The Washington herald., 1917-11-25
By JOHN LLOYD BALDERsToN.
tCopynxht, 19f, By the Mcclure Nevspapsr

London, Nov. D.-The disaster that
has fallen upon the Italian armies
has prolonged the war. IL the war
Is to end in q victory for the allies.
All the dreams of peace during the
winter or early spring. which, until
last week, were entertained even in
high quarters. have vanished.
British and French statesmen and
soldiers, who had already thrown into
o the scale every ounce Of weight, mil
itary and economic. that they could
bring to bear. are forced by the new
and perilous situation 10 look to the
United States for help.
1 In the last resort. it Is America
who must make good the losses ON
the Italian front England and
France can do no more than they
are doing now. They are transfer
ring part of their armies to Italy;
but, since all their force was already
being expended. this means that the
ability of the western allies to press
for a decision on the main western
front has been weakened in proper
ton to the amount of strength they
have been compelled to detach to
save the armies of Cadorna in the
Venetian plain. America must make
up the deficiency. and fill the places
of the divisions that are sent to Italy.
Position Of U. >.
The hard logic Of the situation is
even at war with Austria; but the
victories won by Germans and Aus
Jrians in the goTges of the Isonzo.
the foothills Of the Carnie Alps and
the plains of the TagIiamento increase
the burden that America must bear.
Unless the United States Is willing,
and able. to replace the lost Italian
legions, with their mountains OF cap
tured material and acres of abandon
ed cannon, in addition to carrying out
Washington plans for warfare in Eu-
rope made before the Isonzo disaster.
il will not be possible to win the war.
And that. as Euclid says, is absurd.
II is a high tribute to the efforts al
ready made by America that no doubt
OF her is felt in the comparatively
narrow circles here where the full
force Of the Austro-German offensive
against Italy Is thoroughly under
stood. OF course you will see us
through is a common phrase. We
nave nothing TO be ashamed OF In
calling on you, for We are doing
everything We can do, and so is
France, and you know that it is so,
ard that what is happening Is due to
the disOrganizatton of the east 'front.'"
a soldier said to me
What Uncle Sam is UP against can
be most clearly appreciated after
a succinct statement of the gen.
eral strategic situation in Eurcne as
It is understood in military quarters.
The disOrganization of the Russian
q nrjr kn
combined offensive on all fronts that
was expected to break through the
AusuO-German lines, not in Sne but
in many places" as Sir Douglas Haig
said last winter. This was 4 terrible
blow to the allied cause. 1t was neces-
sary to try to get 4 decision in the
west with little help from the east.
and the year 1917 has seen a success
sion of French, British and Italian
pushes, with varying success.
The Germans have been terribly pun
ished on the west front, and they have
lost the ridge about Ypres, the Vimy
ridge. the ridge of the Chemin des
Danes. many thousands of cannon
and probably half a million men. But
they have been able to hold on, as. in
deed. was expected after the Russian
collapse. The allied military leaders.
hoped to resume the pushing process
next spring. with American help. in
the confidence that few more months
would see the collapse of the eremy's
main armies.
Victory Seemed Certain.
Strong ground existed for these
hopes. The coming evacuation Of the
Belgian coast, already discussed in
these dispatches, with the loss of the
great cities Of the Belgian plain and a
retreat to the Meuse, couplesd with
great blows delivered against Austria
by Gen. Cadorna, and with the famine
in food and raw materials in Germany,
made victory in 1918 seem not only
possible, but propable.
Great hopes were placed in the Ital-
ian offensive plans after the victory
of the Bainsizza plateau in Septem-
Der. which Gen. Maurice, director of
military operations of the imperial
general stan. said at the time he re-
garded as one of the most brilliant
campaigns in the history Of the war.
SO strongly were the allies convinced
that Cadorna would be able not only
to take Trieste, but to break through
in the direction of Lafbach and per-
hapS menace Vienna, that negotiations
TO supply him with some men and guns
to take part in his triumph were in
progress. il not concluded, between
British. French and Italian headquar-
ters.
But all allied strategy was based on
certain assumption that proved ILL
founded. 1t was accepted, after the
Russian retreat in Galicia, that the
Russian armies could not resume the
NanW y NNdT
ly assumed that a certain minimum of
Germand and Austrian divisions,
about 13S in all. providing about one
man per yard along the whole eastern
front, would have to be left on the
east front by the enemy to guard
against a sudden resumption of Rus
sian activity.
The Germans and Austrians either
gambled that the Russians would do
nothing even il faced by practically
no troops in certain sectors, or their
knowledge of conditions In Russia
was more accurate than that in Lon
don and Paris. For they stripped
their eastern front OF far more than
the minimum number of troops which
military prudence dictated must re-
main there. And, with the great
masses Of men thus obtained, they
descended upon Italy.
Accordingly, the blow that fell last
week on the IsOnZo at once altered
the whole strategic situation in
Europe, or, II would be better to say,
IN the world. since the United States
has now as great part in that
strategic situation as any other
country.
War strstegy Chaaged.