MOMENTOUS WEEK

Evening Post, Volume XCVI, Issue 85, 7 October 1918, Page 3

MOMENTOUS WEEK

THE WESTERN ADVANCES

SHATTERING EFFECT OF BULGAR

COLLAPSE

TURKEY'S PARADOXICAL POSITION.

The Acting .Prime Minister (the Hon. Sir James Allen) has received from the Ministry .of Information the following, summaiy of the war operations for the week endedj4bli October: — In tlio triumphant advance on the Western front the part played by the British Army was most important, not only during the .triumph of the past week, but during the whole of the pre. . vious month, for by our continued pressure between St. Quentin and the Sensee River we compelled the enemy to bring the bulk of his best Tlivisions to meet this attack, and thus distracted him from other points on the front. The continued disbanding of broken divisions, the passing of .wounded men straight back to the front, and the substitution of women for men on the lines of communication all show how^he man-power is declining in Germany. It is reported, too, that returned prisoners from Russia are considerably tainted with. Bolshevism. The situation in Russia and Siberia shows signs of improvement, and the victory by General Poole's forces (in North Russia) now proves to have been most complete. The enemy's forces have been completely dispersed, and are now hiding about the countryside. CENTRAL POWERS' "WEAKEST SPOT.

The withdrawal of Bulgaria from the war cuts the land communications between the Central Powers and Turkey, and opens the southern frontiers of Austria and Eumania to invasion. The Central Powers are further endangered by the intense hostility of the subject nationalities of Austria-Hungary, as well as by the chance of Rumania's re-en-tranco into the war. To avoid peril anil keep Turkey fighting, the Central Powers must build a new front on the Danube, and reinforce Turkey. All they have to do this are some thirty-three German and thirteen Austrian divisions in Russia, but bringing these to ,the Balkans would mean the abandonment of all the German gains from the BrestLitovsk Treaty. It is to be remembered, howover, that the German control over the Black Sea allows of the rapid despatch of reinforcements to Constant! nople, and she also has an excellent railway service for concentration on the Danube frone. Meanwhile our victory here and in Palestine has completely altered the situation in the Middle East, removing all danger of German-Turkisti penetration in Asia and almost certainly compelling the enemy to retire from Bu«----sia. The triumph in the Balkans almost overshadows that in Palestine, but the serious danger now threatening Constantinople will most probably compel the transfer of a great part of the Turkish army for the defenco of her imperilled European footing. THE SHAKEN ENEMY ALLIANCE. ■New light upon the circumstances surrounding the Austrian Peace Note-indi-cates that it was sent without the assent and co-operation of Germany, but not without Germany's knowledge. This shows a clear break between the German and Austrian views. Bulgaria's defection must increase this, and it will mean the collapse of the whole system of Alliances on which Germany hoped to build her domination over Central and Eastern Europe. It is most unlikely that Bulgaria withdrew without first vainly begging for German aid, and her action is the clearest proof of Germany's declining power. Her withdrawal must also sharpen Austria's anxieties about her own internal stability. In the face of the danger abroad and the misery and dissension at home, the German Government is in increasing difficulties. Dummy proposals for more effective popular control show that the machinery of German government, founded on successful warfare, is now shaken to its depths, though it is most doubtful if even a sham liberalisation could cope with her troubles. Some even suggest a military dictatorship as the only solution, though this would be the', flattest abandonment of the i whole Hohenzollern theory of a quasi-Divine autocracy. Turkey's position is paradoxical, She seized and destroyed the oil dwells at Baku, which was directly challenged by Germany, since by the Russo-German treaty of 27th August Balm was excluded from the territories Turkey might occupy. But in the south the fall of Damascus loosens the Turkish, grip on the southern Turkish, Empire, even though they can still advance in the Caucasus and Northern Persia. Considering the long ill-feeling between Bulgaria and Turkey, interesting developments may be expected from the effect of Bulgaria's -withdrawal, upon this complex situation. AIR-FIGHTING IN THE WEST. During last week, despite frequent bad weather, the British airmen maintained practically a continuous patrol along the battlefront day and night. An.immense number of reconnaissances and bombing flights were undertaken, and the enemy was attacked at vital positions in his rear. Some 300 tons of bombs • were dropped on tho German railway and military organisations between the coast and the Somme. More than a third of these were dropped between sunset and dawn, shattering the . enemy's night transport of troops and material.. To show the $ale of the reconnaissance work in connection with the simultaneous British offensives, we learn that 8102 aerial photographs were taken. Many of these had been obtained far behind the fighting zone. Heavy air battles were continued throughout the week, and were uniformly successful in our eyes, since against 109 British machines reported missing, 154 of the enemy's were destroyed, 76 were' driven down, and 31 kite_ balloons wer| shot down on fire. British airmen, besides many raids on the enemy's military and navali baEes, co-operated with the Belgian Army in its advance, heavily bombing the railway junction at' Cortemarck and Thorout throughout the battle, and vigorously attacking the Germans' transport and trains both with bombs and machine-gun fire. The R.A.F. independent forces worked in conjunction with the American First Army anc? kept up a most successful offensive against the German railway communication lines south of Luxembourg.