THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1918. THE ISOLATION OF GERMANY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17464, 5 November 1918, Page 4

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1918. THE ISOLATION OF GERMANY.

Great events are crowding now fast upon us, landmarks on the road towards victory and peace. Expectations enoouraged within the last few days regarding the position of Austria-Hungary have not suffered disappointment. Germany's last and greatest ally has sought and accepted the Allies' terms of armistice. Austria is now finally out of the war, like Bulgaria and Turkey, for there is no question of her resuming the sword which she has laid down. The Allies will see to that. As a belligerent Austria has survived Bulgaria scarcely more than a month, and Turkey by but a few days. The magnitude of the victory already secured by the Allies is deeply impressive. Truly memorable will ever be their great campaign of 1918, and particularly the last five weeks, since within that period throe out of the four European nations comprising their enemies, the Central Powers, have thrown up the sponge and laid down their arms. And the end is not yet. When the name of the remaining enemy Power, the formidable ringleader in the conspiracy against the liberties of Europe, is added to the list, as it soon must be, the chapter of this year's magnificent achievement will be gloriously crowned. Viewed in restrospect up to the point which it has now reached, and there is every reason to hope that it will not fall short of the grand climacteric which would mark its finnl stage and the attainment of its goal, the 1918 campaign of the Allies provides a remarkable subject for contemplation. In March last Germany was at the zenith, to all appearance, of her military power. Russia had consented to a disgraceful capitulation, and, with the heavy reinforcement of its armies on the western front by troops and artillery drawn from the Russian theatre, the German High Command set about carrying out its great plan of smashing the Allies in the west, and securing a German peace without further delay. German confidence ran high, fanned by boastful promises that victory was certain and that all would be over with uae Allies in a few weeks. But, terrific as was the impact of the German onslaught, and critical the situation created by" the momentum of the enemy's offensive, Germany's culminating military effort, thanks to, the steadfastness of the Allied armies, fell short of the coveted mark. Then Foch's counter-stroke began to alter the situation, steadily wresting the initiative from the enemy. Since then the Allies have never looked back on the western front, while their success in other theatres has reflected that rapid decline in the fortunes of the Central Powers which dates from the day on which it was made apparent that Germany's great gamble for victory had definitely failed. The misguided Powers which, misled, beguiled, and threatened, threw in their lot with Germany in the belief that in assisting her towards the goal of her arrogant ambitions they would do well for themselves, were forced to realise that they had made a tragic error in listening to the and promises of German militarism. After their prolonged hardships, sacri- , fices, and losses they find all their " aspirations" tumbled in wreckage about their heads. They stand defeated, humiliated, dependent on the mercy of the Allies for their, hopes or rehabilitation, infinitely poorer in resources, prospects, and prestige than they were four years ago, faced with a reckoning whicl they must pay to the full, and con fronted within their own borders with new and disconcerting political problems born of their participation in the European struggle. One by one Germany's props have fallen away from her. Aus-tria-Hungary was of these the last and the most important. She has drawn out of the wax under circumstances which' bode ill for the old regime under which the Dual Monarchy achieved a species of cohesion. Her internal problems have assumed such dimensions that the break-up of Austria-Hungary as an Empire seems already inevitable. Disorganisation and revolt are agitating her from frontier to frontier. Such is the terrible lesson which the war has brought her. Such ii the price of her aggressive alliance with Germany: of her unholy pact in permitting herself to be made the instrument for starting the general conflagration. The defection of Austria will not come now as a surprise to Germany, for the intent of the former to seek her own way out of the war was made no secret of, and the German press has already launched its jeremiads over the inevitable outcome. But now at last the blow has actually fallen, end Germany finds herself deserted and alone, her enemies greatly strengthened aga-nst her, and dangers on new fron tiers warning her afresh of the hopelessness of her situation. Already a miserable example of Time's revenges, with her waning,, strength she confronts in her isolation a world of enemies. There is only one course before her, one remedy for her straits, and all that is dubious now is how long she may yet postpone its inevitable adoption. She may have an armistice, even as her confederates as soon as she can bring herself to swallow the terms framed by t>--Allies. Forecasts as to the immediate outcome differ. On the one hand the belief is expressed that German public opinion will not permit any refusal ol the armistice conditions, howovor sftvere

they may be. On the other hand, tho view seems to hold its own in well-in-formed circles in London and New York that a desperate defence on Germany's part is to be expected. In any case, tho end will be the same: that is a fact which Germany must have realised ere now and by which her leaders should be swayed.