GERMANY'S GREAT EFFORT.

Taranaki Daily News, 23 December 1916, Page 9

GERMANY'S GREAT EFFORT.

HER U-:VY K'X .\IASSK. (1?V Ineut.-l'olonel A. A. Grace. X.Z.R., in XX Herald). The loudly-proclaimed intention of the Germans to enlist all males between the ages of 17 and lit) may. at first sight, seem to indicate the nation's strength and determination to prosecute the war U- a successful issue, but in reality it e.vposes its dire need and distress. If, before the war. any Herman military expert had been asked what would l,c Hie greatest, proportion of its population that a nation at war could call to the colors with advantage, he would have unhesitatingly declared that 10 per cent, was tin maximum; that to call up any larger number would be to cripple the nation economically, and so to drain its strength and hamper its army in the licld; that for a nation to be forced to cail up more than 10 per cent; of its population would be proof of its being bard pressed, if not actually threatened with defeat.

When the war began the Hermans expected to achieve victory with some six and a-half million trops, or 10 per cent. !of their nation. They have since been obliged to call up tin: whole of their laidwehr, their landsturni, ami all their Eifat/, reservists, or in all upwards of .10 millions of men. or IS pur cent, of their population., Of those 10 millions Germany hC lost half, and that the better half. To make good the terrible 'wastage of war, now propose.- to call ii], lads of 17 and men of lid vears of age, making a total of some 20 per cent, of her population called to the colors. The losses of the Austrian Empire licve been proportionately greater than these of Germany. Her first-line armies were long ago used up, and she lias heen forced, to call up her second-line troops, her landwehr, her landsturm, the young, the old, and even men medically unfit. Her extremity is even greater than that of Germany. GKBMAN AND ALLIED STRENGTH. The battle-fronts held by the Central Empires and Bulgaria total 2200 miles, affid require not less than 12 million troops, with three million in reserve to bold them adequately. It is doubtful if the number available reaches 10 millions', while the enforced enlistment of Poles ana other conquered aliens, together with the German sexagenarians and youths to be called up, may bring to the colors another three or four millions. But, in armies, quality is even more important than quantity. Conquered Poles and Lithuanians are not likely to serve their cenquerors to much purpose; men over -to years of age cannot withstand tEe fatigue and rigor of campaigning, especially in winter, and the same may be said o immature youths; and, when she lias taken this extreme step, Germany will have reached the limit of her power to recruit her armies. /

j With the Powers of the Great Alliance the case is very different. The Italians have called up their 10 per cent., or three millions of troops; Britain about the same proportion, or six millions; Russian, G per cent., or some 12 millions; France, 16 per cent., or (U millions; Roumania, 1 million —in all some 2Si millions of whom fully 20 millions ait with the colors to-day, while Russia can raise four or five million additional troops without exceeding the 10 per cent, limit, and Britain can rely upon further help from India. THE ODDS AGAINST GERMANY. When all these facts are considered, it will be seen that the odds are more than 2 to 1 against the Teutons, in the matter of troops, and that-that disparity is increased by the fact that whereas the Trntou armies are composed of inferior material, the armies of the Great Allie.nce are composed of the picked manhood of the nations composing that alliance. But there is another point of equal inpcrtauce which must be considered before a just estimate of the- position can bo arrived at. The losses ou both sides may foi the purposes of argument be presumed to be equal—that is, that for every Teuton put out,of action one soldier of (lie Great Alliance is disposed" o£r-4n< which case thfe disparity.j'f.Thn Tfjittmaf miH-iWn.;;;, o*

It prevent that disparity becoming greater, the Teutons will be obliged to dispose of two of their enemies for every i Teuton soldier killed, wounded, or missj iug. This it is entirely beyond their j power to effect. THerefore their military j pc sition will go from bad to worse. I So far as economical and military rei sources are concerned, the levy en masse I will not much improve Germany's posij turn. It will not make any appr.ciable } (li/I'erenee to her fighting strength. It v, ill not give, her more cotton, without I which she cannot make the necessary explosives for her ammunition. Indeed, | Germany's shortage of copper and cotton, I occasioned by the blockade established ! and maintained by the British and allied I fleets, may well prove a decisive factor I of the war. j GEPMAXY'S ITNAJ, KXPKIMKNT. j The desperate measure of a levy en na'sse is Germany's final expedient. I German thoroughness is great, but, if it I faih. to achieve its object in this war, it I will the more thoroughly accomplish the I destruction of Germany and her allies. j She may have local successes here or ! there, but such successes, besides being j local, will be merely temporary, unless . she can decisively defeat and break in i pieces the principal armies of the Great , Alliance. This she has tried and-failed to do in the west and in the east at a time when she possessed a preponderance of force. To-day that preponderance has I di serl ed her for her enemies. To win, Germany must break the j alliance between the four great Powers — I France. Britain, Russian and Italy—and • this she can do only by force of arms io" by intrigue. Force of arms has failed j Icr'nnd is likely to fail, since her mile i tary strength tends to grow less and less , in comparison wilh that of her enemies: | intrigue is likely to fail her more con- : spicuoiisly than' force, because nothing i can be more difficult to effect than dis- ' union between the Great Powers, ! cemented together for the purpose of i resisting the threatened domination of a people so inordinately ambitious, so ruthh s», so barbarous, so horribly cruel as I the Teutons. !

No ell'orl wliirli Germany can make Jit this late date would appear to hold out to hi']" any hope of victory. To-day she is lighting to prevent invasion, to preserve the Hohenzollern dynasty and her irilitarv and governing classes, and to obtain peace ou the best terms possible. Her dreams of world-wide compiest havo vanished, 'The boastful and arrogant cry of her ambitious and unscrupulous loaders has changed to a whining complaint that their enemies are bent on destroying Germany, that the Teutonic, people are the victims of a brutal conspiracy among the nations of Europe. The Anstlians and Hungarians openly clamor for a termination of the war. Manifestly the Teutonic nations, almost in extremity, are compelled to resort to their last' and most desperate expedient in order to present a hold front to their enemies and the world, and so postpone the day of reckoning a, little while longer.