MORAL STRENGTH

Evening Post, Volume CXXIX, Issue 73, 27 March 1940, Page 9

MORAL STRENGTH

WAR OF WILL POWERS

TEST OF THE FREE PEOPLES

THEY CAN ENDURE

(By Captain Cyril Falls.)

(By Air Mail, from "The Post's" London

Representative.)

LONDON, March 1.

In the last war the method of attrition, of wearing out the enemy before striking a decisive blow, was an important factor.

It was practised by Falkenhayn in the Battle of Verdun against the i French early in 1916. It was practised by the Allies on the Somme in 1916 I and at Ypres in 1917 against the Germans. It was not new then and it has not been abandoned since. Grant employed lit against the Confederates in the American Civil War; the Russians have tried it against the Finns strategically, that is, on a big scale, whereas the Finns have used it tactically, that is, on a small scale, against the Russians. There is no need to discuss its merits or demerits here. But there is one point about it which immediately ap? peals to the mind: unless the combatant who chooses this method disposes of jvery superior strength, he. must be 'cautious lest he wear himself out to a greater extent than his adversary. The same may well apply to the i method of mental attrition which is j undoubtedly one of the chief weapons, perhaps the chief weapon, in the German armoury. THE WOOING OF FRANCE. It may be the intention to use it only for a comparatively short preparatory ' period before launching a great offensive by land, sea, and air in the coming months. It is, however, also possible that this general offensive may be longer delayed, and that mental attrition, coupled with regular attacks i upon our fleet and still more on tha ! merchant shipping, Allied and neutral, i carrying goods to and'from our shores, will form the-Nazi strategy for a considerable time to come. \ j

If this should be so, it is fairly certain that the offensive against France will be of quite a different nature, in recognition of the fact that she has, by calling up six million men, made the heavier sacrifice so far.

On the one hand,- the bombers will spare her; on the other, the propaganda will continue to woo rather than, threaten. The peasant women will be asked day by day, almost hour by hour, on the radio why their men should fight for the bankers of the City of London and the Jews in control of British finance. Germany, they will be told, wants nothing of France; she has not only said it but also proved it. Why therefore should France be so foolish as to serve as the catspaw of Great Britain? NOT WITHOUT DANGER. ; The longer the technique of mental attrition is applied, the more dangerous it is likely to be.. It is all verywell to say that the5 absurdities and the crudities of German propaganda provide their own refutation. German propaganda actually gets its effects in the manner of the drip of water which may eventually wear away solid rock. -

So, in some respects, we have even more to fear' from the moral offensive than from the material. The latter automatically steels the resolution and heightens the temper of a stout-hearted people. Where shall we find a similar dissolvent ofv the acid of mental attrition?

Apart from the moral aid to be found in consciousness of justice, there exist two allies: knowledge of x>ur growing strength and firm determination to increase it.

In this respect not only those who are waiting or seeking the enemy on the . isoil of Great Britain and of France, in the air or on the water, not only those who are engaged in work which has a direct bearing on the war, but even the ordinary citizens have an up» gent duty to perform. They are called upon to give of their best, to keep up the hearts of the weaker brethren, to refrain from passing on defeatist rumours, and even to discourage it strongly. National will is created by ithe will of all the population, but it is maintained by the will of the strong and courageous. The great offensive may come within ■ the next few months or it may be deferred. It is not impossible that the Allies themselves will pass to the off en-' sive, though if they should it is only . those on whom the burden of respon- - sibility is laid who can decide upon its form or its direction —and they will not announce their decision until it has been translated into -action. THE WILL TO ENDURE. No alternative can be ruled out; no eventuality can be neglected. We | have to tune our minds as well as ! direct our energies to meeting any. It is said that the Nazi leaders believe their iron discipline will enable theirfighting forces and their civilians to endure longer than those of nations which are not thus dragooned. | If their philosophy is well founded i they are right. But we believe their philosophy to be as unsound at the ■ ibase as it is foul and brutal in its superstructure. , If we are right, then free peoples [should be able to outlast the Nazis in | patience, in fighting, or in both to- ; gether. . . j In -the strictly military sphere the i Germans recognise the value of elasticity, upon which their whole system of defence is based. In the moral : sphere their principles allow no elasticity, which can only be created by freedom. We can endure because we have it, endure even though we know not what iis to come, if only we are prepared to face whatever may come.