The New York herald. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1920-1924, 1920-12-12

Imperial Government as revealed by
official documents" There is little di-
rect statement from General Luden-
dorff himself in comparison with his
earlier book. MY War Memories"
Here he does not trust to memory.
Now and then a personal touch ap-
pears, perhaps. in starred footnote.
This army order of 1915 is given in
the text:
"Soldiers In that consciousness of
victory which you have won through
your bravery. l and the rulers of
our faithful allies have made our
enemies an offer of peace. 1t is uncer-
tain whether we shall thereby achieve
our aims.
with Gods help you have to con-
tinue to stand fast against our enemies
and defeat them. WILHELM /. r."
But in small type below Ludendorff
satisfies after four years his pride of
authorship thus:
Drawn up by me and approved in
every detail by the Imperial Chancel-
lor"
But the Imperial Chancellor was not
q
matter between him and the First
Quartermaster-G General came to an
issue, in which Ludendorff did not
hesitate to test his own hold. Here is
his letter:
ITO his Majesty the Kaiser and King:
I'm the most serious crisis which
Germany and Prussia have ever
known Your Majesty has decided to
retain in office the present political
head. the Chancellor.
Your Majesty knows that it is i'm
possible for-me. as a responsible men,
Der of the Supreme Command, to feel
that confidence in the Imperial Chan
cellor. which after the war can no
longer be prosecuted as a purely mill
tary affair, is absolutely essential for
useful cooperation between the Impe-
rial Chancellor and the Supreme Com
mand if the war is to be brought to a
successful conclusion. The Fatherland
is bound to suffer from this lack of
confident cooperation. The fact that
Your Majesty ultimately decides can
not prevent 1t.
II am unable to serve Your Majesty
any longer in my position, and humbly
beg Your Majesty graciously to permit
me to resign.
(Signed) "LUDENDoRFF.
General of Infantry and First
Quartermaster- General"
Two days later Dr. Michaelis was
appointed Chancellor.
One of the apparent purposes of the
book is to place the military part in
urging the submarine campaign in a
favorable light. He does this in two
ways: by printing the discussion that
led to the decision to prosecute the
ruthless war on shipping, and by
quoting supposedly typical views from
other sources, tending to show that
even in the United States opinion
against the submarine campaign was
not unanimous.
The most dramatic pages in the
book are those which give an account
Of the conference between Bethmann-
Hollweg, Won Hindenburg and Lu-
dendorff at Pless on January l, 1917.
This is how the Chancellor summed
up the situation as he saw it, to the
heads of the army and his Imperial
master:
To that Won Hindenburg added the
remark: I'VE need the most ener-
getic and ruthless action possible.
. The war must be brought to
a speedy end on account of our allies,
though are could continue for some
time longer"
Ludendorff reports himself as de-
claring that measures to be taken
against neutrals ARE in no way pro-
vocative. They are purely defensive"
But 1t was taken for granted, evil
IDENTIFY. that America would in the end
come into the war.
The former Chancellor afterward,
before committee of inquiry, made
this statement:
There is no question, looking back
over the course Of events, that II would
have been better for us to have put
ourselves in the hands of President
Wilson and accepted his peace media
ton, even though-a point / must
emphasize-in my opinion the en-
trance of America into the war did not
make it inevitable that we should
come to the peace of Versailles. But
what was the position then? If we
had put ourselves in the hands of
President Wilson we should be dealing
with man who, on his own statement
and that Of Count Bernstorff to-day.
was not friendly to us, q man against
whom Senator Stone Gas Dr. Helf-
ferich told us yesterday in the Senate
made twenty very serious charges of
unneutral and unfriendly behavior to
Germany. We should have been deal
ing with a President who informed
Count Bernstorff Immediately after
our Sussex note that nothing could
be done against England, as 1t would
be contrary to the commercial inter
ests of his country. Those are the
actual facts. In the conflict for the
soul Of Wilson which has developed
here / will not take any part. But /
am not of those who come forward as
Wilson's advocates"
Ludendorff presents himself as "A
prime factor in almost everything that