Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1919-11-29

/ my associates has always been a mat
ter for sincere satisfaction to me.
| always was, and am still, of the
| opinion that this war was so tremend-
! Gus and made such great demands
that one man alone could not posi-
bly, cope with it, It gave plenty of
| opportunity for brilliant work.
My chief assistant in the east was
Lieutenant-Colonel, now Major Gener-
al, Hoffman, an intellectual and pro-
gressiye officer. My opinion of him
as soldier Is best shown By the fact
that | suggested him as my successor
when | was appointed to general
headquarters at the end of August,
1915. In that position he justified
his selection as brilliantly as he had
when acting as my senior staff officer.
ct was General Hoffmann who
dominated the est-Litovsk peace
conference and compelled the German
and Austrian civilian delegations to
| force upon Russia the program Of
vast cessions of territory and enor-
nous indemnities which startled the
world and caused wide protest even
in Germany and in the Reichstag
| This peace, engineered by Hoffman,
| had decisive influence in causing the
entente to reject German and Aus
] TRAN peace feeIerS.)
Men Who Helped Bear Burden
| At general headquarters I selected
! Iieutenant-C Colonel Wet2el to super
| wise operations, / had met him pre-
| viously and knew his value He was
familiar with the western front,
where he had distinguished himself as
senior staff officer and chief of the
| general staff Of the Third corps and
| had done particularly well before YER
| dun.
He has a splendid soldierly spirit
and strong and faithful character.
| With his entorprising and fertile
mind and the care he put into his
work, he proved an excellent and
valued assistant In September, 1918,
| found il necessary to fedistribute
the staff in order to allow myself
! a little more leisure for this reason,
| and no other, Lieutenant-Colon Wet
zell had to leave me. We separated
with the highest regard ON both
| sides.
He was succeeded by Colonel Heye
and Major Won Stulpnacel. The lat
! ter had served on my staff in Berlin
| for long time. They were both
strong minded and clear-headed SOL
diers. With them I passed through
the hardest time soldier can ex-
| perienoe; it was the period when it
| became clear that we could no longer
win the war in a military sense. To
have to leave them just then was the
greatest trial / had to bear.
Questions of organization were dealt
with chiefly by Majors Won Vollard-
| Bockelberg and Freiherr con dem
Bussche and Frahnert, both of them
men with enormous enthusiasm, fore
! sight and capacity for work. Their
work was of the highest order.
Dealt With People Mt Home.
Three of my assistants came prom
| inenty before the public. This was
due to the nature OF their work
| Colonel Bauer, a man of remark
able personality. shared my view that
the foundations of ultimate success
| we're to be sought in1the war efficien-
cy of the people at home, and did all
| he could to foster and increase 1t. He
played a decisive part in developing
the artillery
1t was his duty TO submit demands
for war material to the home authori-
| ties, and to obtain. with the assist
ance Of employers and workmen, q
clear idea of the capabiity of our in
dustries. His work was closely re-
lated to that of the war ministry.
His cooperation and advice were
also of the greatest value in matters
of military economy and tactics.
What General Must BE.
Strength of will and foresight are
needed for the command of armies
but an intimate knowledge of the COM
position and organization of the
mighty instrument IS also necessary,
and this can only be required and
maintained by unremitting work.
There is vet another requirement,
! an understanding of the moral of