Greenbrier independent. [volume] (Lewisburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1980, 1919-02-28

loWe0 ner 10 place IN the 6elS III ooo
men instead of the expected $50 .ooo
Volunteers increased the orix;rsi
force by 10000 during August. 1911
tut after the battle OF the User H.
entire royal army did not. accor5-
! ing to statement made by the Min
ister OF War on November Is. la1-
tcxceed $4,000. During 1915 the mil.
itary establishment was entirely ro.
organized and re-eQuipped, so that h..
Autumn OF 1917 it possessed a com
bat strength Of 10000 well-traineI
men. made up principally Of recruit
who managed to slip out Of the Ger
man-occupied territory and reservis-
IS VINO had been abroad when tho
war began. When Germany capitn.
lated the Kingdoms total resistra.
| ton of combatantS numbered 267
900.
Russia.
Russia had prepared for military
service in the Autumn of 1914 Der
cent. of her population of $4,000
600, or 100000. She was abs
10 avail herself at once, and until
the Spring of 1915, OF about half tina,
number. BY the following Summer
she mad reached her maximum en-
rollment OF comfbatants which num-
herel at the time Of the Brusilofr Of.
fensive nearly 12.o0o,o00. It was
brought up to that figure between
then and the revolution of March.
1917, after which the armies gradu-
ally, and then more rapidly, dispers-
cd. After November of that yea
they ceased to operate as an organiz-
I'd force against the enemy,
Russia's enormous losses in pris
cners were principally due to her
retreat IRON East Prussia in Decer-
her, 1914. and to the great retreat
through Galicia and Poland in the
following Spring and Summer. Or
the other hand. there were two peri
obs when her taking Of prisoners.
principally non-German Auatro-Hun
gariars, was equally extensive. Her
initial Galician campaign ,netted
her to the fall OF Przemysl over l.
100000 while in the first week OF
the Brusiloff offensive Of the sum
mer Of 1916 she captured 271,62O..
According to a statement made by
Premier kerensky on the eve of thu,
Bolshevist coup d'etat on November
T.. 1917, the Russian casualties i'll
the first year Of the war had amount
ed to 100000 men, in the second
to less than 100000 and IN the
third year to, less than 100000.
AS kerensky at that time was also
the War Minister, it is to be pre-
! sumed that he had access to the ar
chives of his imperial predecessors
The only other information we have
| on the subject is statement issued
by a Russian statisticlan in Petrv-
grad on December %. 1918, which
was to the effect that, of the total
Russian casualties In the war, AM
ounting TO 9,l50.000, (the ap-
proxim( tie tbtsl of Kerensky) L.
100000 had been killed; disabled
men numbered 1,45O.OO0, while 81
SOC, 900 soldiers had been wounded.
and tine prisoners lost numbered g.
| 100000. According to a dispatch
received by the State Department a.
Washington on January 2, 1919,
10000 Russian prisoners had died
; in German prison camps.
Other Allied Armies.
Among the remaining associated
nations Serbia calls for special men
lion. as the ravages Of the enemy, OF
disease, and OF famine caused her to
lose about SO per cent. of her civilian
population. Serhia's army, which
had turned almost inevitable defeat
into victory in December, 1914, CAP
turing over 10000 Austrians and
driving the rest from the land, still
had 100000 combatants when Bull
garia entered the war against her in
the following Autumn. What then
happened is best told in the langu-
age of the Serbian Minister OF War
uttered on November IA, 1918:
Serbia, from July rs, 1914, to
July IA, 1915, placed 7O7,343 men
In the field. During the whole OF
this period Serbia maintained force
of 100000 electives. TIE number
Of men modified amounted to -
per cent. OF the entire population
within the old frontiers OF Serbia.
Only about 100000 men were drawn
from the new provinces. because In
the newly liberated tMacedonian>
territories the military organization
was not yet complete. In the two
great Austrian offensives In 1914 he
number Of men killed in battle was
45,861 and the number Of deaths
from wounds and sickness 1902.
I'm 1915 the number of deaths
from sickness was 56,842. The to-
tai number of deaths from all causes
was 17l,725. At the time Of the re-
treat, $4,000 wounded were left be-
hind on the battlefelds and In hospi-
tals, or sent home disabled or for
eonvelescence. all Of whom were TAX
en- prisoner by the enemy. During the
terrible retreat across Albania there