Nelson's history of the war. Vol. XI., The struggle for the Dvina, and the great invasion of Serbia

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34 HISTORY OF THE WAR.

were resolved to do something, but they had no very clear idea as to what that something should be. Few undertakings in history have been started in so complete a fog of indecision. The situation in the Near East, already sufficiently tangled, was to be complicated by a new sporadic effort, not undertaken as part of a considered plan, but the offspring

of a sudden necessity. We must examine briefly the character of the military position in October on the ZEgean shores.