The Strafford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1918. SMASHING MILITARISM.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVII, Issue 85, 4 November 1918, Page 4

The Strafford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1918. SMASHING MILITARISM.

Ever s imc the war began Lhe statesmen of the Allied countries have been reiterating that the only way in which a real peace can be assured is by .-.o discrediting Prussian militarism that the peoples of the Central Empires will never return to their old shibboleth and believe that they have the military power to conquer the World. Such discrediting would follow on the decisive defeat of the Teuton forces in the held, ami though there may have been dark periods when we doubted if it was possible to do this, surely the defeats which the German armies have suffered in the past few months justify the determination of Allied statesmen to energetically proceed with operations in the field until the. held forces of the Central Empires were beaten beyond any possibility of doubt. The world generally is easygoing, and in many matters is prepared to accept a statement rather than seek for proof; and the German claim of superiority in military matters has been generally allowed, but recently so sound a critic as General Sir Frederick Maurice set out to prove that in military- matters not only had the Germans deceived tho world as to their superiority, but they had deceived themselves. The latest defeats inflicted by the Allies on the German armies, he says, place Hinclcnjbui'g and Ludendorff in the same category of defeated generals as Ealkenhayn and Moltke. The German staff, as a result of the victories of 1870, to which Germany owed hex unity and in great pleasure also her commercial development, established itself in an apparently impregnable position. The Staff produced a perfect military machine, organised on a thoroughly sound system, and as the. Staff became more and more powerful, the canker of I'russianism entered into its soul, and, ceasing- to lie the servant, it became the master of the State. The German people, remembering how much they owed tv. the victories of 1870, and seeing results of the work «f the General Staff in the efficiency of the army, were, in the main content to allow the Staff to continue its work, expecting victories to follow on l/he thorough organisation of tho army and benefits of all sorts to follow on military victories. More than forty years of strict discipline fully prepared the German people for the sacrifices incidental to the present world-war, but even so, to ensure the maximum of effort on the part o' the people, it has been necessary always to dangle before their eyes the prospect of victory. Once ,the German people suspect that the military party is incapable of ensuring the long-promised victory a severe reaction may be looked for, and there are signs that this reaction has setin. First there was the outbreak of Von Kuhlmann, the Chancellor, then Ballin and the commercial people complained, and it looks very much his contradiction notwithstanding, as if Hindenhurg had lately decided that it was hopeless for Germany to light any longer. In short the German people are sadly awakening to the fact'that her idol—tin- General Staff- ha s feet of clay. The measure of success which has been gained by the German armies has not been due to generalship, the handling of troops in the field, so inuch as to careful and thorough planning in the odice. Germany entered the war with not only her naval and military forces, hut the whole of her population, prepared for tho struggle, thanks to tho work of the General Staff, and the German field forces took both Franco and Great Britain completely by surprise, but there is a vast difference between successful organisation and successful execution. There is nothing absolute in warfare and to snatch victory calls 1 for leadership—the capacity to dea, with the unexpected and to seize opportunities as they occur. Lack ol i generalship is the weak point in tin

Gorman armor. Twice in 191 ! good planning had created tor the Gorman loaders great opportunities, and twice the opportunities were let slip. Moltke's original plan aimed at envelopment, and this plan was unin-,

tclligently carried to the extreme, so that the British expeditionary force] was allowed to escape, Paris was let go when it was at the mercy of the invader and Yon Kluck had to retreat. In the spring o t' 191") came the attempt by the Germans to got round the Allied left and get to the Channel

ports, which had to be broken off when the time which had boon scheduled for the attack against Russia arrived. The theory of the Eastern school in German military matters! was that it was necessary first to defeat Russia and become secure in the Balkans and Turkey, after which the Allied armies on the West front could bo beaten. German opinion was ( that Kitchener could not make new, armies while the war was proceeding, but this was done. Then the sub- ( marines were expected to strive Britain in six months, but they failed, to do so. Then the German militarists tried to infuse spirit into the civilian population by saying that America could never train big armies and even if she did the submarines would prevent their transportation to Franco. The Americans falsified this prophecy in a very decided manner. One by one the Hindonburg-Ludendoin predictions have proved false, and by paying too much attention to the .Eastern aspect of the war Germany has allowed the Allies to organise on the West front such armies as are now being found irresistible,. Germany's weakness has been in the consistent failure of her military leaders to understand the psychology of their enemies, to appreciate at their proper value the military qualities of those enemies and to adapt themselves to circumstances. In short, Germany lias had a very fine machine directed by very ordinary men. That Hindonburg and Ludondorff have failed in the same way as Moltke failed is amongst the most pregnant of the facts of the war. The German nation, it will be found, do not bear adversity with the firm endurance of the British and French. Their nature has not changed since the days of Bismarck—and Bismarck knew his countrymen if anybody did. At the battle of Koniggratz, in the campaign against Austria, the fighting was long and terril.le, but at last the Austrian army took to flight, when Bismarck's features took on a broad smile. "Ton may well smile now,'' said Moltke to him, grimly, "but if things had gone wrong with us, and we had suffered a reverse the market women 0 f Berlin would have beaten you about the ears with their brooms." That a day of wrath is rapidly approaching for the present Gorman military party is plain from the fact that Turkey and Bulgaria have left the Central Powers and that on the West front the Germans themselves are tillable to withstand the persistent pressure of the Allied armies.