Evening star., 1917-05-20
TROUBLE IN THE BALKANS
NEW PHASE OF GREAT WAR
Allied Hold on Monastir Slight and Evacua-
tion of It Has Been Several Times
Expected.

pressure upon the 0ther fronts to With
draw the Austro-German troops from
Macedonia. the allies believe that Bull
Earia would very quickly tire OF fight
ing the Saloniki army single-handed:
but unless the German and Austrian
divisions have been withdrawn now 1t
is quite unlikely that the present cam
paign means anything but an incidental
pressure upon another front.
Italy Cannot Stir.
We are seeing day by day the con-
siderable cost to the allies of Russia's
collapse. A year ago the allied opera
tions against the central powers were
opened in June by Brusiloff's great Of
fensive in Galicia, continued in July by
the Anglo-French attack at the Somme
tack upon Gorilla. and finally reached
their climax when Rumania entered
the war and Sarrail started his offen-
sfve northward and took Monastir. Ger
stopping this joint offensive. but only
at terrific cost. and there is every rea-
son to believe that similar attack
now would be beyond the resources of
sia is not Of the war for the time, and
no man can say whether it will be for
the whole war or only for the cam
paign Of 1917. Italy has not stirred
elimination Of Russia makes It entirely
probable that the central powers will
presently use the troops from the east
ern front for a new drive upon the
Trentino. The loss of Venetia is an in
evitable consequence of a successful
Teutonfc drive southwark out of the
Trentino. and against such a possible
ity Italy must always stand on guard.
In the same way SarraH, in Mace
donia, always has to face the posi-.
bility of the transference Of considera-
BILE masses of German and Austrian
troops from the eastern front and
converging attack southwark from the
country north of Monastir, from the
Vardar valley. from the Struma valley
and westward along the railroad which
| runs from Adrianople to Saloniki.
Last summer Germany faced a con-
centric attack which almost put Aus
| tria out Of the war. This year the
elimination of Russia has not only
given Germany security on her eastern
front and given Austria new confidence
by banishing the fear of another
very greatly the possibilities Of any
| Macedonia offensive whatever.
A Polyglot Army.
How large an army Sarrail has is a
matter of conjecture, but am salts
| fed that the figures published a year
ago were very much exaggerated, and
| I think his army is nearer 350, 900 than
| 100000. 1t is composed of all sorts of
| troops, some very good and some very
poor. The best troops are the Serbs,
French and British. There has been a
| longing to the Venizelos faction. but
| how good they may prove is entirely
problematical. There are also some
italian and Russian troops. but their
| Roughly speaking. this army stands in
| wide semi-circ1e from valona to the
| Gulf of Orfano, into which the Struma
| river enters: The portion of the force
| IN Albania Is Italian and has its base
at Valona.
The rest Of the army had it's base at
Salohikt. The Monastir wing is sup
piled by the Saloniki- ki-Monastir railroad.
The portion due north of Saloniki is
supplied by the railroad going north
| up the Vardar from Saloniki to Nish
and Belgrade, while the balance of the
army is mainly supplied by the Saloni-
ki-Constantinople railroad. which goes
| north as far as Lake Doiran. and then
| river not far from Seres. For more
than two years the allies have been
! supplementing these railroads with
highways. and that portion Of the oc-
| ably constitutes one of the strongest
positions in Europe. But owing to the
| nature of the country. which is very
| mountainous. the portions of the front
between the various railroads are hard
| to maintain and difficult to munition.
Actually, there are only a few possi-
| BILE routes for a northern push by the
Sarrail army. and. conversely. for a
central powers. There is trail through
! the wilderness of Albania, west of
Lakes Presba and Ochrida, which fol-
/, lows the Drin river and enters Serbia
near Prisrend. This is totally untitled
| for any military operations on a large
| scale. From Monastir a good railroad
runs over the Babuna pass to Kuprili
Cor Veles). where it joins the saloniki-
Belgrade railroad. Along this road for
a considerable distance the Germans
! have constructed light railroad to
| munition their army. The only other
road northward into Serbia follows the
Vardar valley and the BelErade-Sa-
| loniki railroad.
When Gen. Sarrail made his demon
stration last fall his strategic purpose
was to push up the Vardar valley and
also to push from Monastir over the
Babuna pass: but his troops were un-
| able to make any progress in the Var
dar valley. and came to p. dead halt
just north of Monastir. A year before
that French force. moving up the
Vardar valley to succor the Serbians.
reached the outskirts of Kuprili just
too late to join hands with the Ser
bians. who had been driven over the
Babuna pass and in upon Monastir.
Still further to the eastward there is
road up the Struma valley from the
Rhodopian mountains which Join Sofia
with Kustendil. 1t was up that road
that King Constantine led the vtcto-
| rious Greek army in the second Balkan
tains before he had crossed the old
Bulgarian frontier.
Golden Moments Gone.
The only other line of advance open
to the allies is due eastward toward
Adrianople. along the railroad between
the Aegean sea and the Rhodopian
mountains: but this is long. difficult
line. holding out very little hope of
successful campaign SO long as the
allies are resolved to hold the whole
front from yalona to the Struma.
Conceivably Sarrail means now to re-
peat his operation of 1916 and try to
| advance from Monastir over the Ba-
| buna pass and up the Vardar valley
into southern Serbia. The fighting so
far reported would point to such a de-
sire. but the country Is very difficult
and the profit to be gained from an
advance in this direction-eyen IL II