Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1917-02-11

torial, the others are landslruluncrs
ana inferior In class. Up TO the ma
die OF December. 90 Of these lOl good
divisions passed thru the Somlne
| furnace, losing In morale under the
| horrible ordeal of the concentrated
| fire OF thousands of guns. The IlNe
divisions that had not been on the
Somme last month were attacked ana
very badly mauled at Nerdun, losing
more than half their strength, ana
/ have been Withdrawn 10 reflt. CON
sequcntly when the 1917 push begins
Germany Will have no good troops IN
| the west whose nerves have not been
/ subject to the bath of blood, as the
Germans call the Somme. excepting
| such divisions as she may choose 10
| bring from the eastern front.
Looking Toward Peace.
There seems every reason then to
Anticipate important allied success on
the west front this spring, on scale
not hitherto known In the west, when
viii compel German retirement.
There are two points of view current
here about the effect of the antici-
pated victories.
l. Those who desire a peace by
negotiation now If Germany will re-
store and compensate the countries
she has oVerrun, and VINO know
enough about the preparations under
way to realize that Germany VIII be
severely punished If the next cam
paign IS fought out, says In effect,
mo doubt we can make the enemy
retreat to the line Antwerp Nauur-
Mezicres by the end of the year, at
horrible cost TO ourselves. Even so,
central Europe remains. Germany Will
hold that she has got In the east
We cannot repeat another year our
effort OF this year and invade Ger
many and dictate peace, or II we can
we should ourselves be PROSTATE when
the victory was won. a peace OF oN-
haustion Will be inevitable in year
or two, and whether 1t is made now or
at the Rhine does not matter. poll
tically, since Germany is ready 20 give
up France and Belgium"
?. The other and more prevalent
opinion In informed circles. and
especially among soldiers, Is that the
superiority in man power and cannon
possessed this year by France and
Britain will result In German de-
bacle as soon as a retreat in the west
is attempted. "Once they get NOV
ing. they will never stop" a general
told me in France The allied com
manders count upon the greatest
victory in history when victory does
come. They believe that they can fol-
/ low up the German hosts until they
/ are destroyed or are driven into the
arms of the Russians, altho, of course,
/ capitulation would come first, and
with captulation central Europe
would fan to pieces. with their
artillery equipment, the soldiers say
obstacles like the Rhine could not
hold UP their armies, and point to the
precedent OF the Germans crossing the
Danube. When by barrages of fire
the country for several miles on the
other side of a river is made un-
tenable only fire of similar intensity
can prevent troops from crossing any
| barrier.
Must Keep Both Fronts Hot.
If the adhcrents Of the first school
are right. "A victory in the west will
win the war. II the second is right.
1t will.
The east front has scarcely heen
mentioned in this forecast of the next
campaign. but, of course, operations
there Will commence as soon as the
weather moderates, and another Rus
sian offensive will DO timed to exert
'the maximum pressure on Germany
I i'm connection with attacks in the west.
An attempt to say what is going to
/ happen in the east would, however,
/ be futile while the character of the
| Obviously Russia cannot carry out
the new tactics of her allies in the
west. which require n prodigality OF
Imunitionment that Russia cannot sup
ply herself and cannot get from
abroad. A German offensive in the
east, calculated to force Russia into n
separate peace and make it possible
/ to turn west with all the eastern
armies and deal n deadly blow to
I y 20. I. l.
last chance Germany has to crush her
enemies, and good judges here think
| it will be attempted.
Where the Forces Are.
As has been said, there are 1928
German divisions on the west front.
ON the main eastern front against
| Russia there are 65 German divisions.
mostly inferior quality to those in
the west. assisted by 80 Austrian and
two Turkish divisions. Twelve German
divisions have been operating against
| IRumania, together with IL Austrian,
! four Bulgarian and two Turkish, a
! total of 30 divisions In Macedonia,
| lopposing Sarrail, were about IL divi-
sions two weeks ago-cight or nine
| Bulgarian, two or three German and
one Turkish. but at last report the
Tcutonic allies here being reinforced,
/ apparently At inc expense OF lht iNu-
manian group. Austria has SO dlvi-
sions masscd against Italy, and there
are about thirty Turkish divisions in
Asia.
| The Rumanian retreat has gone so
far that the Rumanian front can be
considered merely an extension OF the
! Russian front. with Russian troops
holding almost all the lines while the
remnants of the Rumanian armies
rent in rear, and If the eastern front
from Riga to the mouth of the Dan
uhe he considered as n whole there
lare 1875 divisions against Russia, a
of them German. This force, superior
in numbers, tho by no means equal
| in personnel or munitionment to the
German army In the west, may lnder-
| take an offensive on a large scale in
the spring, as we'll as operate in Bes-
sarabia and Moldavia during the
winter. Some good judges here do
not think there will be drive against
Odessa, because victory on the Black
Sea would not he decisive. For the
same reason, they doubt the rumors
that the Germans will undertake n
great offensive in Macedonia, or
nrainst Cadorno on the lson2o. VIC
tory over Sarail would be n hard blow
to the entente, IA smashing defeat OF
Italy would be n great disaster but
neither success would win the war for
Gedmany, and to obtain either she