South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1915-12-03
GERMAN GENERAL
WAR STAFF FIRST
Picked Body of Men Runs the
War and Kaiser is Forced
to Agree.

BERLIN. Dec.a.- NO man IN the
German empire can override the
kaiser, but there is one power be-
fore which his will yields.
This is the concentrated energy OF
the FIVE hundred brains Of the great
general stan-undoubtedly the
greatest collection Of military
knowledge and ability ever assem-
bled in the history Of the world.
II runs the war. It does 80 with
cut consulting the kaiser. 1t is
stronger than he.
Strictly speaking the question of
which is supreme has not come to
test The kciser. an able military
leader himself knows better than
that. lie realizes that there are sew
eral individual brains in the great
general stat much deeper than his
own. Before the impressive col
lectlve ability Of the five hundred he
bows.
Is Strictly German.
Every army has a general staff,
but THIS great general star has many
features strictly German. It's MEM
bers wear a broad red stripe slash
ed down the trOuser leg. They are
the picked talent OF the Prussian,
Saxon. Bavarian and Wuerttemberg
armies.
The great general staff dates from
Scharnhorst and Clausewitz and was
Il
war OF 1870. when it overruled the
Iron Chancellor Bismarck as 10 the
method Of attack and the nature of
the settlement TO be extorted from
the vanquished.
Even the war office lis powerIess
TO counter the general stans prero-
gatives or actions. Their respective
jurisdictions are clearly defined and
Enthusiastically separate II is the
business of the war office to raise,
equip. and feed the army. It is the
business OF the general staff. once
the army is at its disposal. TO use it.
The staff alone Is responsible for the
army's strategy and tactics and for
nothing but that, and in order that
IL may fulfil its all-vital function un-
trammeIIed by either physical or
ganiZatlOn details or external inter-
ference of any sort whatsoever, it
has TO ask nobody any questions. II
plans IL decides. 1t acts. Nomin-
ally subordinate to the will of the
kaiser.
When the first Moltke wrote "om-
impotence" as the general staff's
first law he invented q corallary;
that established merit alone should
be the passport to its sacrosanct pre-
cincts.
Must Deserve Honor.
To be a generalstabler was TO will
the iron cross of peace. Family,
birth. influence or any sort, cut no
figure in the selection of men for
the brains department Of the Ger
many. No officer ever won his red
stripes who did not prove that he de-
served IL.
Men not ambitious to make a
career Of the army seldom advance
beyond the rank of major. Those
who go In for it as life occupation.
with an aspiration to shine. demon
strate the spirit within them by
passing the stiff examination for the
OF war.
This test is severe and searching.
1t comprises tactics. strategy. tech
nicaI knowledge. history, foreign
languages and mathematics. Lieu
tenants who weather this examina-
ton are Seconded" for the three
years course at the academy where
they undergo expert training as
brigade. division. corps and army
commanders.
IL is while at the academy that the
wOuld-be Hindenburgs indulge in the
celebrated KriegspieI (war camel at
the expense Of every imaginable
combination of Germany's enemies.
When the three-year course ak the
academy is ended lieutenants sub
jet themselves TO denomination.
and those who pass out highest are
assigned TO duty either at the gem
eral staff o rthe war office II in
practical service at the staff or the
decentralization their ability is
amply demonstrated they are per
manently appointed 20 the general
staff.
The brains department is at the
seat on war almost always. or GER
tainly whenever and wherever its
presence is desirable. The daily
German official bulletins from all
fronts are dated Crosses Hauptquar-
ter (great headGuarters) and usual
" denote the base OF the general
staff. Since the magic or a great
name failed TO preserve the lesser Won
Moltke from official deCapitation
after the Marine. general Won Fall
ltenhayn. the present chief of stan.
has been in the field for most of the
time. With the other brains" Of
the army at his elbow. he dictates
the strategy Of the campaign on the
spot.