hat which had to be solved either by Germany or Austria. It was
quite evident to her General Staff that at least during the first few
months of hostilities Germany would devote her whole time and attention
to attack in the western arena, the French being at the time her most
dangerous enemy. Except for a small part of the Austrian forces left to
oppose the Serbians and Montenegrins, the whole army of Austria was
depended upon to oppose the Russian advance.

The important strategic condition that confronted Russia was this: Her
most dangerous enemy was Germany, but in order to attack Germany it was
necessary that Austria's army should first be destroyed.

The eastern theatre of the war has been described in a preceding chapter
and it will be recalled that for about two hundred miles from east to
west Russian Poland is inclosed on the north by East Prussia and on the
south by Austria. Moreover, the Sudetic Mountains on the Austrian
frontier and the huge forests of Poland protect the position of German
Silesia southeast of Breslau. Passing through it are the chief lines of
railway connecting eastern and western Europe, including the routes
between Poland, Galicia, Moravia, and Bohemia. At varying distances from
her Russian frontier Austria has a line of mountains of great defensive
strength. This is the Carpathian, which, extending inside the
Austrian-Russian border line, is joined by the Transylvanian Alps and
continues to form the south frontier of Austria.

It would not be possible for the Russian invaders to menace Austria
seriously until these mountains had been crossed. Russia, however, was
menaced by the configuration of the German-Austrian frontier, with
Poland open to invasion from three sides. Also, Austria and Germany had
many strongly intrenched positions at strategical points covering all
the chief lines of approach on their frontiers where the latter faced
Russian territory. Besides being defended by artificial works, the
frontier had natural defenses, such as lakes, swamps, and forests. All
along the Russian-Austrian frontier, in fact, there exist such natural
defenses against invasion. On the southern boundary of Poland the
Russian army was held off by great bogs which cover from east to west a
distance of about 250 miles. The only crossing was a single line of
railroad, the one extending from Kiev to Brest-Litovsk. From a military
viewpoint, these marshes divided the line in two parts, imperiling the
sit