The Washington herald., 1921-09-04

Turning now for a moment to the final question::
How far must we modify our old views as to the
Marne, that the German side of the case sup
ported by the German testimony Is presentedl Mainly
it would in the direction Of. assigning to the
Paris phase greater importance and to the share Of
Galieni higher praise. 1t was Galleni who saw first
the full extent of Kucks venture and the opportunity
which it provided He persuaded Jofre to fight at
the Marne to seize the opportunity and he had hard
work persuading the commander-in-chief. T.
Moreover important fact, Maunoury has been
criticised in the past as having acted too quickly but
he had delayed his thrust certain British authors
ties suggest, Kluck obeyng his orders tardy, would
have got his troops back before the battle of the
Ourcq began. 1t remains true that Manourys army
did not realize Gallenfs hope, adopted by Jore. II
did not ouank and roll up Kuck and his neighbors.
But it did force Kluckto open the gap hisieft to
protect his right and thegap in the end the fatal
circumstance of the battle Obviously from the Ger
point of view the decisive phase Of the battle Of
the Marne the fight at the ourcq, and Msunoury
and not Foch did the fatal damage. = " 49, M
A to the British share, the German evidence
~ hardly helps the British case Field Marshal
French had only cavalry with slight infantry steaing
before him from September to 10, that is to The
end Of the battle, YET his advance was excessively
slow and the siowness just enabled the Germans .
close the gap. bringing up troops from Maubeuge,k
from Belgium and from Lorraine in the days when
the battle of the Marne had melted into the battle of
the Aisne Of all the allied armies at the Marne the
British" the only force which was never engaged
to the utmost and its losses were insignificant com
pared with those of any French army or with Sir
Horace Smith -Dorrien's losses in his own corps
Cambra, LIE Cateau, as that battle Is now named.
= The British army did, however, penetrate the gap,
or rather the gap was opened directly IN front Of
them by KlucRs response to Maunourys thrust out
from Paris Its passage Of the Marne the morning
Of September was the signal for the issue of Buows
order Of retreat which was the first step in the
sequence which led to the general retreat Thus, It
is clear that the value of the British contribution to
the victory of the Marne was considerable, in fact
not only the Germans actually outnumbered.
particularly at the decisive point that is the Paris
flank but It was the British expeditionary army which
gave Jofre his numerical advantage. Had the British
force been handled well the armies of Foch or
Maunoury, for that matter Of D|Esperey It Is al
most out of the question that the German retreat
would have stopped short of the frontier But Sir
John French in contrast to his army had not recovered
from the shock of Mons and the strain of the great
retreat. -. -
~ the German officers most closely connected
~ with the battle, Moitke retired in disgrace on
the afternoon of September a. although the fact
concealed for many months. He died little later.
heartbroken. Kluck removed some months after
the Marne. perhaps because of wound. but he never
got back Hausen disappeared at once. Bulow con-
tinued for much of the but attained any
very great distinction. This statement is in itself
significant; it shows the final judgment passed on
those responsible. And now, after years. with
the complete evidence in hand. the extent Of the
Marne victory can be appraised. II was not Jena
nor yet Sedan, it not Auesteritz much less
Waterloo but it was battle of arrest like Chaions,
like Tours; like Valmy, like our own Gettysburg Il
checked the invader, deprived him of all his initial
advantage condemned him to a defensive in the west
from which he fully escaped for the brief