The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-02-16

The military victory of German
forces in Italy last fall may prove to
have been, politically, a defeat.
From the beginning of the war up
to the time of the Italian debacle
there was never a moment when Aus
tria was not at the mercy of Ger
many. The Austrian army was never
able alone to cope with Russia. The
Russian armies made rapid Roadway
against Austria during the opening
months of the war and Russian troops
had overrun Galicia and were push
ing thru the passes of the Carpath1an
mountains toward the plains of Hun
gary by the summer of 1915.
Austria Dependent ON Germany.
More than once in the. early months
of the war Germany had come to the
rescue of the dual empire by attacking
the Russians in Poland and thus re-
lieving the pressure of the Russian
armies in Galicia.
The early summer of 1915 found the
Austrian cause desperate and it was
partly for the purpose of permanently
freeing Austria from the Russian men
ace that the great eastern offensive
was undertaken by Hindenberg and
Mackensen that year. The Russian
armies were rolled back and Austria
was saved.
Following the crushing blow to Rus
y
MackenSen, at the head of picked Ger
man divisions. made his famous drive
thru Serbia, eliminating that nation as
a menace to the Austrian rear.
A year later. in the summer of 1916.
the reorganized Russian armies struck
again at Austria thru Galicia and once
more the S. o. S. call brought German
troops to the rescue and Austria was
saved.
During that same summer RumaDia
had entered the war on the side OF
the allies and before Mackensen's
troops returned to Germany Rumania
was disposed of very much as Serbia
had beenFthe autumn before.
The Italian Campaign.
In the meantime Italian pressure in
the neighborhood of Gorizia and along
the Isonzo had steadily been increas-
ins until by the summer of 1917 Aus
tria was again in grave danger of be-
ins, crushed
The collapse of Russia had by this
time freed most of the Austrian troops
these reinforcements Austria was I'M
able to hold the Italians.
German troops, too, had been re-
leased from the eastern front and, at
the despairing call for aid from Aus
tria Hindenburg sent a considerable
force to the rescue with orders to elm
mate Italy as Russia had been elm
mated in 1915. The blow succeeded
in driving the Italian armies well back
into their own territories and reliev
ing Austria of her last danger of in
vasion for a long time to come.
A Military Triumph.
OF the success of the Italian cam
paign as a merely military undertake
ing. there can be not the slightest
doubt. The political effect has been
somewhat different.
It was the hope of the German high
Loo -
would restore the confidence of the
German army and people which had
been broken somewhat by the persist
ent hammering and slow but steady
gains of the British on the western
front. At the same time il was hoped
broken by defeat. as that of Russia
haG been two years previously, and
that France and even Ensiand and
America would become disheaitened.
Political Effect on Austria.
The result was quite different from
what Hindenburg and Ludendorff ex-
pected. Austria, for the first time
freed from danger of attack, began to
ASK herself what she could hone 70
gain by iIrolonging the war
Germany's ambitious dream of a.
Inidole European empire must be as
FAMILIAR to the rulers of Austria as TO
any one else. AS long as German aid
was essential to Austria's further ex-
istence her rulers had to take their
medicine whether they liked it or
not 1t was better to govern under
the hegemony of Germany than to
have no country to govern at all But
why take bitter pills when one has re-
covered from the ailment they were
intended to cure? If Austria can
make a separate peace that will leave
her empire intact and the Hapsburgs
secure on the throne she will be
sorely tempted to do so. OF course
there is her morals obligation to Ger
many for all that nation has done for
her, but that will not worry the Haps-
burgs any. If Austria fails to make a
| separate peace it will be for purely
selfish reasons.
Allies Strengthened.
In addition to placing Austria where
she can make a separate peace the
Italian campaign has solidified instead
of demoralized Italy, and has
| the morale of France, England and
the United States.
Everything considered, the Italian
campaign may well be looked on as
an allied victory,
The awkward situation in which
Germany finds herself politically is
greatly augmented by the Russian
revolution and its Inevitable reaction
upon the people of Germany.
While German military strength is
relatively greater than at any previous
time since the battle of the Marine,
politically her situation is growing
weaker every day. Her morale at
home is seriously weakened and even
| the army itself may show the results
of undermined faith in the justice of