The Bemidji daily pioneer., 1915-07-28
As Seen in Germany.
BY CARL w. ACKERMAN.

As Seen in Germany.
BY CARL w. ACKERMAN.
UNITED Press STAR Corrsspondsnt)
Berlin, July 2S.-Germany's first
year of war in the west has crippled
France and shamed the English. From
the outset of the war the Germans
developed an initiative that gave
them superiority over their enemies
and since then no effort Of the French
and British commanders has been
equal to the task of overpowering
the numerically weaker Teutons.
Only once has Germany been su-
perior in numbers to her western op-
ponents, according to the claims of
Teutonic authorities. That was dur
ing the rush through Belgium and to
Paris. The superiority at that time
was due to the slow mobilization Of
the French and the breakdown Of
the English plans for hurrying a
large army to the continent. From
the days Of the battle of the Marne,
the Germans have had to fight with
weaker forces than their enemies and
yet never have they been over
Whelmed.
The Germans taught the French
and English the secrets of defensive
entrenching; the Germans revealed
the superiority of siege guns over
the strongest fortresses; the Germans
first discovered the modern necessity
of high powered shells and machine
guns. All these factors of warfare
were introduced by the Germans in
the west. The Germans have kept
ahead of their antagonists as new
problem after new problem has come
to the front, and the years balance
is, therefore, greatly in their favor.
How Germans Returned.
Only once did the German mill
tary machine miscalculate. That
was in the battle before the gates of
Paris. General Won Kluck was not
Informed that a field army had been
hidden in Paris, prepared to strike
at his flank, and the German general
staff did not suppose the French
army had in General Foch a great
military leader capable Of splitting
the TeutOnic center east of Paris and
driving it back to the Aisne. General
con MOltke, who was a sick man
throughout the summer campaign,
was later replaced as chief of the
general staff by General con Falken-
hayn, and since then Germany has
been we'll satisfied with the progress
of events in the west.
The retreat from Paris will go
down in German history as a bril-
liant feat of arms because of the man
ner in which it was checked at the
Aisne. So puzzled were the allies by
the German maneuvers that Sir John
French actually reported in the early
days of the battle of the Aisne that
it probably was only rearguard &C
tion on the part of the Germans. How
the kaiser's painting troops, almost
exhausted after the Marne fighting,
were able to save themselves at the
Aisne, will find permanent place in
the heroic tales which this war will
give to history.
In the conflicts that followed the
battle of the Aisne the Germans COM
pletely Outmaneuvered their antagon-
lists. It is customary in England to
say the Germans are defeated because
they didn't get to Dunkirk and Ca
lais. If those two towns had been
captured the English would now be
proclaiming victories for themselves,
say the Germans, because Dieppe and
Havre were saved from the kaiser's
grasp. AS a matter of fact, while
the capture of Dunkirk and Calais
would have been welcomed by the
Germans, the security Of those sea-
ports is not strategic defeat for the
Germans. BY retaining Antwerp
and Ostend, the pressure which Ger
many can bring to bear on England
in the peace conference after the wal
will be sufficient for Germany's pur.
poses.
Plans Overturned.
The French and English were able
to save Dunkirk and Calais, but their
offensive plans were sadly overturned
by the Germans. When General Joff
re started northward after the battle
of the Aisne, it was his intention tc
outflank the Germans, or failing in
that to save western Belgium a4C
to prevent the fall of Antwerp. Si1
John French's transfer of the British
expeditionary force from Soissons tC
,Ypres was for the express purpose o1
preventing the Germans advancing
beyond Brussels. The Germans wor
the campaign for although they didn'1
reach Dunkirk and Calais, they cap
tured Antwerp and Ostend and held
the British in complete check. The
story has yet to be told of how the
British troops were defeated at Ii
Bassee, and how the British govern
won't 1iod IN ito noon1e and deliber