Evening star., 1921-11-02
CHAPTER XVII
THE BEGINNINGS OF THE PEACE.

THE BEGINNINGS OF THE PEACE.
What remains Of the fiction be-
l:eved by so many Of an armtstice
secretly determined upon by an
American dictator: submitted to by
the European governments; imposed
by their weakness upon the victori-
Gus armies despite the opposition OF
the generals? The armistice was dis
cussed in the open light of day. Pres
ident Wilson only consented to COM
municate 1t to his associates on the
triple condition that its principle be
approved by the military authorities
and its clauses would be drawn up
by them; that it be imposed upon the
enemy and not discussed with him;
that 1t be such as to prevent all re-
sumption Of hostilities and assure the
submission of the vanquished to the
terms OF peace. So 1t was that the
discussion went Oh with Beriin Till
October 90, and in Paris from that
date till November s. 1t was to the
commander-inEhief that final deci-
sion was left not only on the prin-
Siple Of the arnliStice, but upon its
application. He it was who drew up
the text. And it was his draft that
was adopted. The action OF the gov
eminent was limited to indorsing it
and making it more severe. That Is
the truth; it is perhaps less pic
,turesque, but certainly more in accord
with common sense.
4 Berlin Ready to Accept Anything.
May it in truth be said, after what
] have just written Of the German
crises in October, that Marshal Foch
made a mistake in not exacting more
than he did-and that no matter
what we had asked the people in Ber-
din would have accepted everything
5ust as they accepted the surrender
of their. navy? OF course. this can
out. however, that criticism fore
telling the past is not hard to level
against action which had to take
, the future into account. To pass
Z judgment on the decisions taken in
october. 1918. by the commander-in-
chief of the armies Of the entente.
and approved afterward by the gov
ernments. it is necessary to place
ones self in his position of knowl-
edge. The official German documents
which I am able to insert in this
work had not then been published.
The facts they relate were not then
known. Nothing was known Of the
extraordinary panic which on October
] had seized the great general staff;
nothing was known either Of its un-
avoidable consequences. Marshal Foch
was sure Of victory, and he said so.
He added that the conditions fixed
by him on October 26 were the very
conditions which we should have been
further operations. But having done
that. he fulfilled his duty in refusing
10 fix an exact date as to the dura-
tion of German resistance, the
= strength of which in critical juno
lures continued to be shown-con.
trary to the provisions Of Ludendorff
up to the very day Of the armistice.
He also fulfilled his duty in refusing
TO take chances with the morale of
the troops and Of TIE peoples. by con,
to be necessary and sufficient. 1t is
easy two years afterwards to decide
that the war would only have lasted
q week longer. Marshal Foch could
today could guarantee it absolutely.
A few days before the armistice one
OF our army commanders said to a
public man:
We are going to take up our posi-
fions for another winter"
Did Not Demand More.
The responsible chief would have
mo- Of :nn.hs which tic the he
achievement Of victory. The govern
ments determined to impose every
thing that the commander-in-chief
exacted. but did not feel justified tn
demanding more. Moreover the prob
tion in which she could not begin the
war again-she was not able to begin
st again: the problem was to force
Germany to sign the peace-she
signed it. Events have. thus shown
that Marshal Foch was right. The
Rrmistice marked the capitulation Of
, the enemy, a capitulatfon which was
m unconditional surrender.
The , work which awaited the
and as unprecedented as the war
which was to be brought to a close.
Great and unprecedented in its