Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-07-22

A testimony to the willingness OF
America to lay aside the hates OF war Is
evidenced in the tempered comHehC
unon the death of Gen. Friederlcn Won
Rernhardi whose until then little reao
book served the allies with sucn nooo
of anti-German propaganda; Wns
some of the opinions are sun coloIe o
Nth memories of those days when hate
was patriotic virtue, the majority
write down the frank old milltarlst as
an honest. If bloodthirSty ana qulUe
"outdated philosopher. ..,,,x
"His philosophy was hre-eatlng
compo,Ind of Nietzsche and Treltscnke,
bImsfering with Falstaff at the cankers
of a calm world and long peace, says
the St Louis Post-Dispatch, which CITES
his "iingoistic warnings against France
Rnssia and Italy" That paper con.
tinIIes. "Bernhardi, the professional
alarmist, was never such power IN
Germany. even among the ofncer CLASS,
as allied pamphleteers OF war days maue
him out He was simply Germany
Ioudest voice, her most promneiI
svmntom of the militaristic fever, when
was epidemic in other countries as wen.
Long before his death, at vi, BerhnaIua
and his philosophy had been tnorougny
discredited. The new Germany ano tlie
modern world have no place Tor such
theatricism and appeals to bloody pas
sions. Contemporary rattlers OF tne
saher should find impressive warning III
the emphatic way this jingos people, az
soon as they found voice, repudlateo al
his rantings, his philosophy ana MS
works" - ,,,trv hos
its limoges" the Springfield mass Lv
publican sees injustice IN loeneiiya1ie
him completely with the German peopie,
and concludes: "All that Is now OF the
mast. and Friedrich Won Bernharol, u
neither a great commander nor gre3e
historian. deserves a modest IooLnoCe 70
the history of the great war.
.He wanted war, and for that reason
was easily persuaded that war was IN
evitable" thinks the New BeoIoIu
Standard recalling that prior TO tne
opening of the war the EngIsn-Spesih,
inc world rather neglected Bernharol,
Int that "once the war had begun, the
English propaganda department mace
effective use of his writings" Ihat
naner concludes: ITO wage war enee-
t1IalIy, YOU must have hatred. The SOL
diers don't need it, but the tolKs at nome
must have it. else the war slackens.
Bernhard as interpreted by Englisn
commentators, contributed some OF the
groundwork"
perhaps the great lesson OF Bern
hardi's life" according to the Asheville
Times. "is the warning of his war creed
and what that creed, accepted, did Tor
his country and the world" The Times
also comments: ITO this Teuton's
orderly mind, logic In the study should
be followed by invincible action In the
field Consequently, he looked Iorwaro
to the day when Britain would De Ger
mAny's vassal. He did much to bring
to its climax the doctrine of world
power or downfall-and so helped 10
bring about the downfall.
The San Francisco Chronicle points
out the interesting fact that he proved
| that John Hay, Americas great Secre-
| tary of State, was right when ne sald
| that telling the truth was statesman 5
best smoke screen because tss s nfSory
war book. that paper says: ut was an
amazingly frank discussion from prac-
tical military viewpoint. And the 1act
| that a chief of staff could publish sucn
disclosures without any official reprooi
was generally taken as indication that
the purpose of the disclosures was 10
mislead. Events proved the accuracy OF
| the generals predictions. The German
| Campaign followed his plan with fidelity
until the unexpected resistance upset It:
And the world learned that II II mao
| believed Gen. Won Bernhard IT coulo
| have had a more accurate knowledge oil
| German strategy than the intelligence
services obtained at great cost and dan
ger. 1t was because he told the truth
so frankly that people doubted him..
His work is described as zone OF the
great documents on which to rest psy-
Geological studies of the war spirit by
! the Buffalo Evening News, whlcn calis
1t "a frank opening OF the mind OF
ruthless old militariSt, who regarded
war as a illogical necessity ana success
as an objective that must overrule all
| scruples." The Louisville Courier
| Journal states that she idealized force;
he foresaw vast empire for his coun-
| try; he dreamed of commercial SUI
/ premacy." The Chattanooga News Of
! fers the Judgment that his creed was
undeniabiy that war might make the
world safe for autocracy," but that he
was an outdated philosopher" That