Evening star., 1917-05-20

t1nue to hold the heights TO the north
ward which dominate the town. The
death of Field Marshal Viscount
French's sister, as a result of shell fire
during the winter, and also the death
OF the head of section of the Amert-
can ambulance were minor indications
Of the perilous condition of Monastir in
allied hands
A number of times during the winter
there have been rumors Of an attack by
| the central powers. and 1t has been an
hold on the Macedonian town was of
the slightest, and that an allied evacu-
alton of it has been several times ex-
pected.
Effects of Russian Collapse.
We have now in the last few days the
report of new allied activities in Mace
| donia, with the suggestion that there is
some larger strategic purpose behind
the new operations of that polyglot
| army which Is based on Saloniki and
commanded by Gen. Sarrail. Conceiv-
| 1t is necessary to recognize how
| changed is the situation in the Balkans
now that Rumania has come in and
been eliminated and Russia has tempo
rarily or permanently collapsed.
There have been, during the present
war. many situations and a number of
crises in the Balkans. In 1915 the al
lied prospects were more hopeful than
| at any time since. Serbia was then de-
Tending her Danube frontier. Bulgaria
was neutral. Turkey was hard pressed
at Gallipoli and Rumania seemed on
the point of joining the allies. At this
point allied diplomacy endeavored to
enlist Greece and Bulgaria and failed
completely Ferdinand Of Bulgaria
| joined the central powers. Germany
the Constantinople-Vie rail-
| road The Serbian army was driven
into Albania and temporarily off the
European mainland, and the French
and British forces arriver at Soloniki
| too late to serve any useful purpose.
Thus in the closing weeks of 1915 the
allies lost any last chance of dominat-
ing the Balkans. and Greece, through
| it's king, quickly demonstrated a
solidarity of feeling with the central
powers which led ultimately to revo-
luton and to state of anarchy. There
are two Hellenic governments now
one headed by King Constantine, rul-
ing at Othens and serving the German
interest in SO far as it Is possible; the
other headed by Venizelos at Saloniki
| and devoted to the cause Of the allies.
sarrail's Desperate Effort.
Last fall there was new crisis in
the Balkans coincident with the en-
! trance of Rumania into the war. For
many months Gen. Sarrail had been
pushing northeast and northwest from
Saloniki. and had carried his lines ap-
proximately to the Greek frontier be-
| tween the Struma river and Lake Pres
ba. whirh is southwest of Monastir.
| Still further to the westward an 1tal-
| ian force based upon Valona was NOV
ing out to join the allies. who were
themselves based on Saloniki.
At this time, and particularly after
the German blow at Rumania was dis
closed in its full force. a desperate
effort was made by the Sarrail army to
exert SO much pressure upon the Bull
garian army as to compel the return
of that portion of the army which had
| been sent north along the Danube to
attack the Rumanians both in the
Dobrudja and south of Bucharest. This
army reached Monastir after desperate
| fighting. in which the Serbians chiefly
| distinguished themselves. But by the
time Monastir had fallen Rumania had
!. collapsed, Bucharest was in German
| gone far north to the line of the Lower
Danube. There was then lacking to
the Sarrafl army the strength to push
further north in face of the German
reinforcements which could be safely
detached from Rumania. and Sarrairs
situation was made still more difficult
by the maneuvers of King Constantine.
who seemed to be planning to attack
the Saloniki army in the rear.
Chance for Balkan Drive Ended.
So far as one can see now, the chance
of a great strategic operation in the
Balkans ended with the collapse of
Rumania. Before Rumania entered the
war the German and Austrian commu-
nications with Turkey and the near
east depended upon single line of
railroad between Vienna, Belgrade and
Constantinople and upon the Danube
river as far as Bulgarian territory.
line which was always subject to In
terruption by Rumanian artillery. In
this time a successful allied drive
northward up the valley of the Vardar
to Nish would have completely severed
rail communications between the CEN
trail powers and their Bulgarian and
Turkish allies. In all this time the
the Mitteleuhopa empire and the OBJ
,ective of the Saloniki army.
But today the situation has complete
ly changed. All of western Rumania
is in Austro-G German hands, as are
both banks of the Danube from its
source almost to its mouth. sue
cessful advance to Nish, which resulted
in cutting the Belgrade de-Constantinople
railrad. would cut only one OF the
several avenues by which German
troops, German munitions and Ger
man guns can reach Turkey and Bull
garia, and would, therefore. serve only
a limited end.
1t seems, therefore, unlikely that the
any such ambitious purpose or any
such large possibility as that of 1916
or OF 1915. Nor should it be forgotten
that the submarine warfare has very
greatly handicapped the Saloniki army.
because this army must draw its sup
plies by water. and the steady diminu-
tion of the tonnage of the allied pow
ers, due to the submarine warfare. con-
tinues to make it more and more diff
ficult to maintain this army in Mace
donia and would seem almost to pro-
hIbit an extensive and major operation
because this would make such a heavy
demand upon transports.
Aim to Hold Teuton Troops. il.
So far as one can judge now. Allied
strategy in the later operations in
Macedonia has for its object primarily
the retaining of German and Austrian
troops in this region in order to pre-
vent the transference of German di-
visions from Macedonia to the western
front, where the drain upon German
man-power is very great. Further than
this, there is unquestionably an allied
desire to maintain pressure from Bull
garia, where there Is a party distinctly
hostile to the Turco-Teutonic alliance.
The war is growing unpopular in Bull
garia. Bulgaria has little to gain by
continuation of the war. II she can
keep what she now possesses. The