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Show PROGRESS OF THE WAR. . One of the most tremendous events of the war has had practically no effect ef-fect upon military operations, but within with-in the next few days or weeks may have a deciding influence. The revolution in Russia has overthrown the czar and the pro-German intriguants and has led to a determination upon the part of the duma to conduct the wax with greater vigor. Whether this determination can be carried out depends in large measure upon the extent of the disorganization. The supposedly pro-German regime may have left a heritage of fatal disorganization disorgani-zation which will be increased if the revolution is met by a counter revolution. revolu-tion. Should the armv at the front be divided, one part siding with the old regime and another with the duma, resistance re-sistance to the enemy will be weakened and it may become necessary for Rus: sia to conclude a separate, peace. It is likely, however, that the story of the French revolution will be repeated and that the troops will present a solid front to the enemy, despite the internal dissensions. Within the last twenty-four or thirty-six thirty-six hours the aspect of the western front has changed conspicuously. Not since the Germans took up their' positions posi-tions on the Aisne river after the retreat from the Marne have they been compelled com-pelled to retreat so far as in the last day and a half. The English have captured cap-tured Bapaume, once described by Field Marshal von Hindenburg as the "Gibraltar of the -western front." To the northwest of Bapaume they have taken Achiet-le-Grand, Achiet-le-Pet;t, Bucquoy and Essarts, and to the southeast south-east Le Transloy. To the southeast of Le Transloy they occupied St. Pierre Vaast woodland and adjoiuing territory on Thursday. Thus they advanced oii a front of perhaps three or four miles north of the Somme.on Thursday and a dozen miles on Saturday, and have pushed forward on a sixteen-mile front south of the Somme, occupying Fresnes, Villers-Carbonelle, Barleux, Eterpigny and La Maisonette. This is by no means the only change on the western front. The French, operating op-erating against the Noyon salient to the southward, have advanced between the Avre and the Oise rivers on a front of fifteen miles to a depth of two and a half miles, an advance reminiscent of the first big rush along the Somme river by the allies last July. The English Eng-lish and French, therefore, drove back the foe on a total froutof about forty-three forty-three miles in one day. tense or whether the Germans are re-treatiug re-treatiug according to a methodical plan is not quite clear. The abandonment of the Noyon salient would be neeessar' a little later if the English should take Peronne and drive far past Bapaume. It may be that the Germans have decided to quit the Noyon salient, or at least advanced positions therein, before they are maneuvered out strategically. To the north of the English operating operat-ing at and around Bapaume the German Ger-man line dips into the Anglo-French line, reaching an apex at Arras. This is what is known as the Arras salient. The saliency of this front has been increased in-creased by the English advance beyond Bapaume and the Germans in the salient may find it necessary to fall back from the region of Arras. The French and English show signs of an offensive in Macedonia. Already they have advanced north and east of Monastir, taking several German and Bulgarian positions. Along the Russian line in Europe there has been little or no activity, but in Persia the Muscovites, taking advantage advan-tage of the English seizure of Bagdad, have rapidly pressed the Turks west ward. The Moslems are under the necessity ne-cessity of retreating because the British Brit-ish army threatens to cut them off. Nevertheless, Nev-ertheless, there has been considerable fighting between the Russians and the Turks in Persia. After occupying llama-dan, llama-dan, about 100 miles east of the Turkish border, the Russians drove the Greeks westward and captured Kermanshah, where the rugs come from. The Moslems Mos-lems retreated to fortified heights west of the city and now have been ejected from these positions and are again in rapid retreat. General Maude has carried on his Mesopotamian operations with remarkable remark-able celerity. On February 26 he captured cap-tured Kut. He marched 100 miles to Bagdad, which he took on Sunday, March 11. Since then he has advanced thirty miles beyond that city and has seized a part of the town of Bakoubah. The Turks are said to have established themselves with more or less firmness at Samara, seventy miles north of Bag- aaa. The British have given the enemy no rest. In the drive from Kut to Bagdad the Turks lost two-thirds or three-fourths three-fourths of' their artillery. Many guns were thrown into the Tigris and scores were captured by the enemy. Having taken up position eight miles south of Bagdad, the Moslems stubbornly offered resistance, but General Maude, after three days of fighting and maneuvering, compelled the foe to abandon the sacred sa-cred city. He captured many more prisoners, some guns, old and new, and a small-arms ammunition factory, together to-gether with a vast quantity of material, including railway locomotives, despite the fact that the retreating Turks had done their best to destroy all supplies of military value. ' The German submarines continue to take toll of merchant shipping, but the average daily destruction has been somewhat some-what decreased. A Teuton submersible stranded on the Dutch coast and another, anoth-er, which attacked a British ship on the way to the United States, was sunk by a patrol boat off the west coast of Ireland. Ire-land. As the English government gives out no reports concerning the fate of German submarines the world hears of the loss of the subsea boats only from neutral sources. It is sid that German submarines are now traveling in squadrons. If a merchant ship escapes one submarine it may be sunk by another in the same vicinity. vi-cinity. This new plan of attack necessitate! necessi-tate! fhancrem in tlio dofonoa V..f dently the British are slowly making headway against the undersea fighting boats. At all events the' Germans are not sinking as many tons of shipping this month as last, although the total will be well up toward 350,000 tons. After remaining quiet for several months the Zeppelins made raids toward to-ward Paris and London. A Zeppelin which approached the French capital was shot down by anti-aircraft guns at Compiegne, which is only a short distance dis-tance from the point where the French have just made their advance between the Oise and the Avre. The English do not appear to have been lucky this time in their defense against the airships, for no report has come of the destruction of a Zeppelin. On the sea the English have lost a destroyer, which was sunk by a mine in the English channel, and the Russians have lost a submarine which hit a mine in the Baltic. |
