HINDERBURG'S OPINION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16375, 1 November 1916, Page 7

HINDERBURG'S OPINION.

DECISIVE BLOW DIFFICULT.

GREAT BATTLES IN 1917.

AUSTRIAN'S DISAPPOINTED.

Australian and XZ, Cablo Association.

(Eocoived 5.5 p.m.)

LONDON, Oct. 30.

General ven Hindenburg, Com-mander-in-Chief of the German Army, in an interview with the Vienna newspaper Neue Freie Presse, said : " All will go well. Germany still has sufficient soldier?, and the Austrian reinforcements are not yet used up. Our western front is impregnable. The people of AustriaHungary have risen to all the sacrifices which they have been called upon to make, but they must still face further sacrifices i.i order that those of the past may not be in vain."

The correspondent interjected: " Austria-Hungary is anxious for the war to end,"' to which von ".lindenburg replied: ; " We all want that."

When reminded of his own reported statement that the war can only be terminated in the east, von Hindenburg replied: "There is no set scheme where or how victory will be. gained. The decision may come in the west or in the east." Duration of the War. Asked how long the war will last, von Hindenburg said: "That depends on our enemies. It is possible that 1917 may bring battles which will decide the war. Ido not know ; nobody knows. I only know we shall fight on to a decision. The French and Russian armies seem to be exhausted." Asked as to the possibility of end-'-ig the war by a decisive blow, he replied that it was obvious it was easier to strike a decisive blow at the time of the Tannenberg battle than now. He was glad of Roumania's entry into the war because it brought out one German army from trer. h warfare.

Von Hindenburg said the position was as favourable as possible : " It is nonsense," he added, "to assert that it is ray intention to shorten the west front, which is as firm as possible, though the enemy has gained some ground. It will take 30 years to break thro'igh, provided we have sufficient man power. Even French tenacity will prove unavailing, because at the finish none will remain. The French must thank the British for this fate. No British Strategists. " France appealed for Britain's assistance, and the only help she got is to be forced to destroy herself. The greater portion of her army i perished on the Somme. Should the British demand a similar offensive in the spring the rest will perish. i The French do not realise the price ! Britain is costing them. This war will hardly modify opinion of British military achievements. They especially lack great strategists. Everything is going splendidly against the Roumanians, who are getting their deserts." General von Hindenburg concluded by stating that he had had only seven days' furlough during the war. His only recreation was sleeping. General von Ludendorff, Chief of Staff, supported von Hindenburg's eulogy of the achievements of Germany's allies, and added that Germany would not think of peace. She had absolutely decided to continue the war.

The interview disappointed the public, which expected a more optimistic statement.