The Washington herald., 1920-08-07
By FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE.

CONTINUED FRCM PAGE ONE.
in conjunction with its partners in
the treaty of Versailles, will see to
1t that Poland, sooner or later. Sc
cures the territorial status which
that pact assigned her.
Reds Invading Persia.
While palsy has seized the hands
OF allied and associated govern
neats, Red military power has
struck out in a new direction. 1t
is about to deal long-planned
and cleverly conceived blow at the
heart of the British empire in Cen
tral Asia. Under the supervision
of Gen. Kuropatkin, commander-in-
chief of the Russian armies in the
1904 war with Japan, Bolshevist
forces operating from the southern
shore of the Caspian Sea are in
vading Persia
The danger to the Persian capi-
tai, Teheran, and the commercial
town Of Tabriz, in Northwestern
Persia has already become so acute
that the State Department yester-
day instructed the American Minis
ter at Teheran, John L. Caldwell, of
Kansas, and the American consul
at Tabriz, Gordon Paddock, Of New
York, to evacuate their posts.
United States Thoroughly Informed.
The United States military au-
thorities have been aware Of Kuro-
patkin's intended drive for several
months past They accurately timed
it for the precise moment Of its
inception, viz, the hour when Po-
land was broken.
Not the least sensational feature
of Kuropstkin's sudden emergence
upon the scene is the fact, well
Washington, that his allies in the
attack on Britain's position in the
Middle East are the various anti
ally and antf-Britfsh elements
throughout the Islamite world.
They include ustapha Kemsl, the
battling leader of the Turkish ma
tionalists; Emir FeisaI, the embit-
tered chieftain of the Hedjsz and
the Arabs; the rebellious national
lists OF India, and the young Egyp-
tians," who are burning to throw
of the British yoke at Cairo.
BoI.hevik Forces Huge.
When the Moscow world revolu-
ton" plotters, aided by the Ma
tionalist Russian military leaders
who rallied to the Red banners
after the Polish. invasion, decided TO
assail the British empire, Trotzkyi
the Bolsheyist minister OF war,
promised to assign Kuropatkin 120,-
600 troops for the purpose. It is
not known just how many have
campaign.
The operations now in full swing
were inaugurated following the
capture in the Caspian Sea a -
weeks ago of the British and Deni-
kin vessels which fed to the Persian
port of Enzeli, following the Boil
shevist capture of Baku. After the
Reds had taken the fleet and En-
zeli, together with the adjacent in
land city Of Rashet, the small Brit
ish garrison Of 1000 troops with
drew to Teheran.
Opposing Forces Puny.
1t is this force, supplemented by
5, 900 so-called South Persian
Rifles" under British command and
some 5000 native Indian troops,
that now is presumably face to face
with Kuropatkin's Red invaders.
The orders to American officials
to evacuate Teheran and Tabriz
would seem to indicate that the
fall Of those cities is considered to
be imminent. The British garrison
may withdraw toward the Persian
Gulf, which the British navy COM
mands, and on the northern shores
of which II would be possible to
land reinforcements.
Gen. Kuropatkin Is "a veteran
specialist in strategy designed to
undermine Great Britainis position
in Central Asia. He was stationed
in that region as a young officer and
later, when he became prominent
in the Russian army, was the
architect-in-chief of the military
plans for a Russian attack on
India that periodically threatened
war between the lion and the bear.
Continuation of Old Plan.
The present Red thrust is vir-
tually an attempt to carry. out
Russis's ancient scheme for dis
rupting Britain's Eastern Empire
Its specific strategic object is to
make a wedge between India on the
east and Mesopotamia on the west
incidentally its purpose is to drive