THE FOUNDATION OF VICTORY

Auckland Star, Volume XLIX, Issue 129, 31 May 1918, Page 4

THE FOUNDATION OF VICTORY

i In tJio middle oi a time of anxiety in the land campaign, the anniversary of the battle of Jutland comes round to remind us that the foundation of the Alliance against Germany is sea power, and that while she is striving- desperately to win a quick decision on laud this power works with increasing force against her in two ways —by cutting oIT supplies from her. and by enabling the Allies to reinforce their armies and supply themselves from oversea. A few days the First Sea Lord reminded us that "sea power to-day means winning the war," though to he strictly accurate he should have added that the full force of sea power will not bo felt until America has a preat i n France, and that in the meantime the Allied armies must hold the Germans in cheek, and civilians in Allied countries must keep up their moral. There is apparently very little talk of the battle of Jutland in Germany now. It was hailed as a great victory at the time, but the "areat victory" made no difference to the blockade of Germany, and the institution of unrestricted sub-

marine warfare against shipping was an admission of naval inferiority that contrasted sharply with some of the German talk after May 31, 101(5. Mr. Arthur Pollen, in an article written during the March offensive, said that the strategy of the enemy was entirely dominated hv the course of the war at sea.

Germany went in for unrestricted niibeiiarino warfare at the beginning of last year knowing that the step would bring America into the war, and to the men who rightly saw that if the submarines failed America's intervention would be Germany's final ruin, and implored the Chancellor to reconsider the policy, Bethmann-Hollweg replied that the submarines must succeed within a short period. It was the failure of the. submarines that made t*ie present vast elTort on land imperative.

But the most interesting comments on the value of sea-power in the present war come from enemy sources. Commenting on tlie German " drive ~ in the West, the "Arbeiter Zeitung.' , the Vienna Socialist paper, declared bluntly that no successes in the West would give Germany victory. " Do not be deceived." it said. v Germany's victories will never force the Entente to accept a peace of violence. If the Germans could take Calais and Paris, and even force France and Italy to capitulate, then there would remain the English, safe in their island, and America, protected by the ocean. They can always continue the war by sea. and the greatest victory on the land cannot impose a peace of force on America and England." The " Arbiter Zeitung" reflects what seems to be a widespread anxiety in enemy countries — that the Allies may use their sea-power to deprive Germany of raw materials. Even the greatest possible victory in France would not lift the blockade of German ports, and the Allies would have, even after the war was over. " a terrible weapon against us." '"The domestic economy" of the Central Powers " cannot exiet permanently without the wheat, the copper, and the cotton from America, the nickel from Canada, the cotton of Egypt and India, the phosphates from "the North African coast, the rubber of the English tropical colonies. Indian jute, and the oil plants of the South Sea Islands. There will be a scarcity of all these things after the war. and there will be great competition for them. If England and America do not deliver to us these raw materials after the war, then we as conquerors are conquered."' These are the views of a Socialist. Rut tire naval expert of the "Vossisehe Zeitung," a Berlin Conservative newspaper, says much thosame tiling. " Invincible, secure gainst sudden invasion, and vet ready at any moment to strike a blow witli overwhelming superiority, the English High Sea Fleets lie waiting in their ports. Under their protection. England's sea-trade follows the old. profitable roads." This will be unplensant reading for the Germans who hijrh hopes on their submarines. "If England's Allies collapsed militarily and eeonomioallyf" continues Captain Tagert. " England could continue the war as a pure naval war with almost the whole tonnage of the world at her disposal." The war will not come to this stane, but these opinions are worth quoting as showing how at least a section of enemy opinion is impressed by the tremendous importance of sea power. Tn the end this power must give us vietorv. but only if we use fully and properly the instruments it. enables us to use, and hold out until the day of their maximum employment.