Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1919-11-26
By General Erlch Ludcndorrr.

hostile nations were longing to hear
words of reconciliation and would
urge their governments toward peace
So little did they understand the mind
of our enemies, both people and gov
ernments. their strong national feel
ing and unbendng wi ].
Berlin had learned nothing from
history. They only felt their own inn
potence in face of the enemy's spirit;
they loSt the hope of victory and
drifted. The desire for. peace became
stronger than the will to fight for
victory. The road to peace was
blocked by the will of The enemy,
whose aim was our destruction; in
seeking il the government neglected
to lead tho nation by the hard road
to victory. Hs#
"SlId Down the Slippery Way.n
Reichstag and people found them
selves without that strong lead which,
generally speaking. they longed for
and slid with the government down
the slippery way. The tremendous
arising out of the war were
more and more thrust on one side, for
peoples minds were occupied with
questions of internal politics and
thoughts of self. This meant the ruin
of our country, .f-
General headquarters urged the
view that 1t would be time enoL gh for
us to lay down our arms and think
about understandings when human
nature had undergone a change; oth-
erwise' we were bound to suffer The
palm of peace is no defense against
the sword. AS long as human beings,
and above all our enemies, remained
the same as mankind has ever been.
Germany, and in any event the field
marshal and /. as the responsible mill
itary commanders. must retain our
hold of the sword and keep it sharp,
1t was, therefore, our serious duty,
in dealing with the government to
insist on the necessary war measures
being carried out, and to try. and in
fuse into them that degree of deter
animation which we thought was re-
quired
Use Sharp Words to Berlin.
In all questions general headquar-
tiers addressed themselves to the con-
stitutional authorities. The war re-
quired rapid and far-reaching deci-
sions at any moment. and thus stimu-
lated that quality of resolution on
which it was always making demands
In Berlin the old peace routine held
sway Replies. even to the most i'm
portant questions, often did not ar
rive for weeks
In consequence of this eXtraordin-
airy dilatoriness on the part Of the
Berlin authorities and of their failure
to grasp the necessities of war, the
tone of our correspondence a: times
became somewhat acrimonious. This
we regretted, but we were consumed
I'M Il
ate action was called fors for il was
often a question of averting some IT.
reparable disaster
In peace time the imperial govern
ment was supreme. The foreign Of
flee considered itself above all crlti-
cism. The government departments
only gradually accustomed themselves
to the idea that on the outbreak of
war a new authority, general head
quarters, had come into being. which
not only shared the responsibility with
the imperial chancellor, but bore such
an enormous proportion of L that 1t
had necessarily to try and make good
their inertia by displaying greater en-
ergy on its own part.
/ could have wished that the gov
eminent had recognized this simple
situation as clearly. The position of
Won Moltke and General Won
in relation to the govern
ment was essentially the same as that
Of the field marshal and myself
The government went their own
way. and, as regards the wishes OF
general headquarters, neglected moth
ing which they considered essential.
But much was left undone that had
been insisted on as urgently neces-
sary for the prosecution of the war.
Friction Over AFmy's Power.
Directly after the war broke out,
general headquarters was obliged to
take action in connection with several
matters which were really the spere
of other authorities. The press, the
precautions against spies
and sabotage at home, dealing with
all these wide fields
were left to the unaided efforts of the
authorities. 20 the detriment
of the conduct Of the war.
Uncertainty as to their powers and
lack of personnel checked the initia-
tive of the authorities concerned
Their strong sense of responsibility
urged the general staff to creative
work. 1t was better able to meet the
in personnel thah other
departments, pdFtlGuldif9 "AiDih tHiphH
officers of the reserve on leave with
previous training. And so the direc-
tion of this work fell into the hands
of the general staff The execution
often remained in those of the home
authorities.
The line of demareation, within
which these authorities considered
themselves to be solely responsible,
was not clearly defined. Friction was
This would have been
avoided by that resolute leadership at
home for which general headquarters
often asked.
AS first quartermaster-generat 1t
was often my duty. personally, to lay
the demands of general headquarters
before the government
Called "Reactionary:" Denies 1t.
OF political personages and parties
I took no account Those parties
which were forever talking about
understanding" instead of fostering
the warlike spirit of the nation, did
not recognize the need for the de-
mands put forward. The government
shared their views. And thus the
and the majority parties