THE RUSSIAN AWAKENING.
AirKERENSKY, the Russian Minister of War, has kept 1/11. his word. He promised his Western Allies an early military Offensive and on Monday he was able to telegraph to his Prime Minister, Prince Lvoff " On July 1st the Army of Revolutionary Russia took the offensive with great enthusiasm. . . . Whatever may happen, this day puts an end to all slanderous attacks against the democratic Russian Army." The Premier replied, in words which most ring from one end of Russia to the other, that the Army could be certain that the entire country would join with it in the single effort to support its spirit and to aid it to solve the great problem of the Revolution. The importance of this Russian attack upon the Austro-German lines, which opened on July 1st, ie not to be measured by villages captured or prisoners taken. We wish our Eastern Allies the best of good fortune in the military sense, but whether their offensive succeeds or fails for the present its significance is not to be measured merely by a military rule laid upon the map. If in persistence of effort it proves to the world, and especially to our enemies, -that the Army of Revolutionary Russia has set out to achieve the liberty of its country by the only human means available— the ultimate defeat of Germany—then, whatever may be the ebbs and flows of fortune on the battlefield, Revolutionary Russia will have found its soul. The opening of the offensive has already. aroused tremendous enthusiasm in Petrograd ; -men, sick of the chatter of doctrinaires on the one hand, and of Anarchists on the other, turn eagerly towards military activity as the one sure remedy for the country's revolution- ary green-sickness. France, more than a hundred years ago, passed through the same sickness and in action found the same remedy, though her unity was employed for Napoleonic purposes.
Those who have glibly talked of the stagnation upon the Eastern Front have not always realized that even with the best will and means in the world.the Russian Army could not have begun an offensive until about June 10th. In normal years the ground . is not dry enough to permit of large movements till the beginning of June. This year the winter was prolonged and the 'spring delayed. In 1916 General. Brussiloff opened his great and successful offensivA south of the Pripet Marshes on June 1st ; in 1917 he has begun it exactly a month later ; he could not in any circumstances have begun it more than three weeks earlier. He has struck in that sector of Galicia to the south- east of Lemberg in which a year ago he achieved against Austro-German troops a notable triumph. It will be remem- bered that the Russian summer campaign of last year had reached its culminating point in this district on June 30th with the occupation of the railway junction of Kolomea. Farther to the south in the Bukovina and along the northern slopes of the Carpathians the ground gained was much larger, and the advance much quicker, but the resistance of the enemy there—chiefly Hungarian—was much less strenuous. The progress of the campaign as a whole was rather significant. The enemy's lines on the Eastern Front are not continuous as are those on the West. They are divided into roughly equal parts by the great Pripet Marshes--lightly held on both sides by means of scattered posts. The upper or northern half is German, the lower or southern half is Austrian. The Germans can reinforce the Austrians by way of the railway junction of Kovel—the objective last year of Brussiloff's right wing, yet one which was not reached—and also by way of Lemberg. But for the defence of the more southern parts of the line. those most distant from the Germans, the Austrians and Hungarians have to depend mainly upon their own efforts. Since the military efficiency of the Austrians cannot compare with ,-that, of. the Germans, and indeed hardly exists where German officers and troops are not present to supply the necessary backing, the Russians have always achieved their moat conspicuous advances against the Austrians and not against the Germans. All through the campaign of last year the German defence of their lines north of the Pripet held against the most persistent and costly of the Russian assaults. Austria is the weak partner in the Central Alliance, and tends every month to become more feeble ; blows struck at Austria are likely to be far more immediately effective than blows struck directly at Germany. And yet, since the strength of a chain is the strength of its weakest link, every defeat of Austria is, in effect, a defeat of Germany. If Austria be crushed and gives up, Germany must give up too.
It would be unwise to assume from the introductory success of the Russian assaults against Austro-German lines to the south-east of Lemberg that our Eastern Ally will have an easy task. Russia still has large fosses in spite of her immense losses in 1915 and 1916—larger than those of any other member of the Entente—but they have become disorganized and will need much of the discipline of the field. She his also large supplies sent from Japan, England, and the United States, but their distribution has been held up by German sympathizers. Brussiloff, one may hope, is well equipped ; he bombarded the Austrian positions at Koniuehy for two days before letting loose his infantry upon them. Still, we know from our own experience in the West how great must be the stores of guns and shells, and how minutely careful the organization, before one may with certainty smash through modern lines of defence. We do not for the present expect striking military results. What we do expect is that the " Army of Revolutionary Russia " will be inspired by patriotic enthusiasm to play its part worthily in the battle of liberty and civilization. If the Russians can attack sturdily both north and south of the Pripet Marshes, they may so occupy the Germans in the north that they will not be able to spare reinforcements for the south. Then will come Brussiloff's chance to drive a shrewd nail into the coffin of Austria. In the complete defeat of Austria, even though aided by the Turks, we see the highest hope for the early conclusion of the war. It would be unwise to assume from the introductory success of the Russian assaults against Austro-German lines to the south-east of Lemberg that our Eastern Ally will have an easy task. Russia still has large fosses in spite of her immense losses in 1915 and 1916—larger than those of any other member of the Entente—but they have become disorganized and will need much of the discipline of the field. She his also large supplies sent from Japan, England, and the United States, but their distribution has been held up by German sympathizers. Brussiloff, one may hope, is well equipped ; he bombarded the Austrian positions at Koniuehy for two days before letting loose his infantry upon them. Still, we know from our own experience in the West how great must be the stores of guns and shells, and how minutely careful the organization, before one may with certainty smash through modern lines of defence. We do not for the present expect striking military results. What we do expect is that the " Army of Revolutionary Russia " will be inspired by patriotic enthusiasm to play its part worthily in the battle of liberty and civilization. If the Russians can attack sturdily both north and south of the Pripet Marshes, they may so occupy the Germans in the north that they will not be able to spare reinforcements for the south. Then will come Brussiloff's chance to drive a shrewd nail into the coffin of Austria. In the complete defeat of Austria, even though aided by the Turks, we see the highest hope for the early conclusion of the war.
The German lines north of the Pripet Marshes are still very strong, though the troops now holding them are not of the quality of those who baffled Kuropatkin last year. They hay.: been described as consisting of old men and boys—greybet rds o the Landsturm and youngsters of the class of 1919. Many heavy guns have been shifted to the Western Front during Russia's " armistice," but not, we believe, many of the troops —they were not good enough. Some eight divisions of the best—say one hundred and twenty thousand men—have been transferred. If the Revolutionary Army should prove to be more persistent and successful than one dares at present to hope for, there will come a great opportunity for the Allies, both East and West. For the strategical reserve of Germany, that carefully chosen reserve set aside in the winter and designed to be thrown in at decisive points either on the East or on the West, has already been melted in the fiery blasts of Vimy, Arras, and Messines.
The military reawakening of Russia is a great moral triumph ; it is a triumph of loyalty and true.patriotism which will always adorn the name of M. Kerensky. With that sure instinct for character in statesmen, whether our own or foreigners, which is a conspicuous British quality, we have during these trying weeks of May and June " put our money " on this slight, virile, boyish-looking Russian. And he has not failed us. To his countrymen in a spirited General Order he cries " For- ward! " ; to us he says " All is well, be of good cheer." The task of Russia in the war has been far more difficult than we in the West have always been able to understand. It is an industrial war, a war of machines, and Russia is not an indus- trial country. It is a war of mechanical transport, and Russia has few railways and few good roads. It is a war of highly developed organization, and Russia is backward both in organization and in development. Her machinery of government has been broken to pieces in the Revolution. Between the consummation of the Revolution and the opening of the Revolutionary Army's offensive has interposed a period of less than four months. In spite of all her political disorganization, she is not, as we have shown, more than three weeks late in the field. It is a wonderful achievement. Whatever now happens, three men are sure of the honour due to work well done in the face of unparalleled difficulties Kerensky ; his sturdy chief and backer, Prince Lvoff ; and that fine hard-hitting.General, Brussiloff.
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