Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-03-16
PEACE OFFENSIVE
REAL HUN DANGER
Allies War-Wearied Face Bait
Which Lured Russians
to Ruin.
BY FRANK II. SIMONDS.

| Copyright 1918. by the Mcclure Newspaper
Syndicate.)
; REPORTS from various European cap
! itaIs forecasting another German peace
offensive are beginning to divert at
tention from the question of new
German offensive upon the western
front, an offensive of artillery and men,
not of propaganda. In view of the
present situation, moreover, it is PLAIN
that nothing is more probable thah
such a German peace campaign, follow
ing lines already familiar to the peo-
pies at war with the central powers.
Such a peace offensive would have
three we'll defined bases in existing
facts. In the first place. the Germans,
without having accomplished all that
thew hoped to achieve when they pre-
cipitated the present conflict, have man
ifestIy marched a long distance toward
the realization of their dream of world
power Their will is law in Europe
from Riga to Odessa ana from hIes ~
Ostend. If time were allowed them 10
organize their vast conqueStS. the Ger
man domination of the Slav world
might endure for protracted perlou OF
time and during TINS domination HeI
many might hope to acquire the re-
sources for resuming her assault upon
the western world.
ON the other hand a protraction OF
the war would manifestly risk ALL
since a defeat in the field. like the Ma
pOleonic disaster of Leipzig. might lead
to a collapse like that of the first EN-
pire, while the extension OF the perloo
of strain put upon the German peopie
by the inevitable battle losses might
nroduce A WEAKNESS and gradual allen
alton of popular support from dynas-
ty and system still victorious in for
eign war, such as took place IN france
after Wagram and even before the Mos
COW failure.
Further successes in the field. mate
rial gains in the west. which fall short
of the decisive victory. now hardly to
be expected. would not largely increase
German gains as result of the war,
while the entrance of the United States
has added a new element of danger,
which will become more and more serl-
Gus as time advances. Therefore, could
Germany gain peace on the basis OF
things as they were before the war in
the west and as they now are in the
east, she could well afford to make
such a settlement as she can now at
ford to agitate for such bargain.
Balance of Power Peace.
Peace on such terms would be bal
ance of power peace. 1t would leave
Germany with the western nations
powerfully organized and manifestly
hostile. 1t would be. like the peace of
Amiens. only breathing spell before
q
could have no real termination until
Germany was master of the world or
cured of her megalomania. 1t would
not be peace which completed the
ship has set for itself But it would be
a halt at convenient resting place
well on the road to the journeys end.
In the second place, such a peace pro-
posal as is now suggested in foreign
dispatches would be designed to serve
the usual purpose of such German ma
neuver. In a sense the peace propa-
ganda has taken the place of the poi
son gas emission, as the prelude TO
military attack. The German peace
resolutions in the reichstag, adopting
the Russian platform of peace without
anexa ton or indemnity. was the final
bait which lured the Russians to their
ruin at Brest-LitovSk. Peace talk and
propaganda. artfully employed by the
Germans and Austrians, disorganized
the Italians in advance of the Isonzo
offensive, which succeeded because of
this Generalization.
On the eve of a new and terrible Ger
man offensive. the Teutonic mind, rea-
soning from the recent past, may well
conclude that the British. French and
Italian troops and public will be
shaken by a new peace propaganda,
which is based on the obvious argu-
ment. that since Russia has fallen and
can no longer defend herself, the other
nations should leave her to deserved
fate, cut their own losses and make
a peace with Germany which shall
leave their own territory undiminish-
ed and their immediate safety assured
This argument will be directed at
the war weary Mullins of Britain.
France and Italy. 1t will be used with
particular energy against the French,
in whose territory the real conflict
must be fought, and whose occupied
cities, notably Lille. Roubaix and
fet -
Arras, St. Quentin and Rheims, if the
allies advance, while Nancy. Chalons
and even Amiens, might be the victims
of any successful German push.
In a similar fashion a drive will be
made to reach the conservative and
reactionary elements in the allied coun-
tries, whose anxiety has been stirred by
the bolshevik excesses and by the grow
ing unrest among the masses of their
own countrymen. Germany will appeal,
at once to the radicals and the reac-
tionaries, seeking to enlist the selfish
ambitions and the individual convic-
tions of both classes to create disor-
ganization and Generalization in al
lied ranks, a Decentralization, which if it
fails to lead to immediate peace nego-
tiations may prepare the way for the
advance of the German armies, when
the armed offensive replaces the peace
offensive, as it soon must.
Russ Victory Intoxicates.
Finally, for satisfying the German
people, such peace campaign will
have a real value. Today the German
people are in measure, at least, in
toxicated by their recent Russian
achievement. Faced with the colossal
burden of war taxation, they see in
recent annexations and arrangements
the chance to transfer the burden of
paying for the war to other backs and
in the German supremacy in Russia,
Turkey and the Balkans, an opportu-
nity to regain commercial opportunities
and markets, lost elsewhere. Still war
weary this German mass will be be-
;IoJ into further sacrifices by the