Evening star., 1917-02-18

no difference whether the allies are the
first to inaugurate their big drive or
whether it is the Germans. the result will
be the same-the forces of the entente
will win in either case.
There has been much fighting along the
western front during the week just closed
Gen. Haig's men have been keeping up
constant raids over the whole Of their
'front.' while the Belgians and the French
have done their part in perpetuating a
state or uncertainty in the German mind
Not only have the British engaged in
raids but they have captured several hum
dreds of yards of enemy trenches in the
region of the River Ancre, on the northern
end of the Somme front
More than three-fourths of mile of
trenches was taken by the British i'm
mediately to the north of Beaumont
Hamel. Near the Beaucourt- -Pinsieux
road six hundred yards more were
gained. Hundreds of yards of enemy
positions were penetrated to the east
of Souchez. Germanic attacks to the
south of Sailley- -Saillisel, south of
Serre hill, sou h of Pys. east of Ar
mentieres and Messines were checked
To the northeast of Arras the British
have made gains as well as north of
Loos and east of Ypres near La Bassee
and Neuve Chapelle.
The French have delivered successful
attacks near Hill 304, Haudemont and
Vaux on the Ferdun front. while French
detachments have made successful at
tacks in Lorraine, Alsace, and two sur
prise attacks carried them to the second
German line between the Oise and the
Aisne.
Several sharp battles have been
fought in the Champagne section of the
western front. that region closest to
Paris, and French successes earlier in
the week were answered by stubborn
German offensive on Friday, when the
French were pushed back hals mile
over front of mile and half.
The German advance in this section is
not to be discounted for a moment, in
asmuch as
Germans Always bre king
Look Toward Paris. a,,,oa A ,;.ae .ne
and reaching Paris always has been
cherished dream of Teutonc command
ers. The Germans evidently thought
they might accomplish this feat by
victory at Verdun last year. They fail
ed. 1t is not at all surprising that they
should now take up the battle in the
Champagne with the hope that by Sc
we're pressure they may press the
French backward to a point where
Paris will once more come in striking
der one handicap. however, in this re-
gion. as it has been for decades the
maneuvering ground for French ar
mics and the French are in much better
position to defend it from a purely tao
tical standpoint than are the Germans
to frame successful offensive plans.
There is a possibility that the Ger
man effort is directed at the French in
this region to divert attention of the
allies from the Somme battle line
where the gradual grinding processes
4 the French and British forces have
made the fall of Bapaume and Peronne
more imminent. 1t is believed certain
that the allies viii endeavor to take
these two strong positions during their
spring offensive, inasmuch as they have
so nearly approached them. Their cap
ture will force a realignment of the
German armies over wide section of
the western front. for with Bapaume
and Peronne in the hands of the Brit
ish and French the German system of
communications will be badly disar-
ranged.
In addition to infantry and artillery
fighting, the air forces of both the
French and Germans. as well as the
British, have shown great activity,
many raids against enemy supply and
munitions stations being conducted
The German fliers went as far as Dun
kirk. where few bombs were drop-
ped.
Although the operations on the east
ern, Rumanian and Macedonian fronts
have not been as of far-reaching char
acter. they cannot be ignored inasmuch
as they are believed to be forerunners
of greater developments
Russians and Germans have continued
series of sounding operations all
along the eastern front. The Germans
penetrated Russian positions south of
Galicia. Russians were defeated at
Postany. north of Lake Narocz, while
the Teutons registered gains north Of
Mikhatlovka in Volhynia. Russian