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Show POSSIBLE BREAKS IN H EMBATTLED LINES. H As long as the solidarity of the two sides in the great war remains unbroken, there can be but sligh prospect of peace. The Central powers must have given up by this time all hope of winning by force of arms; and whether H the Allies are prepared to admit the fact or not, the chances of their overthrowing the enemy by a great and smashing victory, or a series of them, remain altogether ?emote Three years of such conflict as the world had "em-dreamed of have shown that there can be war with- out victory-an apparent anomaly which permits the sug- Son that there can also be a peace without victory. B Of course the Allies are determined on their part that peace shall not be made except upon terms of vie tory '5 but they are in no way pledged to prolong, nor will they be :JWio,i in m-oloncrine. the battle one single hour after those terms can be otherwise secured. The detachment of Russia from the cause of the En-H En-H tente powers would therefore be a heavy blow to the Allies, even though such an occurrence might not prove to be the entering wedge that would breakup the war. . Fortunately there are the most positive promises from the H Russian leaders and there is no reason to doubt that they will be kept-that such a treacherous step as a sep- orate peace with Germany will not be considered for a moment. If, on the other hand, it were possible to break Austria's alliance with Germany, that would be an mcal- culable advantage to the Allies, and would unerringly point to the beginning of a speedy end. The Kaisers dream of an imperial "Mittel-Europa" would be at once iH shattered: he would be isolated, encircled and within a B short time humbled completely. So it is vastly more jm- portent to Germany that Austria be kept true to her Alliance, than it is to Great Britain or France that Russia m remain true. If these two, Austria and Russia, should B come to terms with each other, the gain would still be all B on the side of the Allies. And even if Turkey, lightly B though the "Sick Man" is regarded as a combatant in the H European arena, should make terms with Russia a pro-M pro-M position easily within the possibilities the effect on the H Teutonic cause would be scarcely less disastrous. M Hence in discussing the peril of a Russian separate H peace, the magnitude of it depends wholly upon the ques- M tion as to which nation is to be the other party to the H peace. If Austria or Turkey, then the peril is to Germany M and not to the Allies. The latter can get along without H Russia, but with the loss of either one of his allies, the H Kaiser's days would be numbered. If the Entente can H frustrate the plans of his emissaries to win Russia over H to him, they can almost afford to encourage Russia to H make peace with the others. Such a stroke would effect H a rupture in Central European solidarity that would bo m significant in the extreme. H The opinion has heretofore been expressed in these H columns that Austria was the likeliest of all the principal H powers to make the initiatory move toward ending the H conflict. Nothing has occurred since to alter that view H on the contrary, every development has seemed to con- H rf jrm it. It is not difficult to surmise that the pope's peace H proposal itself had its inception in Vienna, at least that H it was considered and approved in that capital before be- H ing published to the world. Moreover there are many H other indications that young Emperor Charles is prepared H to seize the first favorable opportunity to sheathe his H sword. The truth is if the smile be permissible the H double-headed Hapsburg eagle has undertaken too long H and lofty a flight in attempting to soar alongside the fc single-headed black eagle of the Hohenzollern, and with V wounded, wearied pinions is descending to lower strata, B in search of a fair spot on which to alight Deseret News. |