, because to the whole German
force on the West it is a matter of
life and death. and a matter of life
and death to the modern Prussianized
and militarised German Empire.
Have Met Enemy.
"A test, when it comes to the shock
of battle. is always tactical. Let
strategical schemes be as sound and
well-conceiyed as Lhey may be. If