Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-03-03
S|MONDS' WAR REVIEW
Continued from Third Page,

Of the old idea Of the break through,
on a fairly wide front. and 1t had q
very great immediate success. although
it was finally beaten down about Iour
and a half miles from the starring
point. But in the capture OF guns ana
positions it must rank high in war
history. The French attack at the Atsne
was less happy; too much was attempt
ed, and the losses as result WeEe
heavy. There seems, too. to have been
political Interference. In any event tne
great success did not come, the Local
success was not in proportion to the
cost and Nivelle went and with him
went the whole idea of the break
concerned. with Petain there has come
the local offensive. of which the latest
Verdun attack and the subsequent
blow between Laon and scissors, which
the French call the battle Of Malnaison.
are the best examples.
But Haig and Robertson, on the Brit
ish side. still adhered to the older
idea. Accordingly. they began in June
an offensive about Ypres. The hrst
blow, the taking of "Whitesheet'''
the most brilliant. of the war. But
when the effort was made later to
drive a wedge between the Germans
along the Belgian coast and those about
British did abolish the Ypres salient;
they did get most of the Passchendaele
Ridge. but despite. heavy costs they
did not shake the German position on
the Belgian coast, and they ultimately
created for themselves another salient
only less disagreeable than the old one
from which they had just escaped.
British Quit ssBreak Through" Plan.
And with the failure in Flanders the
British army finally renowned the
break through" idea. Haig held 1t
very strongly when. talked with him
in February Of last year. He praised
fighting spirit Conceivably Haig
and Nivelle might have pulled off the
big prize if the French politicians had
not interfered. But, however this may
tain idea now. and. as one British staff
officer said to me very recently, there
will be no further attempt at a grand
offensive until the United States as
up" and this cannot happen during the
present year. Until next year, then
the western allies have abandoned ali
idea Of anything beyond a limited local
operation, and in a sense they have
accepted the defensive. They have
come to believe that. except with over.
whelming superiority in reserves, suct
as neither side now possess, the ''break
through" is an impossibility.
Now 1t Is clear that Hindenburg, II
SAkSSSS
even in July, must achieve what has
not been achieved in the west during
the war. In six months the British goi
forward six miles at the Somme and
about the same distance in four months
about Ypres. The Germans got for.
ward four miles and a half in six days
before Verdun, but it took them siz
months to cover the next mile and a
half. On the other hand, the Germans
have their eastern experiences to base
measure of optimism upon At the
Dunajec they got through in a single
day and they were not stopped for
more than hundred miles.
But at the Dunajec they had a ST.
periority of artillery which they can
not have in the west. They simply
annihilated the Russian troops in their
trenches over half a dozen miles OF
front, and the Russians had prepared
no rearward and second-line trenches
When their first lines were gone there
was nothing left. Moreover, it was
situation in degree like this which
permitted the Germans to get SO near
to Verdun in 1916. The French, like
the Russians, had neglected their sec
ond lines.