The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1918-01-14

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against the Slav, use them to make
still stronger the German power in
the world.
! shall not at this time go into the
subject of Rumania, yet it is worth
noting that a detail Of the German
plan is to put the 100000 Ru-
manians Of Hungary, Rumania and
Russian Bessarabia in such leading
strings as to reduce them to the
condition proposed for Poland and
make them soldiers of Teutonism
henceforth bound commercially,
politically and milttarily to the CEN
trail group. And since Russia has
collapsed the Rumanians have no
choice, no method of escape; they
are the helpless victims of the Rus
sian revolution. who automatically
lost their liberty when the Russian
revolution decided to destroy the
Russian army and negotiate with the
Germans.
In sum, then. 100000 Germans,
allied with 10000, 900 Hungarians and
less than 100000 Bulgarians, are
planning to put under their yok.
100000 Slavs and 100000 Ru-
manians, more than half of whom
were free when the world war began
were moving toward political liberty
under Austrian yoke. And outside
OF Europe Germany has fastened
her power upon 100000 of people
in European Turkey who are also in
her scheme of things to supply &C.
onOmiC resources and cannon fod-
der equally. Thus, in fact, 100000
Germans are to rule 9O000,000 of
other races, Slav. Hungarian. Bulgar
and Turk. This is the present Ger
man plan, the first details in which
have been sketched in the terms pro-
posed by the German representatives
at Brest-Litovsk.
1t requires no discussion to set
forth the peril to the whole world of
this German plan. More than all
else we are at war with the German
idea which conceives that power is
the sole consideration in information
al relations, which conceives that
the German, as the member Of a
superior race. is permitted to use
any means to the end of asserting
ethis superiority. The German be-
lieves in war because war has made
Germany great and each war has
won new provinces and new pros
perity.
If the result of the present war is
to give Germany the mastery of the
entire Russian seacOast. and thus Of
Russia; If it is to give her direct
political control Of the Baltic prov
inces and indirect control of Po-
land: If it is TO place Austria Hun
gary as we'll under her domination,
then the war will be but a prelude
to new wars, whatever be the settle
ment in the west and so far as Ger
man colonies are concerned. Ger
many could we'll afford to evacuate
Belgium, return Alsace-Lorraine
and agree to Italian possession of
Trent if only she were to be left with
free hands to deal with the great
Slavonic world, to fix her own 'front.'
iers in the Baltic provinces and Po-
laand to the north and in the Balkan
peninsula at the south. With the
further assurance power in the
Balkans gave her Of possession in
Asiatic Turkey. she would be in a !
position to defy the world at once, |
and, with the new resources in can |
non fodder Of alien races, to conquer !
it when she had organized these re-
sources.
The attention OF the allies has so
long been concentrated upon the |
western front and their thoughts so |
occupied with the fate of France |
I
ger that it may be impossible now
to arouse the allied publics, become |
war weary and confused, as to what |
the real perils of the situation are. |
Actually Germany is seeking to in
trench herself in such fashion as to /
remain master Of the political and |
future Of 125,000,000 Slavs, /
including those within and outside /
of Russia, and 100000 Rumanians.
She is operating under the cover Of
Russian formula, which sound
notes, to seize the territories
and the liberties Of 100000 Slavs
along the Baltic and the Vistula. to-
gether with the Baltic seaboard OF
all Slavdom: she is seeking I'm the
Balkans to destroy the only barrier !
to her expansion into Asia.
Ii is probably true that the task
on permanently holding i'm subsection
125 900, 900 s1avs Is beyond the /
capacity Of the German. but tenn
porary possession of these millions
may enable her to wreck the western
world, dominate Europe and plunge
the world into a quarter OF a CEN
fury of strife and Of anarchy. To
make peace with Germany i'm her
present mood and on the present
basis would be to write another
document like that Napoleon forced |
Europe to sign at Tilsit in 1907, a
document which made him master
on the continent and insured eight
years more Of struggle and Of horror
before Waterloo destroyed the eua-