WAR- CHRONICLE

4
the Imperial Government would be obliged to take whatever measures
it would consider necessary at the time.;'
This explanation of Herrn Spalaikowitsch is of great interest.
As stated in the German "White Book-' (Anlage 4), Herr Sasonow
only explained to Count Pourtalès, that Eussia could not possibly
allow the Austro-Servian conflict to be settled by these two countries
themselves. Up to this, we did not know the form in which Herr
Sasonow had communicated the contents of this conversation to the
Servian Ambassador. From the publication of the "Nowoje Wremja,"
we now learn for the first time that Herr Sasonow did so in a
way quite different from the explanations which he had given the
German Ambassador, and that they contained a Russian threat of
War on Germany and its Allies, in case Austria-Hungary should
dare to demand satisfaction from Servia without the sanction of
Russia.
When the Servian Government was sufficient])" strengthened
by this explanation of Herrn Sasonow's, it can quite well be understood
that, trusting to the military assistance, which had been promised
by Russia, she refused to accept the Austro-Hungarian
Ultimatum, and ran the risk of war.
Here we have an official proof given by one of the adherents
of the Triple Entente, that even from the beginning of the crisis,
Russia instead of trying to smooth away the difficulties, only tried
to increase them. (Nordd. Attg. Zeitung, 3'A January 1915.)
Storming the Heights of Soissons.
The following is reported from Main Headquarters, middle of
January:
"The fighting North of Soissons, short reports of which have
been given every day, has proved to be a most important military performance
on the part of our troops engaged there, who achieved a
glorious victory under the leadership of General von Lochow and
Lieutenant-General Wichura.
For the last few months the French had occupied positions in
the neighbourhood of Soissons, consisting of a maze of trenches,
which extended to the North, along the right bank of the Aisne like
a bridge head.
To the West of the battlefield in question, the railway line
Soissons-Laon rises from the wide valley stretching along rugged
and richly wooded heights, at the top of which the entrenchments
of friend and foe were situated opposite each other with a. very
small space between, and both sides endeavoured by means of sapheads
to get possession of the crest of the hill. To the East of this
hill, down in the valley, the village of Crouy is situated. The
railway line Soissons-Laon passes this village in a northerly direction.