Evening star., 1921-07-10
The Soul. of the Army

or a feeling of hostility toward the
enemy. All of these may be aids to
them are Indispensable factors in it.
yet neither singly nor together do
they make up the whole of it. for
the test of morale is time and ad-
versity.
All great military leaders have req
ognized the paramount Importance Of
morale. and many of them, in no
small measure, have owed their sue
cess to their exceptional ability to
inspire a high morale in their fol-
Arc, Cromwell and Napoleon are ia
miliar examples of this point. But
at no previous period in history did
the maintenance Of morale call for
such serious and definite considera-
tion on the part of those charged
tions than in the world war, and at
no period was the problem Of main
tanning 1t less simple, and the dan
gers inherent in defective morale
have never been SO strikingly illus
trated.
GERMANY conquered far more ter
" ritory by undermining. the morale
of her enemies than by force of arms.
She broke down Russian civilian mo-
cation of the nation: this, in turn.
transmitted to the troops. broke the
army into a mob that desired peace
more than victory; that doubted it's
own leaders and believed that the
people of the country cared nothing
for the welfare of the army or what
it might accomplish. 1t became an
army without good morale, and that
fact alone destroyed it.
The defeat of the Italian army at
Caporette, in 1917, was largely due
to undermining of the morale of the
Italian troops in this section through
persistent and insidious German and
Austrian propaganda. which reacted
upon the soldiers in part directly,
and in part through the dissemination
of falsehoods, suspicious and distrust
among the civilian population at
home. A mental smoke screen was
spread over the nation and morale
was broken. A disaster which for
time gravely threatened the entire
military and political situation of the
allies ensued. When morale was re-
stored-as a result of definite effort
to that end-the same Italian armies
won the great victory Of the Piave
against the Austrian attack. much
more formidable than that of 1917.
The armies of the United States and
its allies were drawn from democratic
societies in which "governmNt by
discussion" prevails and in which
every citizen is accustomed to have
voice in determining the laws and
policy of his country. The citizen
understand the cause in which he
fights. and the reasons and principles
underlying the policy of the govern
ment which he is called upon to de-
fend on the battlefield; and unless
he both understands and believes In
he l0tpnffQllv
serous TO the morale of the unit to
which he belongs The danger may
be latent and seemingly negligible. so
long as he is restrained by the fear
cipline, and so long as all goes well.
But at times of special strain. of long
continued inactivity or of disaster he
is apt to prove a focus of discourage
ment or disaffection.
The morale of the army of de-
mocracy. therefore, must ultimately
be based solidly upon convictions.
Such armies should be made up of
men who are not only loyal to their
country and its permanent ideals and
convinced of the justice Of its cause.
And since it cannot truly be said that
all recruits enter the army already
possessing such understanding and
enthusiasm. it is necessary for mill
tsry reasons-even though there were
no other reasons-that such knowl-
edge and spirit be impaired to them
after they have been inducted into the
service. Each fighter must be pro-
vtded with ideas as an essential part
mainstay Of democracy in peace. must
also be its strength in war.
IN order to have the spirit of the
soldier improved. the morale
branch. after having instructed the
morale officers to remove as far as
possible the causes for discomfort,
decided morale could be best strength
ened by development of interest. un-
derstanding and enthusiasm among
officers by general discussion of
morale problems. dissemination of in
formation as to the progress Of other
units. and encouragement of sympa-
thetic relations between company Of
ficers and men. The cooperation Of
nom military organizations in the
camps was enlisted and direction of
their activities into channels con-
ducive to good morale was under
taken. Cooperation. good-fellowship
encouraged by various means. Our
war aims and purposes were clarified
through lectures and private talks
with disaffected or misinformed indi-
viduals, circulation of literature, pos
ter. slogans, moving pictures and as
attention was given to the non-Eng
disappearing soldier and the negro
soldier.
A compelling factor in the upbuild-
ing of a healthy spirit among the
men who went overseas was the
with the Army. In it's ministering
to the i'll and injured. its attention
to the prisoners and it's keeping
strong the ties that connected the
soldier to his real home here, the
American Red Cross performed works
from the memory of the men who an
swered the call to the national de-
fense. So other semi-civilian and
semi military societies, in close Co
operation with the morale officer, Gid
all that was humanity possible to les
sen and alleviate the discomforts of
the soldier.
Morale officers in all camps were
instructed of the sharp demarkation
between the German system Of mill
itaristic despotism that drove men
through fear and the democratic
American system through which men
were to be led by being taught the
real aims of the nation in the war
and inspired by pride in their ma
tional service role. Newspapers in the
ported and drove home the ideas Of
speakers and when our armies
reached the battle line they per-
formed in such a manner that they
were respected by friend and feared
by foe to the farthest ends OF the
earth.
With the ending Of hostilities came
the problem of rehabilitation. During
this period the morale branch. by ed
ucational courses. theatricals. ath-