FRANCE A FORTRESS

Grey River Argus, 11 June 1915, Page 8

FRANCE A FORTRESS

•+, THE UNITY OF MIND AND WILL WAR, THE REVEALER.

[By Emile Boutroux, msmber of the French Academy] It is related that General von Falkenhayn, when receiving soanc war correspendents a short time ago said to them: ' ' We find ourselves in the following situation: We are besieging the fortress France." And, as a matter of tact, whilst each of the two armies ia besieging the other out in the open, the whole of France lias become transformed into a fortified camp, wherein all arrangements have been made to hold ou' for an indefinite period. Hoav has such an event come about? From the earliest days oi our history, it has been taken for granted that we were quite powerless in defensive warfare. Even in our own country there has long been a saying that "Frenchmen are more than men in attack, but less than women in retreat." Not only, affirmed our critics, were we incapable of a patient consecutive effort, of tenacity in resistance, but our incurable indivdulasni inevitably brought about division, condemning us to oppose and light one another, whenever a brilliant onrush to victory was impossible or out of the question. War, the Eovealer Now, events have proved that we have been misjudged, that even we ourselves knew but imperf ectively what we frequently forget is the great revealer — or rather the great deliverer — of souls. This war, now being waged on a vaster scale than any hitherto known, lias scale than any hitherto known, has manifested to the whole world, as well as to ourselves, Avliat it is that constitutes the real fundamental basis of our nature. In place of the rapid and striking exploits of former warfare it has substituted the toilsome and monotonous life in the trenches: a subterranean immobility in mud and gloom, with alternations of bitter cold. The deafening and continuous crash of cannon, too, is altogether alien to the ordinary conditions of normal life. And yet our soldiers retain their calmness and even high spirits, their dash, and eagerness for the attack. Their philosophy may be summed up as follows: "It's not very pleasant, but what does that matter? We've got them now!"' From one en dto the other of a front extending to a length of 700 kilometres there is but one united force ; no initiative is permitted that if not in strict subordination to the general plan and action. And yet these men, who were said to be stubborn individualists submit to control in a spirit of perfect unity, and show forth the qualities of docility, endurance, and self-sacrifice, without losing anything of their dash and buoyancy of spirit. Army and Nation Indivisible. The country, too, has risen to the level of the army. It was said to be a prey to irremediable divisions, political and religous, social and even national. Our very enemies were relying on civil revolution to help them in the struggle. But now our land will not have its attention or its strength turned aside from the one supreme object of honourable existence, nor its spirit of sacrifice exploited on behalf of any party whatsoever. Spontaneously, and with one accord, it acts after the fashion of a besieged city. The army is the focus and centre of everything; all, according to- their means, heartily and obediently exert themselves to provide for its needs, and, to the extent of their powers, share in the performance of its task. Army and nation are one and indivisible, not only because there is no single family which has not actually — or which is not ready to — shed its blood for h.ome and country, but also because there is not a citizen who is not living, as far as in him. lies, the very life of the army itself. Assuredly, all our countrymen thoroughly well understand what strength a nation receives from these two indispensable factors — science and discipline. And both, of these, at the present time, are held in greater esteem than ever. All the same, the French, nature needs something more; it wants not only to know and obey, but also to love. It conceives of the organisation of material and moral forces as based, in the final issue, on mutual confidence and the union of heart with heart. In the French army, soldiers and officers are not only friends, but also members of a hierarchy. Confidence in the Future. There is a fine Slav proverb which finds a wonderful application in those who are now fighting for us: "On the spot where me nshed their blood In common there springs up flower whose name is: lifelong friendship." And so the whole nation is animated by a glowing affection and yet at the same time has rigidly become subject to indispensable discipline. No material fortress is the German army now besieging, but rather the fortress ' ' France, ' ' i.e., a united band of hearts and souls, mind and wills. True, this very characteristic, in the eyes of the successors of Frederick the Second and of Bismarck, is a sign of our weakness and inferiority. v Vauvenargues said : ' ' Great thoughts spring from the heart." Bismarck, however, refused to consider anything but brute force or cold calculation; he compared feeling or sentiment' to weeds which a careful gardener cuts down and burns. Is it true that by regarding as realities deserving of our love and devotion, principles wliich. have their origin and source in feeling and reason alike, such as fraternity and sympathy, generosity and honour, fidelity to the pledged word, justice, right, and equity, respect and love for humanity and country, we condemn ourselves to play no other part in life than, that of a dupe or a beaten foe? That is the question now troubling men's minds. . . . We await" the result witli the utmost confidence. The future will snow that the heart not only inspires great thoughts, but is the source of a mysterious force, which, in the long run, .reveals itself as the strongest of all . forces.