New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-11-22
The Losses of the War and Their
Effect on It's Outcome.

of German losses to date aggregatlng l,2oO'OOO
Is probably not very far away from the truth.
The campaigns which Germany has made on the
eastern and western fronts have been extremely
wasteful of men and material. The will to win
has been inculcated for years in Germany as the
highest military virtue and the German armies
have shown that will in the reckless fury Of their
assaults on intrenched positions.
In the first two months Of the war 1t looked
as if an unsparing sacrifice of men was the
soundest military economy. Everything was
staked on a whirlwind campaign which was to
carry the German armies to Paris and crush
France before her forces could be fully modified
and could be reinforced by the British eXpedi-
tionary army. The big results aimed at justified
a policy Of desperate energy with no count Of the
immediate cost. Even after the battle Of the
Marine had been lost and plans for a continuation
Of the campaign against Paris were laid aside
the German policy did not change The fighting
in Belgium and in Northeastern France was as
fierce and sanguinary as any on the line Of the
Marine, the Aisne or the Meuse. To accomplish
purely secondary military objects in the north
the Germans lavished lives as freely as when
they had in view the primary objective of their
grand strategy on the western front
In the eastern theatre German losses have
been less severe because the campaign there has
been strategically defensive one, and until
within the last two months large German forces
have not been employed. Since the first OF
October. however, the German strength IN Poland
and East Prussia has probably risen to more
than I 900 900 men. and there has been far more
fgbtinp on a large scale in the east than IN the
west. On this front General Won Hindenburg
believes in brilliant tactical offensive, and is no
more inclined to spare his troops than Won AIuck
Won Rilow and the Crown Prince were to spare
theirs.
Computing the German losses at 1'20o'ooO II
would be natural to credit $4,000 casualties to
the west front and 100000 to the east 'front.' Al
lowing for possible overestimate Of 100000, the
losses would be $4,000 in the west and 100000
in the east. The effect Of these losses on Ger
man efficiency is one Of the most interesting
problems presented at this stage Of the war
Most of the losses so far have fallen on the
first line troops Crediting Germany with
100000 men fit for military service, she has
already had incapacitated nearly one-fourth Of
her normal fighting force. France, with nearly
100000 men who have been at some time under
military training, has probably lost 100000 Her
CONSUMPTION law was much more inclusive than
Germany's, and she is now reapng the benefit
that precaution, although Germanys supply Of
unframed reserves greatly exceeds hers. Great
Britain has lost about 10000 men and Belgium
100000. so that the losses of the Allies in the
western theatre may be put at 87OOOO-practi-
caIlv the same as those of Germany on the west
front.
But the Allies in the west can afford such
losses much better than the Germans can. Great
Britain is training for the field 100000 men Of
the age and physical qualities demanded Of first
line soldiers Though Frances first line may be ex-
hausted after a year of fighting Great Britain's
will not be, and the French and British armies
will be more than a match in quality, as well as
in numbers, for that part of Germany's strength
which will be available some months hence in
the western theatre.
1t must be remembered that Germany must
eventually send from one-third to two-fifths Of
her troops to the eastern theatre in order to hold
off a Russian invasion. Russia has supply of
first line and second line men nearly equal to
the supply of Austria-Hungary and Germany
combined 1t greatly exceeds that of Austria
Hungary, reinforced by 40 per cent Of the Ger
man strength. The losses which Germany has
suffered so far point, therefore, to rapid ex-
baustion of her available military resources and
70 a resort on her part before long to purely
defensive strategy, forced on her by inferiority
in numbers on both fronts.
It is announced from time to time that Ger
many can raise from 100000 to 12OOOOOO men,
if they are needed. So she can. But the worth ]