At this moment we may be certain that the Germans
have decided upon some counterstroke which will compensate for their retirement on the Somme. Where is that counterstroke to fall ? There are three possible places outside the Western front, for we may dismiss at once the possibility of the Germans yielding to Enver Pasha's entreaties to send German divisions, or oven brigades, to fight with the British on the plain of Armageddon or to clear General Maude out of Baghdad. The three things open to the Germans, and out of which we may be pretty sure they have already made their choice, are as follows. First, an attack in force at Riga upon the Russians, whose armies at this moment are supposed to be vulnerable owing to the shock of the Revolution—a natural but somewhat dangerous piece of ratiocination. The enemies of the French Republic at the crisis of the Revolution thought the same, and were deceived. The ardour of an emancipated people, even though that ardour was checked by the horrors and injustices of the Terror, was Burn- sient to give the armies of the French Republic a vitality which overcame all their difficulties as regards munitions and organization. The Russians may very well supply history with another example of an Army, although somewhat handicapped on the material side, sevivified by the spirit of liberty.
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