BACK TO THE WARSAW FRONT
Dated:
WARSAW,
_July 24, 1915_.
Leaving Lublin early in the morning we motored to that certain place
where the army next in line to the one I have last discussed is
stationed. Since I have been away there have been many changes and much
shifting about of corps, and I find that nearly half of this army is
now east of the Vistula, and its left joins the right of the one we
have just left, the two together forming the line of defence on Lublin.
As I have been in the army on the Vistula two or three times before, I
find many friends there, and learn from them of the successful movement
of a few days before when an early Austrian advance taken in the flank
resulted in a loss to the enemy, of prisoners alone, of 297 officers
and a number reported to be 23,000 men, practically all of whom are
said to be Austrians. Here as elsewhere great confidence is expressed
as to the position in the south. We are even told that the bulk of the
Germans are now being shifted to another point, and that the next blow
will fall directly on or north of Warsaw.
On returning to Warsaw I found that during our absence there had been
a grave panic caused by the advances in the south, and that several
hundred thousand of the population had already left, while practically
all the better class had departed a week ago. The hotels were almost
deserted, and the streets emptier than I have ever seen them. But
friends who are unusually well informed told me that the danger was
past, and the general impression was that the worst was over on
this front. For two whole days we had a period practically without
rumours or alarms, and then began what now looks to be one of the
darkest periods that any of us have yet seen here, not even excepting
the panicky days of October last when the Germans were all but in
the city itself. First came rumours of heavy fighting to the north,
around Przasnys, Lomza, Ciechanow, and reports of Russian reverses and
retirements on a new line of defence, and forthwith Warsaw was again
thrown into a state of excessive nerves. One becomes so accustomed to
these constant alarms that they have come to make little impression on
one. The next day a friend coming in from the armies engaged announced
with the greatest confidence that the situation was better, and that
the new Russian line was in every way better than the old one and that
everything was going well. Fighting which is reported to be serious
is going on to the south of us, on the Lublin-Cholm line, but is not
causing serious anxiety here. On the whole nearly all the usually
well-informed persons here felt moderately easy about the situation.
[Illustration: Retreat from Warsaw. Burning crops.]
[Illustration: The retreat from Warsaw. A Jewish family leaving Warsaw.]
Suddenly there came a bolt out of the blue. With no warning it was
announced that the evacuation of Warsaw had been ordered and that the
civil authorities would leave on Sunday, July 18. This announcement
was not made until late on Saturday, and immediately began the tumult
of reports of disaster which we who have sat here through thick and
thin know so well. Personally I should have felt no anxiety, for there
seemed no immediate danger on any of the near-by fronts, nor serious
reverses as far as was known here on the more distant fronts; but the
order of evacuation was followed up at once by instructions to the
Consul of Great Britain to be prepared to leave on Monday, while I
believe that the Belgian and French Consuls received similar notices
and are all departing on that day (to-morrow, July 19). The American
Consul, Hernando Desote, who already has the German and Austrian
interests in charge, took over the British interests at twelve o’clock
to-day, and will probably do the same for the interests of the other
Allies represented here in Warsaw.
In the meantime we hear that the Russians are falling back on the
Blonie line, and that Zuradov has already been evacuated, which may or
may not be true. It now seems quite obvious that something has taken
place of which we know nothing, and I have not seen or talked with
an officer who thinks that what is taking place is due to the local
military situation as far as it is known. The general opinion is that
if the Russians retire it is due purely to the fact that they have not
the munitions to maintain a sustained attack of the Germans who seem
to be coming over to this front in increasingly large numbers. For
the observer here it is impossible to know what the Russians have in
their caissons. One who gets about a good deal can make a guess at the
positions, strength and morale of an army, but the matter of munitions
or outside policy is something which cannot be solved by the man at
the front. There is undoubtedly a feeling of great discouragement
here at present, and many believe that the Russians have been bearing
the burden now ever since January, while the Allies for one cause or
another have not been able to start enough of an attack in the west
to prevent the Germans from sending more and ever more troops over here.
[Illustration: Retreat from Warsaw. A Polish Jew. Note his belongings
tied round a cow’s neck.]
Russia certainly has neither the industrial system nor the industrial
temperament to supply herself with what she needs to the same extent
as both France and England. She has been fighting now for months,
with ammunition when she had it, and practically without it when it
failed her. Month after month she has kept up the unequal struggle, and
there are many here who think the greater powers that be are going to
withdraw to a shorter line, and await refilling of their caissons until
the time comes when the Allies can co-operate in the attack on the
common enemy. These matters are purely speculation, however, for here
we know nothing except that the civil evacuation is going on apace, and
that there are many signs which indicate that it may be followed by the
military within a week or ten days.
The Poles are utterly discouraged, the Russians disgusted and, all
things considered, Warsaw at the present writing is a very poor place
for an optimist. We hear to-day that the fire brigade has come back
from Zuradov, where buildings which might be of use to the enemy are
said to have been blown up. Poles have been notified that the Russian
Government would give them free transportation from here, and 14
roubles. Factories which have copper in their equipment have been
dismantled, and many are already in process of being loaded on to cars
for shipment to Russia proper. I am told that the State Bank left
yesterday for Moscow, and that they are collecting all the brass and
copper utensils from the building next door to the hotel. My chauffeur
has just come in and lugubriously announced that benzine has risen
to 15 roubles a pood (I do not know how that figures out in English
equivalent except that it is prohibitory), when we usually pay three.
In addition the soldiers are collecting all private stocks, and there
are few of the privately owned cars in the town that have enough in
their tanks to turn a wheel with. In the meantime another man informs
me that they are tearing down copper telephone and telegraph wires to
points outside of the city, and that our troops are already falling
back on Warsaw. All of this is very annoying to one who has just
finished writing an optimistic story about the situation in the South.
Something like this, then, is the situation in Warsaw on Sunday night,
July 18. It has never been worse so far as I can judge from my point of
view, but I am of the opinion that things are not as bad as they look,
and that successes in the South may yet relieve the tension.
[Illustration: The evacuation of Warsaw. Copper and bells were all
taken away before the Russians left.]
THE LOSS OF WARSAW
[Illustration: The retreat from Warsaw.]