New Britain herald., 1914-08-25
EXPLAINS WAY TO
 CONQUER AMERICA
MtmbI Of PTussian General Staff
 Outlines Pan Of Attack.

New York. Aug. 25.-The London Globe of August 12 prints a transla- tion of a memorandum entitled "Operationen uber See" written by General von Edelsheim, of the Prus- sian general staff. Some paragraphs of the article are as follows:
 Operations against the United States of North America would have to be conducted in different man ner from those against England. Dur ing the last years political fric- tjon with that state, especially friction arising from commercial causes, has not been lacking, and the difficulties that have arisen have mostly been settled by our giving way. As this cbliging attitude has it's limits, we have to ask ourselves what force we can possibly bring to bear in order to meet the attacks of the United States against our interests and to impose our will. Our fleet will probably be able 10 defeat the naval forces of the United States, which are distributed over two oceans and over long dis tances. But it would be mistake to suppose that the defeat of their fleet
 
 immense resources to concluding peace.
 Conquest Not Possible.
 "The possi bility must be taken into account that the fleet of the United States will at first not venture into battle, but that it will withdraw into fortified harbors, in order to wait for a favorable opportunity of achieving
 
 that naval action alone will not be decisive against the United States, but that the com bined action of navy and army will be required. Considering the great extent of the United States, the conquest of the country by an army of invasion is not possible. But there is every reason to believe that victorious enterprises on the Atlantic coast and the conquest of the most important arteries through which i'm I.orts and exports pass will create such an unbearable state of affairs in ment will readily offer acceptable con- ditions in order to obtain peace.
 If Germany begins preparing a fleet of transports and troops for land- ing purposes at the moment when the
 
 hors we may conclude that operations cn American soil can begin after about four weeks, and it cannot be doubted that the United States will not be able to oppose to us within that time an army equivalent to our own.
 fAt present the regular army of the United States amounts to 65.000 men. of whom about 30,0O0 could be disposed of. Of these at least 10,- 900 are required for watching the In- dian territories and for guarding the Notifications on the sea coast. There fore only about 10000 men of the regular army are ready for war. Be- sides, about 100000 militia are in ex- istence, of whom the larger part did not come up when they were called out during the last war. Lastly, the militia is not efficient; it is partly armed with muzzle loaders and it's training is worse than its armament.
 Regular Army Weak.
 "As an operation by surprise against America is impossible, on ac- count of the length of time during which the transports are on the way, only the landing can be effected by surprise. Nevertheless, stress must be
  the invasion will considerably facili- tate victory against the United States, owing to the absence of methodical preparation for mobilization, owing to the inexperience of the personnel, and owing to the weakness of the reg ular army.
 Tn order to occupy permanently considerable part of the United States and to protect our lines of operation SC as to ena ble us to fight successfully against all forces which that country. in the course of time. can oppose to us, considerable forces would be re- duired The Americans will not feel inclined to conclude peace because one o1 two provinces are occupied by an army of invasion, but because of the enormous material losses which the whole country will suffer if the Allan tic harbor towns. in which the threads of the whole prosperity of the United States are concentrated, are torn away from them one after the other.
 Invading the United States.
 Therefore the task of the fleet would be to undertake a series of large landing operations, through which we are able to take several of these important and wealthy towns within a brief space of time. By in- tcrrupting their communications, by destroying all buildings serving the state. commerce and the defense, by taking away all material for war and transport, and, lastly, by levying heavy contributions, we should be able tc inf1ict damage on the United States.
 Tt should be said that Germany is the only great power which is able to tackle the United States single hand ed. England could be victorious on sea, but would not be able to protect 1 Canada, where the Americans could | find consolation for their defeats at sea. Of the other great powers none