appearance
and improvement. From a sanitary point of view it became one of the
least progressive cities of Europe. And yet, as the armies march into
the capital, there are still signs of the city's past glory: over thirty
palaces rear their lofty turrets above the tile roofs of the houses,
among them the palace of the long-dead Polish kings.

However, from a military point of view, Warsaw maintained great
importance in the Great War. It is at this time one of the strongest
citadels of Europe, and around it lies the group of fortresses called
the Polish Triangle. The southern apex is Ivangorod on the Vistula; the
eastern, Brest-Litovsk; the northern being Warsaw itself. To the
northwest lies the advanced fort of Novo Georgievsk. This triangle is a
fortified region with three fronts: two toward Germany and one toward
Austria, and the various forts are fully connected by means of
railroads.

It would appear, therefore, that Russian Poland would offer excellent
conditions for an army on the defensive. And this is quite true, the
Vistula, especially, serving as a screen against the attacking armies
from the west. As a matter of fact, it would have been extremely
difficult to take Warsaw by a frontal attack. Warsaw's weakness lay in
the north in the swamp regions.

One of the greatest dangers in all wars, against which a military
commander has to guard his army, is that of being flanked. The road or
roads leading from the rear to the base of supplies, along which not
only food supplies for the soldiers, but, quite as important,
ammunition, is brought up, either in wagons, automobiles, or in railroad
trains, are the most sensitive part of an army's situation. Unless they
are very short--that is, unless an army is very close to its base of
supplies--it is impossible to guard these lines of communication
adequately. Therefore, if the enemy is able to break through on either
side of the front, there is great danger that he may swing his forces
around and cut these lines of communication. The army that is thus
deprived of its sources of supply has nothing left then but to
surrender, sometimes even to inferior forces. Sometimes, of course, if
the army is within the walls of a fortified city and is well supplied
with food and ammunition, it may hold out and allow itself to be
besieged. This may even be worth while, for the sake of diminishing the
enemy's strength to the extent of the forces required for besieging,
usually many