Evening journal., 1917-07-31
BY HENRY WOOD
United Press star Correspondent

of France but the glory OF her demo-
cratic armies as we'll. reached their
( highest expression of the entire war,
the French completely liberated their
/ forteress. Il was the first liberation
OF its kline in the worlds history.
The Forts of Douaoumont and Vaux
we're retaken. the Germans thrown
back pretty much on the positions
from which they had begun their
siege. and the ten months effort OF
the Imperial Crown Prince reduced TO
the useless sacrifice OF 100000 men.
In the meantime on the CONNIE,
France had accepted another great
battle in another great form Of war
fare-the warfare Of trenches, selects
ed aud imposed by the Germans ~
the moment that the French lack OF
munitions rendered It impossible to
complete the victory Of the Marine.
The battle OF the Somme had al
ready been in progress for a month
when the third year Of the war began.
II was continued for another three
months, on down till the first OF De-
cember, when the advent of winter
forced o temporary suspension till
spring. In this form of warfare which
the Germans boasted with imperialis-
tic arrogance to have perfected TO
such degree that their lines OF
trenches and barbed wire were abso-
lutely invlncible, the democratic ar
mics Of France not only demonstrated
that the lines were vulnerable. but
that their defense could only be main
tanned at cost of life and material
that in the end would mean defeat.
The full fruits of the victory of the
Somme we're only harvested this
spring The necessity OF suspendlng
the operations for the winter gave
the Germans a respite at a moment
when another month of favorable
weather might we'll have forced a re-
tirement.
Preparations were Immediately be-
gun by the French for the resump-
ton of the Battle OF the Somme this
spring on a vastly extended front.
Facing irreparable losses and certain
defeat in this event, Hindenburg
chose to avoid the danger by his re-
treat of February and March, aban-
dOning the trench warfare which the
Germans themselves had previously
chosen, and seeking to impose on the
French the open, Strategic warfare of
vancouver. Just as the French had
accepted the warfare Of siege imposed
at Verdun and the warfare of tren-
ches imposed on the Somme, they ac-
cepted likewise this new form Of war
fare-with the exception OF one point.
Instead OF accepting battle before I
the Hindenburg line on the ground
pre-chosen by the imperial German
strategists, the generals OF France
with the superior strategy inspired in
men who are fighting for the demo-
cratic Ideals of their own land, forced
the Germans to accept battle on the
ground pre-chosen by them-on the
Aisne and In Champagne. That battle
still continues, with an ever increas
ing nscendancy on the part of the
French that gives the utmost hope of
precipitating a definite German re-
treat.
These three efforts OF imperial Ger
many during the past year 10 demon
strate superiority OF imperial forces,
imperial ideals, and imperial in
stitutions over those OF democracies
has cost her over 1000, 900 men. The
losses at Verdun from the moment
the French took the offensive there
with the opening OF the third year OF
the war and on down to the final vic
tory of December 10. are authorita-
lively placed at 100000 The losses
sustained during the five month bat
tie OF the Somme aggregated over
100000. The battles of the Aisne and