The Washington herald., 1914-05-03
II NEW az ULwE T19/

NO party 70 tne war. ne1tncf Aie16n
der. nor Francis, nor Napoleon. no'
George III. of England, was fighting fol
anything that rightfuIiy belonged to him
slams were held subject by France, ant
no village of Frenchmen was now In
peril OF being brought under the rule oi
an alien conqueror. 1t was, therefore
a war made solely TO gain or hold con-
quered peoples.
The same Old Folly.
The alliance was completed and the
campaign outlined early in August. Tho
allies adopted. however, the old familiar
plan OF Napoleon's enemies, conceived
in their overwhelming desire to make wal
without taking the chances of war. Their
unchanging idea was to play the game
safe and make success certain. They
never ventured to hurl themselves upon
Napoleon In full force and stake every
thing on one campaign for his complete
overthrow. He used therefore regular
ity to lay down for the information OF
his generals this proposition. The
enemy, in the Austrian manner, will
make three attacks. Ignore two of them.
and throw yourselves with all your forces
on the third
Now the allies, under Austrian influ-
ence. were still further dividing their
strength to make several attacks upon
him, first on the banks of the Danube
in Germany: secondly. in Hanover;
thirdly, in Northern Italy, and, fourthly,
in Southern Italy. Moreover they sought
to strike him while his back was turned
and he was pacing the shore at Bou-
logne. still absorbed in his project for
invading England.
Fooled Again.
An Austrian army, therefore, stealth
lily moved up the Danube at the end of
August. and Russian army promised
to hasten forward in time to join it by
October 9, but the Austrians failed to
take account of the interesting fact
that the Russian calendar is twelve days
behind theirs. An even more serious mis-
calculation was made by the wise men
Of Vienna They reckoned on Napoleon
not waking up from his dream OF cap
turing England until so late that he
could not possibly hurry an army to
meet the allied forces by the Danube
before November 10.
Watching him closely. while their army
silently crept toward his frontier, they
fattered themselves that he remained
oblivious to his peril. He dawdIed away
his days at Boulogne or at st. Cloud in
seeming idleness, whispering, however
that II was a time to appear pusillani-
nous
The Paris papers contained no mention
Of the impending war or of the move
ment of hostile forces toward France
Nor were they permitted to hint that the
Emperor had lifted his camp at Bou-
logne, had headed 100000 Frenchmen to-
ward the Rhine, had ordered Bernadotte
to march the French army of occupation
out of Hanover for the purpose of join
ing the grand army and had directed
two minor armies in Italy to parry the
attacks aimed at him there.
II raise my camp he wrote to Tai
leyrand from Boulogne In August. Three
weeks later / shall be in Germany with
e0o. 900 men," He had instantly dropped
the invasion of England anu subordinated
everything to his one purpose of concen-
trating his forces for an overwhelming
blow.
When in due time his armies were at
the Rhine, he suddenly cut OF the outer
world from France SO that not hint of
military movements should escape to the
enemy. No foreign mails were permitted
TO leate the country. even the dispatches
Of ambassadors being held up. and not a
horse was allowed to go across the FROM
tier unless he carried an army courier
France became in day a land of impene-
trable silence. under cover Of which her
army crossed the Rhine
Soldiers" Napoleon had said to his
men as he ordered them to leave the
lifts at Boulosne, "you are not going to
England. The Emperor of Germany,
oribed with English gold. has Just de-
,lared war on France. His army has
'rossed the line II was to keep. Bavaria
8 invaded. Soldiers, new laurels await
gou beyond the Rhine!'