American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1918-11-05
CHAPTER VIII.


the German military maneuvers at
Liegnitz, in Silesia, having been in
vited by some journalistic friends Of
mine to accompany them in the motor
allowed the press. The military repre-
sentatives of England, France, Amer
lea and other countries were there
with the kaiser's staff to witness the
display of Germany's military power.
Apparently they were very much i'm
pressed, for l heard afterwards that
n of the French officers who had
been present had written a book In
which he said: with such an army,
Germany could annex France in six
monthsl
l happened to mention this fact to
the kaiser shortly afterwards and his
significant comment was:
ask monthsl l should hope so. 1t
wouldn't take that longr"
The confident belief that when "Der
Tag"-"the day"-finally arrived, Ger
many would crush her enemies and ac-
cOmplish her object within a few
months at the outside was held not
only by the kaiser but by the people
generally and their conduct when the
war broke out clearly disclosed 1t.
When Germany's man power was
modified, no n in Germany believed
1t would be very long before they
would all be back and every effort was
made to make their few weeks Of ac-
tive service as little irksome as pos
sible. "Liebesgaben," gifts of love,
consisting Of clothing and food Of
every description, were forwarded to
them by their relatives and friends in
the most lavish manner, although, Of
course. at that tinse the German COM
missary was able to satisfy all the SOL
diers' requirements.
One of my patients told me that she
had sent seventeen hundred pounds Of
sausages to one regiment within a
week, and when l asked her why she
had been so generous she replied that
her chauffeur was a member Of the
regimentl
The extent to which the country's
esources were squandered In those
early months is evidenced by the fact
that the soldiers had such an excess
of ill-6tting wooden wearing apparel
that they used many Of the knitted ar
ticles as earpieces and covers for their
horses. No one had the slightest idea
that the time might come when the
whole nation would be clothed In pa
perl
At this late day 1t can hardly be
necessary to establish how thoroughly
prepared the Germans were for the
war, but an incident which occurred in
the early days of the conflict may not
be out of place to show the s~elf-satis
fed and confident attitude which al
the Germans assumed.
Two officers sitting at a table in ar
Out-of-door cafe shortly after the wal
began overheard one of several ladie:
who were passing remark: Look al
those officers sitting there drinking
Why are they not at the front fight
mgr One Of the officers got up and
approaching the ladies, said: "Oul
work was completed months ago. We
worked from early morning till late a
night on plans which our armies are
now carrying out. 1t is u time t.
rest"
The resistance that France would b'
able to put up was always very light!
estimated, and if the Intervention o.
England was at all taken into cOnsid
GRAFTON, the comparatively small arm!
she could place in the field was re
garded as but a drop in the bucket com
pared with the well-trained German
horde that was ready to sweep across
the border. How could England's S0,O0I
men cope with Won Kluck's 100000 OF
the hastily modified French armies re
sist the thoroughly prepared, equipped
and well-disciplined German warriors
1t is really not to be wondered a
that the Germans firmly believed tina
they would bring the allies to thei.
knees within a comparatively few
weeks and that the %cOnquering Ger
man armies would celebrate Sedal
day. September >. in Paris. What ac
tually happened is, of course, too wei
known here to require recital, but
know that the Germans were kept il
absolute ignorance of the marvelOu
resistance the allies were able to pu
up in those critical days of August ant
September. 1914, and to this day tn
majority of Germans have lot hear
of the battle of the Marnel
. Just after the English passed thei
CONSUMPTION law 1 was called to Sc
the kaiser at the great army headquaI
tiers, which at that time were at Pless
Although the war had then lasted tw,
, or three times as long as the German
had expected, the kaiser masked tn
depression he must have felt by put
, ting on a bold front.
) How foolish for England to star
|, CONSUMPTION now" he declared. Ssh
> thinks she can accomplish in a FEY
, months what it has taken Germany
hundred years to attain. Armies an
officers cannot be developed over night