Evening star., 1918-09-08
Germany Losing Heart.

Reports are coming from many
sources indicating plainly that affairs
in Germany are very gravely dis
turbed, that the people are losing
heart, that the leaders are concerned
- at no time since the war began
with the problem Of holding both the
armies and the civilian population up
to the point Of continued fighting.
Recent utterances by officials and
members Of the ruling class show that
every effort is being strained to keep
the people from despondency, to re-
assure them as to the future. Won
Hindenburg, the crown prince, Won
Hertling, Won Hintze, these and others
have given interviews and issued
statements so much alike in terms that
they might have been written in mani
fold and handed out from some CEN
tral source to be published with indi-
vidual variations.
In the field the troops, it is plain,
are not content with conditions. The
extraordinary number of prisoners
taken during the recent allied often
sive, still in progress, is manifesto
tion Of the willingness to quit, which
Is one of the first signs of military
Generalization. Tales are told, with
evidences of verify, of revolts at the
front and in progress through Ger
many, from the east front to the west,
Of men turning upon their officers and
refusing to go forward into the fight.
Extraordinary efforts are being made
to keep the soldiers from writing back
to their people at home in description
of the continual reverses which the
German army is suffering.
If any one could tell how long this
process of despair can continue with
out causing an actual collapse, it
would be possible to predict with pre-
eision the end Of the war. For when
the German spirit breaks, in the army
or at home, the war will end. This
may not be until the allied forces
have pressed back the lines until they
rest on German soil. A military de-
cision may be scored in the field be-
fore the German people finally lose
heart. This is psychological ques-
tion, which cannot be answered, be-
cause no man can analyze a whole
nation and make forecast upon that
basis.
Disappointment will probably be the
most potent factor for peace. Four
years ago the German people were
confident of victory. They were told
that France would quickly be con-
quered and that Russia would be han
died in turn by the victorious armies.
Il was just at this time four years
ago, however, that the tide turned, at
the battlefield of the Marne. But the
German people were not told about the
Marne. They have never been told of
that fight. And so the German army
went into it's trenches and the people
at home were told that it was only
necessary for them to sit tight and
hold fast and the enemy would be
starved; the submarines would attend
to that end of the job. But the sub
marines failed. They brought the
United States into the war, and now
the American troops are proving to be
the weight in the balance that is max
ing for Germany's defeat in the field.
This spring when the great German
offensive began and for some weeks
succeeded, German hopes rebounded
Now practically all the ground that
was gained at very heavy cost dur
ing March, April, May, June and the
first part of July has been recovered
by the allies and even heavier losses
have been suffered. It is impossible
for the German official apologists to
explain this great reverse. They are
now simply crying for patience"
But they have cried "patience" before
and the people have been fooled.
Never has there been such bitter dis
appointment for Germany as this sum-
mer, not even that of four years ago,
when Joffre turned back the kaiser's
masses at the Marne.