The Washington herald., 1918-11-06

Wsngenheim until Germany had de-
cided that IL would be necessary to
pay the price of letting her into the
war as a real participant The time
had come when Germany needed the
Turkish army and the outward sign
that the situation had changed was
the closing Of the Dsrdanelies. Thus
Wangenheim had accomplished the
task for which he had been working.
and in this act had fittingly crowned
his achievement of bringing in the
Goeben and the Breslsu. Few Amer
leans realize, even today. what an
overwhelming influence this act
welded upon future military oper-
ations. Yet the fact that the war
lasted for so many years is e1-
danelles.
Made RevoIsties Pe.sIbIe.
For this is the element in the sit
ustion that separated Russia from
her allies. that. in less than a wear.
led TO her defeat and collapse. which
in turn. was the reason why the
Russian revolution became possible.
The map discloses that this enor-
nous land OF Russia has Just four
ways Of reaching the seas One is
by way Of the Baltic. and this the
German feet had already closed. An
other is ArchAngel. on the Arctic
Ocean, a port which is frozen over
several months in the year. ana
which connects with the heart Of
Russia only by a long. single-trsck-
ed railroad. Another is the Pacific
Tort of Vladivostok. also ice bound for
three months. which reaches Rus
sia only by the thin line OF the ST.
berian Railway 5000 miles long.
The fourth passage was that OF the
Dardsnelles; in fact. this was the
only practicable one. This was the
narrow gate through which the sur
plus products Of l75.oOO. 900 people
reached Europe. and nine-tenths OF
all Russian exports and imports had
gone this way for years. BY sud
denly closing IL, Germany destroyed
Russia both as an economic and q
military power. BY shutting OF the
exports OF Russian grain. she de-
prived Russia Of the hnancisl power
essential TO successful warfare.
What was perhaps even more fatal.
she prevented England and France
from getting munitions 10 the Rus
sian battle front in SUFFICIENT guam
tity to stem the German onslaught.
AS soon as the Dardanelles was
closed. Russia had to fall back on
ArchangeI and Vladivostok for such
supplies as she could get from these
ports. The cause Of the military
collapse of Russia in 1915 is now
well known: the soldiers simply had
no ammunition with which TO fight.
The h1HF % be
many spent in an unsuccessful at
tempt to drive a wedge" between
the French and English armies on
the Western frcnt; to separate one
ally from another and SO obtain =
position where she could attack each
one separately. Yet the task Of IN
doing the Frsnco-Russian treaty.
and driving such a wedge" between
Russia and her western associates.
proved to have been an easy one. II
was simply a matter. as ] have de-
scribed. OF controlling a corrupt and
degenerate government getting pos
session. while she was still ct peace.
OF her main executives, her army.
her navy, her resources. and then.
at the proper moment ignoring the
nominal rulers and closing a little
strip of water about twenty miles
long and two or three wide, II did
not cost a single human life or the
firing OF a gun. yet. in a twinklinG,
Germany accomplished what proba-
bly, 5000. 600 men. opposed TO a we'll
equipped Russian force. could not
have brought 70 pass. II was one
Of the most dramatic military tri-
umphs Of the war. and IL was all the
-. -
man penetration and German diplo-
macy.
Seemed stricken with Plague.
In the days following this bOttliEE
up Of Russia the Bosporus began
to look like a harbor which has been
suddenly stricken with the plague.
Hundreds OF ships arrived from Rus
sia. Rumsnia. and Bulgaria. loaded
with grain. lumber. and other prod
ucts. only to discover that they could
go no farther. There were not docks
enough 70 accommodate them. and
they had to swing out into the
stream. drop anchor, and await de-
velopments. The waters were =
cluster OF mssts and smokestacks.
and the crowded vessels became 50
dense that a motor boat had din 70
Guilty in picking IL way through tho
tangled forest. The Turks held out
hopes that they might reopen the
waterway, and for this reason these
vessels. constantly increasing in num-
ber. waited patiently for a month
or so. Then one by one they turned
around, pointed their noses toward
the Black Sea and lurubriously start %
ed for their home ports. In q few
weeks the Bosporus and adjoining
waters had become a desolate vast.
What for years had been one OF the
most animated shipping ports in
the world. was rufrled only by an
occasional launch. or a tiny Turkish
caique, or now and then a little SAIL
ing vessel And for an accurate idea
of what this meant from military
standpoint. we need only call 10
mind the Russian battlefront In the
next year. There the peasants wer"
fighting German artillery with their
unprotected bodies, having a few r.
fies and a few heavy guns, while
mountains Of useless ammunition
were piling up in their distant Arc
tic and Pacific ports. with no rail
roads to take them to the field OF
action.
TO RE CONTINUED TOMORROW.