The Press. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1918. Germany at Bay.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16361, 5 November 1918, Page 6

The Press. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1918. Germany at Bay.

The splendid news that Austria has acceptcd the armistice terms imposed by the Allies has come at last, and although. it has been expected for several days, it is none the ]ess welcome. Germany is now at last fighting alone, and the final victory for which Britain and her Allies have striven and suffered for over four years is at hand. There will be many points of detail to fix, in connexion with the Austrian armistice, and the perfecting of the arrangements to carry on the war on tho basis of the new position in Austria, Turkey, and Bulgaria, will take some time. The public will not be much concerned, however, about anything more than the broad facts. The internal situation in Austria is still not clear, but there appears to be room for hoping that it is more stable than yesterday's news suggested, and that the various new governments —Bohemian, Slav, Austrian, and Hungarian—axe beginning to find firm ground under their feet. A substantial degree of stability is, of course, essential to the plans of the Allies. The position in Germany is still doubtful, for the news and views are as conflicting as they are abundant. The Kaiser is reported to have signed hi 3 abdication, and there are many rumours concerning his position, tho most persistent being those which represent the German parties as being opposed to the passing of the Hohensollern dynasty, and in a state of terror lest the abdication of the Kaiser should precipitate an outbreak of Bolshevism and a reign of blood ter- ■

ror. But the position of the Kaiser, after all, is for the moment of secondary importance. The future of Germany depends just now less upon the fate of the dynasty than upon the Government's reply to the conditions under which the Allies will grant an armistice. It is assumed that the conditions will be sufficiently drastic to make it impossible for Germany to reI sume hostilities either now or in fhe future—so far, that is to say, as the future can be controlled by arrangements made to-day. Whether tTio conditions so imposed will be rejected is the question of supreme importance. No new facts are available to guide us upon this point, and opinion is divided inside Germany and outside as to the frame of mind of the German people. It is possible, and even probable, that tho Government will reject the Allies' terms, and it is still more probable that in that 'case the German people, brought face to face with the imminence of peace, and then finding the relief suddenly snatched away, will rise up and destroy the Government and the dynasty in a fury of roge and despair. To many people it may appear inexplicable that the German army should still be able to resist strongly enough to prevent anything like a great breakthrough on the Western front. They forget that the collapse of Bulgaria, Turkey, and Austria has not cost the German army in the West a single man directly, or, to put it in another way, that the strength of the German armies confronting Foch was not dependent upon Germany's allies remaining in the fight. . The fighting of the last three and a half months has cost i Germany more than the fighting of, perhaps, any period of six or even nine months prior to March last, but the enemy's front is shorter, and the weather is less favourable to the attacker than it was in July and August. It is not surprising that the enemy's formidable military machine has not quite oollapsed; rather it is noteworthy that despite the enormous efforts of the enemy to win a favourable peace by fighting hard, his line goes steadily backward. In the extreme north the Belgians have advanced eight miles since the last report, and are now well east of the Derivation Canal; Sir Douglas Haig records a "severe defeat" of the enemy, and progress along the south of the Valenciennes-Mons railway, nearly to the Belgian frontier; botween the Meuso and the Aisne, north of Vouziers and Grand Pre, the French push eastwards is linking up with the American drive northward between the Argonne Forest and the Metlse. But for the overshadowing effect of the greater ovents like the collapse of Austria and the cracking of the German "home front," we should regard these advances as magnificent. The military key to victory is now not only in Foch's hands, but is turning in the lock, and if the war goes on, nothing can prevent Foch from opening the door. J