In the first week of August, 1916, the Italian commanders concentrated their efforts upon Gorizia. Podgora, Monte Sabotino, and the ridges before the town taken by heavy storming and bold attack, there was stern fighting at the bridges and on the river banks for possession of Gorizia itself. Losses on both sides were heavy. The first man to enter the town, a nineteen-year-old sub-lieutenant, Aurelio Baruzzi, raised a small flag in triumph. violent rains prevented any continuous action. A fresh drive on the Carso began on September 14, north and east of Oppachiacella, which had been taken before the lull in the August advance. Four days of intense fighting vielded no noticeable gain in position, but more than 4,000 prisoners were secured. The next effort, October 10 to 14, made a new line showing a forward move of nearly a mile east of Villanova (Nova Vas). Farther south, Hermada's guns furnished so strong a. support for the Austrian left wing that no impression could be made upon it by direct attack. On October 30, a powerful bombardment poured upon the Austrian positions, all day and all the following night. The attack that followed during the first three days of November created a broad Italian salient that extended two miles beyond the previous positions. From the Vippacco River, near its junction with the Vertoibizza, a short distance south of Gorizia, the line now lay along the northern edge of the Carso to Fajti Hrib, "the highest point of the step of the great staircase which runs from the Vippacco to Kostanjevica." The southern side the almost square salient reached to within a very short distance of the village of Kostanjevica (Castagnevizza) In that part of the front the Austrians had been driven back to their third line. By the early October fighting the Italians added to their account some 5,000 prisoners, and in November over 8,000. The supposedly invincible stronghold was yielding under the steady blows of the determined attack. of November Winter conditions precluded any further activity during 1916. The year had written on the roll of heroic deeds some shining new records. On the Carso alone there were many splendid examples of devotion. One old general, dying of cancer, refused to leave his command until he could say, "the battle is won." At another time and place, when a Bersaglieri Brigade had to spend the night in the open with practically no shelter from the rain of high explosives and shrapnel, a brigadier and two regimental commanders walked up and down all night in the front lines to keep the men's courage from failing. In the morning only one of the three remained unwounded. And always there were the men, no less devoted, who "laid down their lives in little, lonely conflicts that never figured in the official dispatches." When it was evident that operations would have to be suspended until Spring, attention was again concentrated upon the training of new units and upon the manufacture and distribution of guns and munitions. Italy's lack of coal and metals made it impossible to produce military supplies in the quantities required for the most effective work on her long battle-line. But the production went on as rapidly as was possible. With the successes of the year behind them, the nation might look forward to a future of greater promise. In hopeful anticipation of that future, they continued to plan and to work. L. MARION LOCKHART On the Eastern Front During 1916 THE RUSSIAN ARMIES ARE SUCCESSFUL BUT THE AUTOCRACY WEAKENS But the events of 1915 had nevertheless inflicted wounds on the Russian nation which were not to heal again entirely. Dark suspicion had arisen within the hearts of the Russian people, not only of the common people, but of those classes which hitherto had been most staunch supporters of the autocracy, that the core of that same autocracy was rotten with treason. Even the Duma, that body of pseudo representatives of the people, chosen according to laws which gave only the reactionary elements suffrage even the Duma, demanded an investigation of the Government machinery. It was rumored that trainloads of ammunition from Vladivostock had been shunted off on sidings at provincial railroad stations and allowed to stand there for weeks. It was rumored that the Grand Duke Nicholas, whom even the enemy During the first two years of the war little was known to the general public of the Allied countries of the political situation in Russia itself; the press reports emphasized the fact that most of the political exiles had returned home to give the Government their support in the war against German imperialism. Never had the Russian autocracy had such an opportunity to weld the Russian people together into one loyal unit, and never was an opportunity more wantonly, or more stupidly, thrown aside. At the outbreak of the war the Premier had been Ivan L. Goremykin, a bureaucrat of bureaucrats, intellectually fossilized in the routine of the autocracy, and now well past three score and ten in years. Unable to adapt himself to new situations, he attempted to rule Russia during war time as she had been ruled for the past He generation. First he initiated an antiSemitic campaign, at a moment when the most violent anti-Semites would be irritated by such a course. caused rumors to be spread that the Jews were betraying the cause of Russia, and even caused a number of pogroms to be instigated. When Galicia had been occupied by the Russian armies, brought on a worse situation, for he was immediately succeeded by Boris Stürmer, a younger and a more capable man, to be sure, but one whose capacities were to be turned in an evil direction. Not only was he a reactionary, but he was German of blood and German in his sympathies, as was later to develop. TÜRMER FAVORS A SEPARATE PEACE he had sent there a number of petty S WITH GERMANY. officials who immediately set about "nationalizing" the Polish and Ruthenian inhabitants. Fortunately these efforts had been partially frustrated by the military authorities. Finally, when the political exiles began arriving in Petrograd, to throw themselves into the struggle against Germany, Goremykin had them imprisoned arbitrarily. His mind worked automatically; these things were to him a matter of routine, to be carried out as a regular course of procedure; his aged mind failed completely to realize that the war had created new conditions. HE DUMA BEGINS TO ASSERT ITS VIEWS. THE Even the reactionaries, who had previously been the main support of the autocracy, became disgusted. This feeling manifested itself most prominently in the Duma, within which was formed the famous Progressive Bloc, including not only the few radical representatives in the body, but all the Constitutional Democrats and a large portion of the extreme right, including such notorious Black Hundreds leaders as the Jew baiter Purishkevitch. The climax to the unrest in the Duma came when the President of that body, Rodzianko, addressed a letter to the Premier, placing the responsibility of Russia's heavy defeats squarely on him. You are obviously too old," concluded the letter, "to possess the vigor to deal with so difficult a situation. Be man enough to resign and give room to someone younger and more capable." Never had Russian subject before dared address the Premier in such language. But Goremykin resigned. At least he proved himself no worse than incompetent. But the old man's resignation only Stürmer hardly took the trouble to hide the fact that he desired to bring about a separate peace with Germany, to desert the cause of the Allies. Russian papers which attempted to stir the patriotic fervor of the Russian people were suppressed by Stürmer's censorship, while others, which denounced Russia's allies and covertly insinuated that Germany was Russia's truest friend, were allowed to pursue their way unmolested. Finally it became known, even among the rank and file of the garrison in Petrograd, that agents had been sent to Switzerland to confer with the Germans. As we shall show later Stürmer betrayed Rumania, hoping to secure peace for Russia. That the German Premier of Russia did not succeed in his designs of treachery was due to the violent protest which arose from among the loyal Russians. This opposition Stürmer did his best to remove. The Duma would be satisfied with nothing less than a real voice in the government, including the right to dismiss ministers. So indignant were the working classes that a general strike of the munitions. workers was threatened-which would have precipitated the final crisis a year before its time, perhaps prematurely. THE HE REMOVAL OF SAZONOV CAUSES ALARM Then came the removal from the Cabinet of Sazonov, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the one man in the administration in whom the Russian people had confidence, and the one man in whom the French and British had absolute trust. Like a rock he stood against the black forces within the court. A pure Russian, he championed the cause of the Allies against Napoleon's adage that "an army marches on its stomach" is as true in our times as in his. Mechanical transport has rendered the commissariat more dependable, but against this gain must be set the barrier of curtain fire and the long range of modern guns which, directed by aeroplane, can jeopardize an army's communications. SORTING GERMAN MAIL IN GALICIA A picture of a temporary German field post-office set up in a village in occupied Galicia. German equipment was complete from the outset and all their invading armies carried with them the wherewithal to keep the troops in communication with their friends. On the other hand though excellent conditions prevailed at a later date in the Allied armies, the system had to be worked up to meet the exigency. Pictures, Henry Ruschin |