was necessary. The Germans, assisted by corps drawn from the
west, cut their way out and escaped from the Russian trap through the
failure of one of the Russian armies to co-operate in the movement in
time. But the German offense had failed and the effort had been
terribly expensive.

Another offense was immediately planned--this time to move along the
Vistula and strike at Warsaw from the southwest. This also was a
failure, and the two armies finally became deadlocked along the line
of the Bzura and the Rawka Rivers.

No further fighting of importance in this theatre until February, when
the battle of the Mazurian Lakes was fought. It will be recalled that
after the German defeat at Augustovo the Russians pursued the Germans
into the lake district, where the two armies became practically
deadlocked. This situation was broken by the Germans, who suddenly
attacked both flanks of the Russian army and inflicted upon it a
disastrous defeat, in which one army corps surrendered and the
remainder escaped only after enormous losses.

But the victory, like other German victories, while decisive as far as
the particular Russian army involved was concerned, did nothing toward
hastening peace. The beginning of Spring found the armies in both
theatres completely at a standstill, except in Galicia.

In the west since the failure of the German drive on Calais there has
been no movement that has affected the general situation. The
anniversary of the declaration of war finds the lines of the Germans
and the French practically where they were six months ago. A number of
battles have been fought for the possession of certain points of
vantage--in the Champagne, the Argonne, at Neuve Chapelle, Ypres, Les
Eparges, Hartmannsweilerkopf, Metzeral, Souchez--but they have
resulted in only a local effect, although they have been accompanied
in almost every case by losses that have been staggering.

The principal event of the Spring in the west has been the advent of
Italy into the maelstrom. But this has not affected the situation up
to the present time. Italy has a hard problem on her hands which must
be solved before she can make herself felt. She has but one line of
advance--the line of the Isonzo. But she dare not advance and leave
the passes through the Tyrolean and the Carnic Alps open for Germany
and Austria to pour troops in against her flank and rear. Her task
therefore is first to stop every pass by which this can be done; and
the