New-York tribune., 1918-08-02

and the Vesle, and this relatively re-
stricted and incomplete gain is about all
he has to show for three months of prep
aration and for three great battles-that
of the Aisne, which was victory; that
of Compiegne, which was a check, and
the recent battle, which was an undenia-
bic defeat followed by considerable re-
treat
The Germans time table is smashed
again as in 1914, the German army has
suffered heavy defeat and his enemy
has gained three months, which have
seen the restoration of the British army
to fighting trim and the arrival of nearly
million American troops, some of whom
are now fighting effectively on the Sois-
sons-Rheims front. The Crown Princes
army has been terribly mauled in the
unsuccessful BATTLE it has been wellnigh
stripped of it's shock divisions, and many
weeks must pass before it can be as
strong in numbers or material as it was
when it launched the attack of May 27,
which was the first move in the Marne
campaign of this year.
Disappointment over the failure to
capture any large portion of the German
army, a thing never in the least proba-
BILE, should not blind us to the moral and
strategic profits of the victory We are
beginning to get daily revelations of the
Importance Germans attach to the de-
feat. Their depression now is as great
as ours was after the Battle of Picardy
or the Battle Of the Aisne They have
lost campaign and they know it, despite
the lame efforts of their General Staff to
minimize the disaster The promised
blow against the British will be no real
substitute for the taking Of Paris and
the realization of German peace this
year.
At the First Battle of the Marine the
Germans lost the chance to win the war
in the first campaign; at the Second
Battle of the Marne they have lost the
chance to win the war in any campaign;
that is, to win it by a decisive military
triumph. The First Battle of the Marne
would have proved the decisive battle of
the whole World War had Russia re-
NAMED IN the struggle. The withdrawal
of Russia restored the conditions of 1914
and gave Germany a chance for new
bid for military decision. The Second
Battle OF the Marine wrecked this gamble,
and 1t must be decisive for the future
unless some one of the nations now allied
against Germany follows the example of
Russia and deserts.
In the recent conflict Germany lost
more than big battle, she lost more
than the prestige of recent Ludendorf-
fian successes, she lost the larger part
OF the advantages acquired by the Rus
sian collapse; henceforth she will have
neither superiority of numbers nor the
moral advantage due to the undisputed
possession of the initiative. She is still
strong enough to attack, if she chooses.
but each attack will invite a counter at
tack, and the more complete the failure
OF the attack the better the chance of
the counter thrust to achieve important
results.
Germany has, then, twice lost the war
Wv WIG WALTZ. On DOtn occasions she
was too strong to permit her enemies to
turn considerable battlefield victory
into Jena or Sedan Gettysburg was
and remains the best parallel in both
cases. But the next time Germany at
tacks, If she does attack, the issues of
the battle will be far different The Kai-
ser's generals will be seeking a local
success to exploit in the campaign for
peace which will begin the moment the
campaign of 1913 comes to close. We
have lived through the perilous period
of the present year, we may suffer rude
knocks before the campaign is over, but
the visions of continental defeat, follow
ing the Picardy disaster and the Aisne
collapse, have vanished. The great Pc
riod Of strain is over We have liouidat-
ed the Russian affair with a loss to
ourselves in battles, territory and pris-
oners which will seem ridiculously slight
hereafter AS at Verdun, the Allied
watchword will again change from "Thev
shall not pass" to the far more hopeful |
legend, I'VE shall get them"