New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-12-15
What the Allies Should Now Do


Tuesday emphasis was laid upon the
analogy between the present war, as j. ap-
rears 10 the nations united against Ger
MANY. and the wars ia which Europe
maintained los freedom against Louis AlN
and Napoleon. In this article the point
was made that whether Germany had set
out 90 dominate Europe or not, the prog
ress of the war had placed her in posi-
Sion which. If retained, would make her
menace 20 the balance Of power in Europe
and thus 20 The liberty Of the other ma
tons. III fact, the war has become a war
for the preservation Of the balance OF
mower. which is, after all, the sole guar
artee % the liberty Of Europe
But it is essential in examining the
situation as it now exists 70 recognize that
while the fact is manifest that Germany
IS. SO long as size holds French, Belgian,
Polish. Russian, Balkan and Turkish con-
quests or control, d real peril and the
Allies arc necessarily united and deter
mined 90 remain united until this peril is
abolished. the war has taken on an entirely
different character for the German people,
has for them become a war with much the
same meaning as the Revolutionary Wars
had for France. A similar situation
exists in the case Of Austria.
Tn the wars Of the Revolution Europe
undertook TO destroy that form Of govern
ment which the French people had adopted
and 10 restore n Bourbon monarch TO the
French throne. Thus attacked, the French
people marched TO the frontiers and began
that marvellous cycle Of victory that car
ried French armies TO Moscow and Ma
drid. AS long as the mass Of French senti-
nent supported the Republic, and later the
Napoleonic Empire France was able not
merely 10 defeat her foes at the frontiers,
but 20 carry the battle far beyond her own
boundaries.
In the present instance The Tribune be
lieves that the war is the result Of a de-
Hberate effort on the part Of those who
rule Germany, with more or less COM
plete consent on the part Of the people, 20
dominate Europe in the Napoleonic fash
ion. The occasion Of the war was the
brutal demand made 10y Austria upon Ser
bia. and the war opened with the German
invasion Of Belgium, which outraged the
moral sense of the world and supplied a
full justification for the Allied participa-
ton In the war
The determination Of the Allied nations
mt the outset Of the strife to protect Ser
bia. their subsequent determination to res
cue Belgium and compel Germany TO make
proper payment for Belgian injuries-that
s.. to restore Belgium, so far as this was
possib,e-wcre purposes that admit Of no
debate and might ultimately have found a
hearing in Berlin when the German ad-
vance upon Paris had been checked and
tho Austrian armies had been terribly
beaten about LemberG.
Unfortunately, if inevitably, the Allied
declaration Of purpose did not long rest
with the simple determination to obtain
Justice for Serbia and Belgium; there was
Immediately added the plan TO reorganize
Germany 10 exile the Hohenzollern dy-
nasty and 20 reform Germany from with
out 20 destroy German militarism, and to
dispose of the offending dynasty; in d
word. 20 do in Germany what the nations
allied against Republican France set out
20 90 in France a century and quarter
ago. Much of this flowed from an imper-
feet understanding Of Germany, much
from q belief that Germans themselves
would welcome such a regeneration.
TO the purpose 10 rescue Belgium and
Serbia there was straightway added the
proposal 20 restore Alsace-Lorraine TO
France. This would be an act Of justice,
viewed from the angle at which The Trib-
urc looks upon the Franco German dispute
over these provinces. If there is to be any
territorial change as result Of this strug-
gIc. surely there is none which would be
better grounded in justice. But the resto-
ration Of Alsace-LOrraine meant for mill
lions Of Germans exactly what the original
annexation Of these provinces by the Ger
mans meant for the French. 1t meant the
determination Of the Allies 20 partition
Germany, and IL was calculated TO rally
Germans 90 the defence Of their country,
Of their country's integrity.
Progressively this change and amplifi-
cation Of purpose went on. II was carly
asserted that Russia was 10 be supported
bv the Allies In an effort 20 restore Poland,
such a restored Poland 10 be under Rus
sian protection. This meant the destruc-
lion Of the work Of Frederick the Great,
the destruction Of German unity, for sew
eral millions Of Germans in East Prussia
would be engufed in the Slavic wave. The
Russian invasion Of East Prussia IN the
DAYS before Tannenbcrg gave point 70 this
60 an Germans.
In the matter Of Austria the Allied
purpose showed equal change. To the
programme. for the rescue Of the Serbs
~ = - 800 % o,co eddod tho