New-York tribune., 1918-07-06
Military Comment
By William L. Mcpherson

front yesterday, after the
Fourth of July Aare-up. The
Australians and Americans, who
captured Hamel in such brilliant
style on Thursday, repulsed a Ger
man counter attack during the night
German counter attacks have been
feeble for the last couple Of weeks.
This undoubtedly results from tho
withdrawal of German forces on the
front line in order to rehearse them
in the complicated initial movements
OF the next offensive. Each new
offensive must have it's own varia-
tions in technique. The great diff
Guilty now is to keep an assault on a
grand scale going after the first two
Gays, in case there is no element of
surprise and no serious dislocation
of the enemy's lines occurs at the
point of greatest pressure. Some
new wrinkles in method may be con-
fidently expected when Ludendorff
again cuts loose.
The Italians made progress in
their operations in the Piave delta
and have now reached the new Piave
at several points.
While the pause in France con-
tlnues events are developing very
swiftly in Russia. There is an East
ern front again, or there will be one
soon. The Czecho-Slovaks in Siberia
are reported to have routed Boil
shevist forces just west of Irkutsl5
and to have cleared the whole west
ern shore Of Lake Baikal.
The Czecho-Slovaks are the Won
der of this war. Ex-Austro-Hun
rlan prisoners, interned in the heart
OF Siberia, they have armed and or
ganized themselves, joined the cause
of the Allies and have gradually be-
come war asset of incalculablc
value. While the Allied govern
ments have been debating the ques-
ton of military intervention in Rus
sla the Czecho-Slovaks, driven by ne
cesslty, have effectively interviewed
They have taken control of the vital
parts of the Siberian railroad and
have made any Allied Intervention
which may come later little more
than parade from Vladivostok to
the Ural Mountains.
The Czecho-S -Slovaks hold Vladi-
vostok and can easily secure the
short stretch of railroad line from
the Pacific to the eastern boundary
of Manchuria. West of Lake Baikal
they seem to have undisputed pos
session, and they recently crossed
into Russia proper and took Ekater-
inburg, on the eastern slope Of the
Urals. They have, in fact, carried
the frontier from which the Allies
could exert military pressure to de-
Germanize Russia more than 5000
miles west from Vladivostok. Only
a relatively short section of the ST.
berlan railroad-that between the
, Chinese border and Lake Baikal--
seems to be left in the hands of the
Bolsheviki
The Czecho-Sl are operating.
+ in Siberia under no sanction Of dec
e laration of war against the Leninc
government. But who thinks of de
claring war against such phantom
government? Germany moves forces
wherever she pleases within territory
e nominally Russian. Siberia has Sc
u ceded from Russia. So have other
provinces and dependencies. The
Lenlne government has only vague
authority any longer outside of Mos
COW.
4 Dispatches from Stockholm say
that Finland is about to declare war
y on the Allies. For what purpose
I In order to seize the Murmansk rail
!, road, the ice-free port of Kola and
the valuable military stores collected
n on the kola peninsula. This railroad
); this port and this territory are still
Z Russian in name. But the Firms
. have no idea of making war on the
r Lenine government in order to get
;, possession Of them, since the Lenine
government has no idea of defending
g them and hasn't the power to defend
. them, even if it really cared to do So
d 1t is situation without precedent
Russia has ceased to be nation. II
is state in suspense Any ATTEMPT
: to apply to it the rules governing the
{ normal relations Of nations to ona
y another leads inevitably to alb
r surdity