Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1917-03-30
Piercing the Hindenburg Line.

If st. Quentin falls to the French, as now seems
likely, the heart of the Hindenburg line will be
pierced. The Importance of that event could hardl!
be Overestimated. However ingeniously the Ger
may explain their retreat on the western
front. il is apparent that they would not have
abandoned more than thousand square miles OIL
territory except under the lash of necessity. That
the retirement "a mastery maneuVer' TO
Berlin's phrase. may be granted, but none the
less it the maneuver of army threatened
with defeat That the new line-the Htndenburg
line. as it is called-is better suited to defense
than the original one is to be taken as a matter
of course; but the original line would not have
been surrendered had it been possible to hold IT,
In short. the Germans facing the Franco-British
spring offensive and realizing their inability to
withstand it. fell back from the SOmme as they
fell back from the Marine two and half years
ago because the tide of war had turned irresist-
IDLY against them And as the retreat from the
Marine spelt the end of Germany's scheme of CON
quest. may not the retreat from the SOmme presage
the end of her power of efectual defense?
The closest observers of the war, those who
have visited the front and talked with
General Nvelle and Sir Douglas Haig, do not eX-
pect the end within six months or within year
The Allies they report. are determined to fight
for decision that win mean the end of Prussian
militarism together with all its horrible brutality
and menace to mankind. They are resolved upon
that sort of decision, no matter how long it may
take And who that has heard a 1.-THE of the un-
speakable crimes which the German sOldiery, with
the approval and even under the orders of German
commanders have committed against the help
less fresdes of Belgium and France, can fail to
understand the grim purpose in the Allied heart?
To win conclusive victory. victory that will
blot out the Hohenzoerns and their whole savage
system. may take more than the remainder of this
may ake all Of he m
tive authorities estimate. But the ultimate drift
of doubtless will be clear in the spring
hand by midsummer They should be clear
indeed. if st. Quentin falls and the piercing of the
Hiidenburg line is followed up with due vigor
The Germans calculated upon getting firmly in
trenched in their positions befoIe the Allies
could bring their heavy guns across the devastated
country intervening and readjust their plans to
ditions quite different from those on which their
preparations for the spring offensive had been
based. But the Allies have proved astonishingly
swift and nimble. The intervening waste--the "em-
pire of DEATH" German writer's call it-has not
prevented the French from keeping fairly upon the
heels of the retreating enemy, harrassing him at
many points and, at some, threatening him with
disaster The British also have hung tenaciously
upon the German rear. though they have encoun-
tered more stubborn resistance and have made
progress more slowly. The important fact is that
the Germans hard pressed on the line to
which they retired to escape impending defeat
and they hard pressed at strategic points
notably at st. Quentin, that another far-reaching
retirement may become imperative, if indeed it is
not already under way.
The German retreat from the Marine marked
the end of the wars first stage. The retreat
from the Somme may mark the be-
ginning of the last stage. And the
last stage may not be as long the extremely
conservative observers predict Their forecasts ait
should be noted, have not taken account of Ameri-
can sinews being Joined to those of the Allies If
the French and British break the Hindenburg line
by early summer and the United States smashes
the U-boat campaign by early autumn, may we not
look for true omens of peace soon afterwards?
In these bone-dry days there's no such thing as