The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1919-11-02

some troops at the disposal of the Ger
man G. III. @. He realized, quite rightly,
that as far as Turkey was concerned, the
war would now be decided in other the
aires.
| In general the Turkish army was ex-
hausted. To begin with, 1t had not re-
covered from the Balkan war before it
was involved. in another. Its wastage
| from disease and in action was contin-
uously high. The trustworthy, brave An
atolian had vanished from its ranks The
unreliable Arab auxiiaries were playing
az. increasingly important part every
where, but especially in Mesopotam la
/ and Palestine. The forces were now be-
low their proper strength and the men
We're badly fed and still worse equipped.
The lack of efficient officers was partic-
ularly felt.
Liman Pasha 1the German commander
| in Turkey, relying on his authority, en-
| deavored again and again to make his
! divisions into an efficient fighting instru-
meEt. He did all that could be done.
! When Turkish troops left his hands to
come under German leadership, in Galicia
or against Rumania, for example, they
behaved quite passably, and sometimes
well, but where they were under Turk
| ish command they soon forgot what Ger
| man thoroughness had taught them.
| In spite of my entrea ties, Turkey made
no serious attempt to break with her old
policy towards the Arabs. In any case,
perhaps it would have been too late. Eng
lish gold did the rest. The Arabs turned
| more and more against the Turks;
| At the beginning of September, En-
yer came to Pless. He was very
gifted man and made a notable and
unusual impression. on us. He was
! a true friend of Germany and there
was bond of warm sympathy be-
| tween us. He had real military
/ instinct for the art of war, but ne
| lacked both the knowledge of first
principles and professional quali1lca-
| tions. Nor had he received a thor
ough training His great military
ability had no chance to develop.
| His sending Turkish troops TO Ga
| licia and against the Rumanians
proved his sound military judgment.
| On the other hand, he was always
clamoring for war material on scare
that could not possibly be supplied.
| The majority of the available trans
| to Turkey via Sofia were USED TOT
| coal, which was sent, from uppe.
| Silesia to Constantinople. over ana
over again 1 begged Enver the very
| distinguished Talaat, and other IurK
| ish high officials who visited US 10
| increase their home output of coak
which appeared perfectly possible II
they had there would have been more
transport space for war materlal
4
| Importance of railways in warfare,
and showed them how Turkey could
/ help herself in this respect / made
| little impression on them and they
certainly showed no disposition TO ac
cept my suggestions. They continued
| to iassail me with their demands, al
| though it was plain that no notice
could be taken of them.
| The Young Turks were firmly IN
| power in Constantinople. The people
| held aloof. When I took up my new
duties the outlook in Turkey was far
| from reassuring.
| Much Wanted German efficiency in
war matters and government IS pluntly
| treated by Ludendorff tomorrow. He
| shows how authority was divided IN
such a way as to make for friction ana
| misunderstanding among the higher
| leaders. So far as the allies of Germany
were concerned. he found he could not
| exercise full command, but was COM
| PEELED to deal with conflicting inter-
ests the best way he could
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with the Mcclure Newspaper syndicate.
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!
| Iceland proposes to design new flag
as symbol of the independence which
| states now number over 100000 a large