LIGHTNING WAR NOT NEW

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23887, 15 August 1939, Page 18

LIGHTNING WAR NOT NEW

What is this theory of the lightning war—the "Blitzkrieg"? asks Mr J. L. Garvin. It is, he answers, no new magic, but a revival of the very fallacy which led to immeasurable disaster before. What was the Schlieffen Plan of August, 1914, but the theory of a "Blitzkrieg" on the mightiest scale. Elaborated through 20 yearsrevised again and again for supposed surety—it was devised to crush France in six weeks; but the sequel was failure in six weeks. Similarly, the unlimited submarine campaign was a gamble on' swift success;, but it only brought the United States into the struggle. In the long.tale of human fallibility, these are terrible illustrations. It does not end there. The dissolution of the. British Empire was vividly expected by the Pan-Germans before 1914. They were met by its world-wide rally in arms, a marvel unmatched of its kind in political history. The theory of "British degeneracy " . was rife in the Hohenzollern Reich. It is more stupid now than then. We do not under-estimate in any way either the Fuhrer and the German people, or H Duce and the Italian people. We are not so foolish. But we have shown reason why they should beware of the systematic disparagement of Britain and her folk.