Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1915-01-08

Continued from lart week
German War Machine the Most
Elaborate Ever Devised
by Man.

-
This article on the German war ma
chine was written by DR.. Graves sew
erai weeks before Germany's declara-
ton of war upon Russia p~recipitated
the European war. In reading the
article 1t would be well to keep this
fact in mind.)
The numerical strength, disposition
and efficiency of the German army are
more or less we'll known. The brain
and ~all-prevailing power controlling a
fighting force Of $4,000 0 men is, how
ever, not known. Here for the first
time Is published an account OF the
inside workings OF the German war
machine SO far as 1t is possible for
any one man to give them. Through
INV intimate connections with the Ger
man and other secret service sys-
TENS. through constant contact with
prominent army and navy officers, I
have enjoyed special facilities, of
which | have availed myself to the
full to gain the inside knowledge
which | here commit to paper.
The Fighting Force.
The most elaborate system ever de-
vised by the ingenuity of man, used
not only for war and destruction, but
as an intelligence clearing house for
the whole Of the empire, is the Ger
man wal machine. Conceived by Gem
eraI Stein In the days of the Napole-
onic wars, added to and elaborated by
successive administrations, solely I'M
- A. o1~4~~1 - the rrr1fn0 hnTfa0 ffa
efficiency and perfect and smooth
working are due to the total absence
OF political Vaccinations or prefer
ences.
Brains, ability and thorough scien-
tifc knowledge are the only passports
for entrance in the Grosser General
Stab, the general staff Of the German
empire. You will find blooded young
officers and gray-haired generals past
active efficiency, experts ranking
from an ordinary mechanic to the high
est engineering expert, all working
tremendously together with one end
in view, the acme Of efficiency. Con-
ltrolled and directed by the war lord
in person through the chief des Gros-
sen General Stabs-at present Cen
,eral Field Marshal Won H~eeringen-
this immense machine, the pulsing
brain of a fighting force of 4,500,000
men, is composed Of from $50 to 200
officials.
At the peace Of Tilsit, after the
crushing defeat Of the Prussian armies
at Prussian Eylau and Friedland, Bo-
naparte had Prussia and the whole OF
central Europe at his mercy. Con
trary to the advice of his generals. es-
pecially the succinct advice OF his often
unheeded mentor, Talleyrand, com
pleteiy to d~isintegrate Prussia, Napo'
leon, through his fondness for pretty
women, let himself be tricked by Lou
Use of Prussia.
The interesting historical story OF
this incident may be apropos here
showing how the worlds history can
be changed by a kiss. AT the peace
conference in Tilsit Napoleon, on the
verge of d~isintegrating Prussia, met
the beautiful Queen Louise of Prussia
Through her pl~eadings and the i'm
print of a kiss on her classic arm, Bo-
lnaparte granted Prussia the right to
maintain a standing army of 10000
men. That in itself did not mean
much, but it gave able and shrewd
'Prussian patriots the opportunity to
circumvent and hoodwink B~onapartes
policy.
Beginnings Of German Army.
Prussia has always been fortunate
in producing able men at the most
needed moment. A man arose with
a gift for military organization. He
had every province, district, town and
village In Prussia carefully scheduled
and the ~able-bodied men thereof put
on record. He selected the 1900 men
permitted Prussia under the Napole'
onic decree and drilled them. No
sooner were these men drilled than
they were dismissed and another
10000 called in. From this point
dates modern conscription-the father
of which was General Stein-and this
also inaugurated the birth of the war
machine. In three years Prussia had
$50, 900 ~well-drilled men and 100000
reserves, quite a different proposition
from the $4,000 men Napoleon thought
he had to face on his retreat from
Moscow, and which played a decisive
factor in the overthrow of the dictator
of Europe.
Through the wars of 1864 and 1866
to 1870. the Franco-Prussian war, the
war machine of Prussia was merged
into that Of the German empire and
is a record of increasing efforts, en-
failing unbelievable hard work and a
compilation of the minutest details
The modern system of organization
especially the mobilization schedules
lis the work Of Helmut o Moltke,
the Crosse Schweiger," the Great ST.
lent One, the strategist Of the cam
Daign of 1871.