New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-09-13
Whole Position ImperiIled.


Whole Position Imperilled.
"Au this has happened so swiftly
VIC have hardly allowed ourselves 10
believe in it, and few even yet realize
what II means. The Germans, whether
by luck or management, may still re-
dress the balance of war, but their
whole position is imperilled and their
solution Is hard to find.
"The result of anything they now
attempt must be doubtful. Nowhere
does there seem any means or pros
poets of regaining the fixed and IN"
fatuated aim Of their ambition, the
remorseless and almost automatic
sureness of triumph which seemed TO
characterize Moltke's operations after
the first fortnight of the war of l8iO.
THE Allies have resisted adversely
and tasted success. The retreat was
only the prelude. The real test came
only with the pitched struggle be-
tween the main armies along the vast
front The greatest battle IN the
worlds history has been swaying. Tor
seven days, and may yet be far from
its final issue, but IN its nrst Phase
the Germans have failed with disaster
and their best army has been beaten
and routed within a week OF It's
triumphant progress to Paris.
A Single False Move.
ain the larger crises of human des-
tiny rarely has a more memorable
change been known. Just when the
Germans seemed most successful the
whole situation was altered by single
false move on the part of General Won
Kluck and the very army which had
hitherto been leading the attack.
Historians may long dispute upon
the causes and merits of this sudden
swerve to the left on the part of the
great German vanguard. Whatever the
cause. the act WAS nothing more nor
less than the sideslip of the whole i'm
mense machine driven by German
strategy. 1t would be trivial to regard
General Kluck's abrupt bend to the
left as a sudden alteration of judgment
on the part Of one man or OF his SUI
periors.
History in these things is not deter
mined by accidents. II was no mere
personal error on the part of the very
vigorous and clever commander. 1t was
not mere mistake on the part Of the
great General staff. The moral gran
deur of this episode lies in the fact
that it was touched with the elements
of fate and was a consequence of the
innate tragedy of the Kaiser's adven-
ture. 1t was an attempt springlng from
the desperate urgency of the invaders
fight with time. Above all was it a
result of the Allies great retreat.
Move to Destroy France.
"To understand this most clearly, re-
member that the whole object of the
violation of Belgium and of the great
wheeling movement from the north was
to destroy France as a great military
power by securing, within six weeks at
the furthermost, a huger Metz and a
more colossal Sedan. The effort to re-
peat 1870 had entirely failed, and If
sufficient success we're to be won some
new method had TO be devised in the
teeth of unexpected disadvantages. This
was the secret of General Won Kluck's
change of direction. When the enemy
arrived before Paris without having
gained a single decisive success in the
field and only to find the Allies I'M
broken, resolute and reinforced the
overlapping original plan of the great
General Staff was bankrupt. Its cul-
minating point marked the moment OF
its collapse.
Gen .ral Won Kluck had four courses
before him, all difficult. The choice be-
tween them must have been determined
by orders from a higher command. One
course was to storm Paris. This would
have been a bloody and doubtful strug'
gle in the face of the superior allied
forces, pivoting OIL the capital. Vor
Kluck's second course was t. continue
his great thanking movement by forcing
a passage across the Seine between
Paris and the sea. But crossing the
Seine with the French capt. unre-
duced, could be undertaken only al
points which would put forty miles be-
tween Won Kluck's force and the next
German army, under General Won Bue'
low.
Potsdam's 0bsessions a Factor.
"The third course was to stand or
strong positions between Paris and La
Fere so as to protect all the invaders
communications, both with Belgium
and Germany. But this neither met the
emergencies of the fight against time
nor satisfied the obsessions of Pots
dam.
with this scheme rejected, only the
fourth and last course remained, un'
less the Kaiser was prepared to admit
failure at the outset. That admission
would have been as much as his OWL
throne is worth, and would have de
stroyed the military caste system anC
the present political foundations Of the
German government. 1t was resolved
that the fourth course, though bad anC
perilous, must be risked, and that its
difficulties must be overcome by sheer
force and the audacity of the supermen
who drive on their rank and file with
blows and threats and use of the cat on
their warships.
General Won Kluck had TO chance il
and made the move that ruined all lie
struck toward Meaux and La Ferte-sous.
Jouarre, leaving Paris on his right and
relinquishing every attempt to enveloI
or break the extreme left of the Fran
co-British lines. He struck straight
toward the heart Of the Allied forces
Instantly the leader of the great Ger
man outhanking movement was him.
self formidably outfanked and outnum-
bered.
Every Advantage Surrendered.
ale had surrendered at last every
advantage and fully exposed himself
TO reprisals. There was the end of the
retreat, for in a twinkling had come
the opportunity Of beginning to con-
quer. The hour had struck for the