Evening star., 1918-07-28

ish alike were aroused to the fact
that their position was critical, their
numbers insufficient and bound to be
insufficient They had expected to
maintain a successful defensive until
America deliberately accomplished
her military program. They sa"
themselves condemned to desper-
ate defensive, while America feverish-
ly rushed to France those divisions
without which a Ludendorh victory
seemed inevitable. By April i, 1915,
the allied nations at last knew the
extent of their peril and recognized
pass before their safety could be as
sured.
Front Pierced and Broken.
BY his first attack Ludendorf. for
his had become the master mind in
| the German high command, employing
the method of brilliant lieutenant,
Hutier, had succeeded where all pred
ecessors had failed. He had pierced
and broken an enemy front on an ex-
tent of fifty miles and to depth OF
thirty-five. After three years and
half of war of positions. Of stagna-
| tion, of siege and trenches. he had
| carried an offensive into open country
beyond all defense zones. For the mo-
ment, at least, 1t seemed as II the
conditions of warfare of the Marine
time were to be restored ana SlrusBie
| in trenches was at an end
Checked in Picardy. Ludendorff car
| ried his offensive to Flanders and
again achieved swift and substantial
victory.
Breaking the allied line south of
! Ypres. he pushed forward fifteen miles
| toward the channel ports won BACK
all the lost ground of the Passchen-
daele campaign of the previous year.
| took KENNEL. which looks down upon
md
! reduce this restored salient, which
| had for the British empire the same
| significance Verdun carried for the
French nation. This greater success
| on April 30 closed the Flanders bat
tie, but this second episode had served
I. to demonstrate anew the efficacy OF
| German tactics and the advantage OF
| German numbers and interior posi-
| ton. 1t reopened the question of the
| arrival of the kaiser at Calais ana
emphasized again the greatness OF
allied peril.
American Troops Arriving.
| Already American troops were be-
| ginning to cross the seas in great
| numbers; Foch had succeeded to su-
| preme command; France and Britain
| were repairing previous errors. but
! henceforth as he awaited the coming
| of the Americans to save new
| Waterloo. Foch was bound to recall
| frequently the words Of Wellington.
the impatient longing for might or
| Blucher."
| The third German blow was in the
! larger sense even more terrifying
than the first Although two months
| had passed and the allies had been
| allowed time to study the German
method and prepare an answer Luz
| dendorff was able in late May to du-
plicate his March successes. and.
\ sCx4
Vesle, the victorious German troops
| reached the bank of the Marne once
| more after nearly three years OF
| absence. Nor was this all; the Brit.
ish positions in Picardy had lacked
| any dominating military strength, put
/ the French positions at the Aisne
! were among the finest on the west
ern front. And, as at the Somme;
Ludendorff had in a week regained
| all the ground lost in the months OF
the British offensive of 1916 and the
German retreat in the spring OF 1elI.
he now in three days retook all the
| ground gained by Nivelle in his III
starred offensive of 1917. and IN aodi,
tion drove south between Rheims ana
! retook Scissors, French since Sep
teInber l., 1914.
Britain's Greatest Defeat.
The British defeat in Picardy was
the greatest in British military MIS-
| tory; the French reverse on the Alsne
surpassed the disaster OF the nrst oays
| of the Verdun campaign. AS result
| of the two successes the German was
once more within striking distance
of Paris and had thrust wedges Tor
ward toward the French capitai doMn
| the Disc and the Marine valleys. June
was only just come and Americas
| forces were still too weak to exercise
any decisive influence. There re-
mained the relatively restricted tasks
-
Rheims salients. the one menace 70
| the Continuity of his operative front
between the Disc and the Marne. the
other a threat to the rear of this
front. and then he could undertake
| the final venture, a drive straight
south upon Paris. which. even IL II
failed to. take the city. might bring
his heavy artillery within lombard
ing distance and enable him to de-
stroy the city if it refused to sur
render, and with this destruction he
hoped French nerves and Frencn
| spirit would at last break and the
army. after the civil population. aban-
don a struggle which had cost France
so much and still held out the threat
| of even worse suffering without aAy
promise of ultimate victory.
Hun Victory Became Possible.
1t may be that this German success,
which took the kaiser to the Marne.
will prove the high-water mark of the
present campaign: it may be that
when the German troops returned to
the Marne they were the advance
guards Of the ultimate advance of the
Germans in the war. 1t is too early
to prophesy, but in any event when
this June fighting was over Paris was
plainly menaced. allied fortunes were
Mn a desperate state. German victory,
30 far as the European phase was
concerned, seemed no longer impos-
sible At best the possibility of the
loss of Paris and of retirement to
the south had to be considered.
But before June was over the tide
had changed. Seeking to sweep the
French out of the Compiegne region,
open up the lower valley of the Aisne,
insure the continuity of the right wing
of his operative front between scissors
and Montdidier by clearing the French
out of strong ground and carrying their
| line into the open ground south of Sem
4 lis Ludendorff launched fourth blow
between Montdidier and Noyon. between
the Avre and the Disc. This time there
was no surprise, no collapse: the Ger
man machine ground its way forward
| for a short distance, cleared the Lassigny
| heights and some valuable ground along
the Disc. But by the third day II was
checked, and Mangin, the deliverer OF
Verdun, was striking counter blow on
the German flank which paralyzed the
offensive; compiegne was not Ia taken; sa, as
little ground. but his fourth venture
had been a failure.
l. Austria Failed on Piave.
While Ludendorn prepared for the
fifth stroke his Austrian colleague.
Borevic, struck on the Piave and sought
by a supreme stroke, with the largest