LUDENDORFF MEMORIES.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 1212, 17 December 1919, Page 3

LUDENDORFF MEMORIES.

ATTACK ON POLITICIANS. EXCUSES TOR ATROCITIES. 'The War Memories of General von Ludendorff,' which have been published in England and are appearing in instalments in 'Land and Water,' form interesting reading, in .revealing the point of view of Germany-'s foremost military leader. Tho following extracts aro from the lirst two instalments: — General Ludendorff eonies very rapidly to the crisis of the war for Germany. He speaks of the difficulty of getting together big battalions, and says:—'When in March, 1918, wc attacked with the balance of number's more in our favour than had previously been the case, our strength sufficed to win great victories, but not i 6 bring about a rapid decision, «v Than it dwindled, while the enemy grew stronger.'

Having thus acknowledged defeat. General Ludendorff lays the- blame i'or that condition on the German politicians. Ho complains rather petulantly that Germany always lacked the menus uf starving its enemies by blockade, and jumps from this to a comparison between Mr Lloyd George and M. Cienieneeau and the politicians of Germany. He credits the British and French leaders with having 'iron wills,' and proceeds:—'Our Government failed to recognise this inflexible purpose and the detiuite intention of the En-. tentc to destroy us. They should never have doubted it. Instead ot concentrating all our resources and using them to tho utmost in order to aah'.eve peace on Iho battlefield, as the very nature of war demands, the authorities in Berlin talked more and more about reconciliation and understanding, without giving our own peoplo a strong warlike impetus at the sanio time.' Soldiers and, Politicians. From this ho complains of bis name having been associated with politics, and ho doclarcs tho faith of a German soldier as follows:—'I am neither a "JReactionary" or a "Democrat.'' All I stand for is the prosperity, the cultural progress and national strength of the German peoplo, authority an-1 order. These are the pillars on which tho future of our country rests. During the war we had only ono aim, to develop the greatest energy in iis prosecution, and so securo our military existence, and with it our equally important economic existence, both dtuing the war and after-' There is more on tho same subject, some of it showing that a soldier can occasionally become a politician, end that he may bo as anxious as any of them for public applause. But the keynote of this portion of tho book is that those in charge, of the German home front failed to inspire tho people with confidence in their own strength. Ho says: 'This confidence and strength should have been fostered by the statesmen in order to keep tho wiii to victory alive in tho country, and preserve it from tho immeasurable disaster of defeat. Tho determination of our enemies being what it was, there could be no middle course. Our will in the matter was of no account. That of the enemy was not yet broken. When this had been effected by ?ui!itary victory the dix>lomats might talk übout reconciliation—if thev still wanted to.'

Then comes an appreciation- or' the Crown Prineo:—'He showed a great iii'titudc for tho profession of; anas, and asked clever and very informed questions. He was fond of the men, and did all lie could for thorn. He was not iu favour of the war, but advocated X>cace. That is tho truth, whatever others may say to tho contrary. He was the victim of the false impression he produced; there was more in him than appeared on the surface.' Tho Invasion of Belgium.

Having ihiiH .disposed of personalities., General Ludeudorff proceeds to ielate his experiences in tho war. Ho was at (Liege, and in that connection he approves of tho invasion of Belgium. He says:—'The plan was based on the assumption that Franco would not respect Belgian neutrality or that Belgium would join Prance, On this assumption the advance of the German jnain force through Belgium followed Bs a matter of course. "As to how far General von Moltke conferred with the Imperial Chancellor, von Bcthmai.ui, oil the question of a march through Belgium I do not know. Whether the deputy-chief of stall' had been consulted is also quite unknown to me. Wo were: till convinced of tho soundness of this plan. Nobody believed in Belgium's neutrality.' Then comes the familiar German view of tho causes of the wax—liassin,'s preparations and intention to humble Austria, French desire for revenge, England's . uneasiness t;t Geroiuny.'s 'economic ascendancy, cheap labour and restless industry.' The Mar was forced upon Germany. General Ludeudorff gives no hint that any other view of the situation has over entered his mind. Atrocities in Belgium. There is a. detailed account of tho attack upon Liege, in the course, of which General Ludendorff discusses German atrocities in the approved and well-known German fashipn. Ho writes ©f Hcrve:—'During tho' night I was awakened by brisk, firing, som e of which Avas directed on our house. The franc-tireur warfare in Belgium had begun. Such action wa not in keeping with the usages of war; our troi :,s cannot be blamed if they took the sternest measures to suppress it. : It

is true that; innocent persons nlay have had 1 to but tie stories -of gian Atrocities" are nothing but clever, elaborate, and widely-advertised legends, and; the Belgian Government can alone be held responsible. For my part, I bad taken. to the field with chivalrous and bmuane conceptions of warfare. This franc-tireur warfare was bound to disgust any soldier. My soldierly spirit suffered bitter disillusion, -

These words may also.be a bitter disillusion to those who bav« Convinced themsolves that Germany is repenting, and should be treated with generosity. . •. v • '

A little later General Ludendorff writes quite casually of training guns' on the town, and firing a shot 'now and again, partly as a signal to the other brigades, partly to intimidate the governor of the fortress and tin inhabitants.' Further on he conies to Ardcnne, and saw, 'a gruesome and distressing example of the devastation that follows franc-tireur operations.' On tbe Eastern Front. After the surrender of Liege Genoral Ludendorff was called to the eastern front. There he looked at civilian sufferings from a different angle, for the Russians were in Prussian territory when he arrived. He says: 'The amount of suffering inflicted 'on countries that form the aetual theatre of operations, even under the most humane conditions of warfare, has once more been brought home to humaiutv by this world war.'

In the eastern campaign General Ludendorff fought in tho Battle of Tannenbcrg. which, he says wa-3 not fought on any prearranged plan. He describes it as one of the most brilliant battles in the history of the world. It has been tho achievement of troops which had been fighting for weeks, sometimes unsuccessfully. 'To the training of our army in peace timo alone, did wo owe this feat. Tho battle was a glorious triumph for tho generals and their troops—indeed, for every officer and man and tho whole country.' General Ludendorff has souvo comments on the Austrian Army, which, ho says, was not a first-class" flighting instrument at tho beginning of tho war.

Ho also writes rather bitterly of Italy. <Our former ally,' ho 'pays, '(lia us untold harm. Her attitude towards England was not to be misunderstood Animosity certainly existed between Italy and Austria-Hungary, but, although this waa of long standing ,it did not prevent Italy entering into an alliance with us and AustriaHungary. This alliance brought Italy many advantages, and wo naturally expected that alio would feel under an obligation to us. A healthy national egoism is easy to understand, and exists in every nation. But thero aro certain ethical laws which must not be violated, and that is precisely what Italy did.'