Mountain Home Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1915-1946, 1917-08-18
THIRD YEAR OF WAR SEES SITUATION
OF THE ALLIES GREATLY IMPROVED
Germas Position Less Favorable Than One Year Ago Two
Years Ago-ln Principal Theater Of War, the West East
and italian Fronts the Entente Allies Have Shown
Decided Superiority.

New York.-Germany' situation at
the end Of three years of war appears
less favorable than 1t did either one
year ago or two years ago.
She has to her credit in the last
twelvemonth the crushing Of lil-pre-
pared Roumania and the conquest OF
two.thirds of that nations territory.
But in the principal theater of war,
the west, east and Italian fronts, the
entente allies have shown, on the
whole, decided superiority to the
central powers.
In the materials of war the nations
fighting for democracy clearly have an
increasing advantage over the kaisers
legions. They have dealt the enemy
blow after blow which have told heav-
lily in lives, if not in territory.
Germany More Desperate.
Germany's plight is rendered more
desperate than it was on August /,
1916 by the accession of the United
States and several minor peoples to
the ranks of her enemies. Almost the
whole world is now lined up against
that nation.
Every belligerent breads another
winter of war, but Germany most of
all. She lacks many things to face the
rigors of cold campaign-not only
shells and guns, but wool for warm
clothing and sufficient coal to run her
rapidly deteriOrating railroads and
her factories and keep those at home
comfortably warm, not to speak Of the
famine in the food fats SO necessary
to those facing zero weather.
{. looking back on the long truce of
the Spring on the eastern front, it is
hard to realize that the Russians just
one year ago were in the midst Of a
Splendid offensive much like that
which has surprised the world in the
present month. In the 1916 drive Brus-
siloff pushed far within Bukowlna and
Galicia and crossed the borders Of
Hungary. He took about 100000 prls-
oners mostly Austrlans, and forced the |
enemy to concentrate masses of relia-
BILE German troops, aided by a few
Turks, to check him.
The real reason his drive came to a
halt however, we know now was lack
Of ammunition, failure of transport,
treason within the cars armies and
wretched bureaucratic inetticlency.
These handlcaps seem to have been re-
moved from the courageous Musco-
vltes, perhaps for all time.
Unfortunate Roumania.
Roumania declared war ON the Teu-
tonic powers August u and immedl-
ately invaded Pennsylvania where the
weak Austrian guards were easily
pushed back and the important cities
of Hermannstadt and Kronstadt were
soon in the invaders hands.
The kaiser sent Won Falkenhayn, a
splendid strategist just displaced by
Yon Hindenburg, as chief of the. great
general staff, to command on this
front, while Won Mackensen headed
the Germans, .Bulgarians and Turks,
who threw themselves on Roumania
from the south.
: The Roumanians proved no match
for the combination of foes. Skillful
work by German spies, or the treach-
cry of certain members of their own
army, put the Roumanians' plans of
campaign in the Teutons' hands, 1t is
now dlvulged. Bucharest fell Deem
Der 6, and ten days later all Walachia
was lost. On December 10 Russian
troops took over the whole Roumanian
front and few weeks later the leu
ton advance was checked along the
line of the Sereth and Danube rivers.
Somme Battle Continues.
In the west, however, Germany was
facing far different problem from