New Britain herald., 1915-01-20
LONG WAR PREDICTED
 BY YON fALKENhAYN
German (hIcf Of Staff Says It
 Should Last indefinitely

General Field Headquarters of the German Armies Gin France), Jan. l6, via London, Jan. 19.-"More Of such offensive" (referring to the present offensive operations in the campaign of the allies) "can only be welcome to us.''
 The British are good fighters, but an army without the necessary offa- cers and non-commissioned officers is scarcely an army
 We are fully prepared for any at tempt at a landing in Belgium; the sooner it comes the better"
 Full of Optimism.
 These are some of the phrases, full of quiet optimism, of L1eutenent General Erich von Falkenhayn, the German minister of war and chief of staff of German armies in the field, who today received the Associated Press in the first interview given to any correspondent.
 The general talked frankly of the present military situation and the prospects of the war, which he eFI- dentlv does not expect will be a short one.
 Responsible for Strategy.
 General von Falkenhayn is the man responsible under the emperor for the strategy in the great world war He is a comparatively young man. as commanders go-the young est of any of the leaders of the Euro pean armies, with a tremendous ca pacity for hard, concentrated work necessary for the control of the great apparatus of the German armies. He is at his desk in an old French gov ernment building which houses the German general staff from dawn un- til late at night, and an unbroken stream of officers, with reports and plans calling for his decision flows in and out of the little, square confer ence room, with it's table loaded with maps, all day long.
 He performs the dual functions of minister of war and chief of the gen. eral staff, and has little time for ex- ercise or recreation. He sleeps at headquarters with his hand, as it were, on the throttle of the big ma- chine and yet his slender figure is as erect, his manner almost as elastic and vigorous, as the day when he flashed into public notice with his defense of the German army in the Zabern debates in the Reichstag.
 No War of Aggression.
 This war is not war of aggres- sion," said General Falkenhayn, talk ing up the causes of the war: mot a war brought about by a military caste or military party in Germany, but one of self defense. As a soldier I cannot talk, of course, on the politi- cal aspects or causes of the war, but can speak from military stand point.
 Tt was forced upon us by the Rus sian mobilization, in the face of which we could do nothing else but arm ourselves. Russia had been ad- vised and warned by his majesty and through our ambassador that if she mobilized we must, in self-defense, order a general mobilization and take the steps necessary to protect our national existence. Russia, never theless, went ahead with it's mobili- zation, while continuing diplomatic negotiations.
 "If a man comes into your room for a discussion, with gun drawn, you can scarcely be expected to wait for him to cock and level it at you before reaching for your own to de- fend your life.
 Present Situation Excellent. Our present situation is excellent. We have no cause to complain. We have carried the war into the enemy S country on both fronts; we are still there after five months of war. Our present lines are very strong; the ad vantage is all on our side thus far.
 "If our first advance against Paris, ' said the general in response to a ques- l tion, had succeeded fully and in all respects, it would have been reckoned as a most brilliant achievement. AS | it stands, it is an admirable one. l can say so freely, because I had noth- l ing to do with the conception of the l plan of campaign. But one cannot |~eXpect to carry on war without some 1 checks, and when we fell back, we swung over to the present line of ac- 1 ton in which we have been thorough l ly successful
 Allies Plan a Failure.
 ''It is wrong to interpret the opera