The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1918-12-30

| lenses between Cambria and St. Quen-
tin BY October 8 the line, had been
left far behind, the last complete bar
rier to Allied advance was gone, while
northward the French, British and Bel
gians were sweeping through western
Belgium, clearing the seacoast and ap-
preaching the Scheldt, Lille and Rou-
baix, with Burgess and Ostend had
! fallen or were about to fall, Laon to
the south had gone. The Germans
still had defense systems and were
fighting with resolution. but it was
| apparent to all that the Jig was about
up. Along the whole line. save before
| the Americans, where the Germans
were massing reserves and making a
desperate stand, the Allies were ad-
vancing and the limit of German abtl-
! ity to halt American troops was with
In plain sight
The closing act of the drama was
now at hand. In the south the Italians
! took the offensive and destroyed Aus
trian resistance in a brief battle which
! ended in an Undesirable rout. Ans
tria ceased to have an army. hun
/ dreds of thousands of men flung down
their guns, Trieste and Trent opened
their gates and AustriaHungary sur
! rendered on the battlefield. And a.
this moment Serbia was liberated.
Rumania rising against her German
! masters and Austria falling into ruin
/ anC fragents.
Barriers Broken Down.
: final stand the Germans made IN
France in the last three weeks of the
war behind the Scheldt from Client
to Valenciennes, behind the Meuse
and in systems Of defenses prepared
I between the two rivers. But by No.
vember /, the British had forced the
line OF the Scheldt and were advanc-
ing upon Maubeuge and Mons, the
French were sweeping all before them
from Guise to Rethel and the Amer!-
cans were at last through the final
German barrier and were streaming
forward to Sedan, whose suburbs they
were to enter before the armistice
was signed.
And so, with the supreme disaster
in sight. but not arrived, with their
power of resistance not ended but ap-
preaching it's end. with their armies
still fighting well and retiring in good
order. the Germans gave 1t up In the
first days of November and on Novem-
Der II, the armistice became effective
and the Allied road to the Rhine was
opened without further possibility Of
German resistance. Such, in brief, Is
the story Of the Campaign of 1918.
It has two distinct phases. that Of
Ludendorff from March 81 to July IS.
that OF Foch from July Is to Novem.
Der H. t
In these two phases there are GER
tain clearly defined periods. There
are the three German blows, that OF
March 81. which was a stupendous
success, almost decisive; that OF May
~, which was great and hardly less
threatening than that of March, and
finally that Of July Is, which ended
In complete German defeat three days
later, when Foch. the German blow
! parted. passed to the offensive and
threw Mangin with his Franco-Ameri-
can forces against Ludendorff's flank
and began the march which has in
recent days ended at the Rhine, only
by Allied choice. for the road to Ber-
lin lies open. Germany has been con-
quered. was conquered between July
and November
Question Of Morale.
Looking backward. how shall one
assess the causes OF German failure
and Allied success? Both sides possess.
ed great commanders, although the
superiority Of Foch is incontestible
The first German blow was one of the
! most perfectly planned thrusts in all
military history. 1t surprised and al
! most destroyed an enemy, who could
and did rely upon the fact that in four
years OF the warfare of positions there
had been no successful break through
in the west. Ludendorff brought su-
perior numbers secretly to the decisive
point, he won his great battle, but the
battle failed to be decisive mainly be-
cause Allied resistance continued be-
yond the calculated point and the Ger
man striking force was exhausted be-
fore the actual knockout could be
delivered. And of the Flanders strike
the same Is to be said
The second German blow, that above
the Aisne, was less heavy, despite its
initial success. hut it too wore itself
out without attaining decision Again
the final blow could not be delivered,
and the Germans were suddenly con-
fronted in the first days of June by
counter offensive recalling Joffre's
mOmentary venture at GulSe in 1914,
where he suddenly turned and wan
considerable victory. Still unwarned
Ludendorf pursued his strategy to the
final test. He risked all on one more
battle, calculating as Moltke calculat-
ed in the days, of the first Marne that
the French were exhausted and the
British out OF 1t. And again an amaz-
ed German commander-in-chief saw an
enemy, already out of the battle by
all the laws OF military text books. re-
turn to the offensive, advance, succeed.
French and British morale had out