War

Thousands of men have died in battle in the four quarters of the globe in the past ten years, but until last week no nation had formally declared war since the League of Nations was founded. Paraguay, which has been fighting Bolivia in the steaming sponge of the Gran Chaco jungle for eleven months, took the brash step. A few hours after Bolivia had formally rejected the peace overtures of neighboring Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Peru, pudgy President Eirebio Ayala of Paraguay issued a proclamation:

". . . Therefore Paraguay fulfills its duty by declaring before the world the existence of war with Bolivia, in order to enable other states, especially our neighbors, to regulate their relations with the belligerents."

That sentence revealed Paraguay's strategy. It forced Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Peru to declare neutrality, thus cutting off landlocked Bolivia from importing munitions. Paraguay on the broad Parana River, which like the Amazon is an international waterway, can bring supplies straight up from the sea.

The rainy season, which has kept hostilities at a standstill, is nearly over. Bolivia's troops, under command of German General Hans Kundt, have been preparing for a new offensive by bombing Paraguayan bases from the air. Fortnight ago Paraguayan President Ayala made a dangerous statement:

"If the aerial bombardment of civilian centres continues, enraged Paraguayan public opinion may kill Bolivian prisoners of war."

Bolivia's reply to that was a threat to blow Paraguay's capital, Asuncion, off the map.

Coincident with the declaration of war came, for home consumption, reports of a great Paraguayan victory: at Fort Gondra a heavy attack had been launched, masses of Bolivian munitions captured, and the Bolivian Campero regiment "virtually annihilated." All this was promptly denied by Bolivian headquarters. Meanwhile the first U. S. correspondent to visit the actual battle front in the Chaco, Anthony Patric of the Chicago Daily Tribune, had his first report published in the U. S. He wrote:

"It is near Nanawa, the Verdun" of the Chaco, that the Bolivian and Paraguayan armies are locked in a battle which may determine the ultimate winner of the war. Modern trench methods have been adopted by both sides. At some parts of the Nanawa front, the enemy forces are less than 100 feet apart. Although the trenches are crudely built and uncomfortable, the sanitary conditions are good. . . .

"The Paraguayans appeared to be well supplied with ammunition. They certainly did not attempt to economize during the hours of my visit. Their aim, however, was not particularly deadly. The Bolivians used their guns sparingly, apparently under orders to conserve their ammunition.

"It was during my stay at the front that the important battle of Gondra began. The Bolivian division was concealed near Gondra in particularly thick jungle. The troops were well camouflaged and equipped with machine guns. Picked infantry companies stood ready to advance with fixed bayonets. The Bolivians awaited the enemy's attack and let them advance almost in front of their lines. Then, with Paraguayans at the 20-yard mark, the Bolivian guns opened up, raking the Paraguayan lines with a terrific fire. The battle was hardly 15 minutes old before about 120 Paraguayan bodies were strewn over the battlefield. Bolivian casualties wore much lighter."

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