Norwich bulletin., 1915-12-28
Stories of the War
HIndenbure's View of the War.

Field MarSnal, General Won Hinden-
burg, does not believe that the end Of |
the European war is imminent, &C
cording to a statement he made to a |
representative of the Vienna Neue |
Freie Presse, who, on the occasion of |
the interview, dined with the general /
The French" said the Field Mar |
shall, still want Alsace-Lorraine, when |
we hold Lille instead of their being |
in possession or Strassburg. That is |
hardly a normal mental makeup. But |
If they want Alsace-Lorraine so bad /
ly why don't they come and get ii. |
The English also seem bent upon con- |
tinuing the war, despite the fact that
two lords make beautiful peace
speeches. OF course, from India come
reports which should place a damper
upon the war spirit of the English,
but we must wait to see If these re-
ports are true At any rate England
has an Achilles heel, and when say
this l don't think of India alone.
THE Russian Gar and his govern
ment also want to continue the war.
and the oft-announced revolution
keeps people waiting. The odd feat
ure of the situation is that none Of
these nations notice that they are
sacrificing themselves for England. In
short, it does not look like peace.
Germany cannot sheath her sword
Certainly, there is no German who
would not hail with joy the moment
shall have come TO and end.
They plunged US into this war and
now they oblige us to continue tic an
Germany make peace overtures? Such
overtures would be interpreted as a
sign Of weakness, and in the entire
hostile press would shout: Germany
can't go any further and has to beg
for peace! We are obliged, therefore,
to continue fighting until our antag-
onists are convinced of their dfeeat
which today they do not yet believe.
Germany must not show that she
is tired of the war, and what is more
we are not tired of the war. The sit
uation is constantly improving for US.
Even the road to the orient is now
open. For us it is not a question Of
seeing this thing through, or preserv-
| ing, but Of being victorious"
Speaking of the military situation.
Won Hindenburg said that the tactical
| position of the German forces was eX-
cellent. The German troops in the east
occupied a most favorable strategical
| line. His plans for the future. the
\ Field Marshal would not touch upon.
| The Russian army still had human
/ material" he said but the military
/ value fthis material is considerable
| lower than that OF the Russian SOL
/ diers during the first year of the war.
| The broth is getting thinner. For that
/ reason IL is pure swindle when the
Entente press speaks of the organiza-
ton of new Russian armies. With
| the reserves who are now being called
| in, the Russians can do no more than
| fill up the organizations already exist
ing New armies can not be formed
| of them. The lack of officers would
prevent this, and this problem must
| be pressing indeed when they make
/ officers out of young students.
"Of ammunition they have enough;
Japan, especially. has furnished a
great deal. During the heavy fight
ing in July and August, the Russians
| may have occasionally been a little
| short of ammunition, but to give this
as the reason for their defeats is
| merely a lame excuse. At all import
| ant points where decisive actions took
place they had enough ammunition.
| In Kovno we found whole mountains
| of ammunition, and in KOvnO espec-
| tally il was shown that the defeats of
| the Russians were due 10 other
| causes. Its location alone made Kov-
no one of the strongest of fOrtresSes,
| and when an army surenders such a
position without holding it TO the lin
| it of endurance. il becomes clear that
army is demoralized. 1t does not
seem that the morale Of the Russian
army has improved since then. Our
soldiers take prisoners of war who
fall upon their Captors' necks and with
tears in their eyes thank them for
having been captured
To the question whether or not he
thought n new Russian offensive like
y. Field Marshall Won Hindenburg re-
probable, but they may try one never
piled:
"a new Russian offensive is not
theless. In war one gets rid Of the
prophetic habit, particularly when
dealing with intentions of the antag-
onist."
! OF the possibility of having to
meet simultaneously an offensive east
and west, the Field Marshal said:
IF they attack US east and west,