Evening star., 1941-01-26

Paying the Penalty.
that illusion, the whole world, including
the Germans, would join the chorus on
every occasion.
Now the fact was that our army was
not the best in the world since another
army beat it to pieces.
And this teaches what preparedness
means: 1t means for whole nation
under strict iron discipline, to devote
every possible bit of effort and energy
to the preparation for war if war looms
over the horizon. 1t means to put its
destinies in the hands of technicans who
know, not of politicians who talk There
is no halfway, no substitute, no short
cut. 1t is either war with preparedness
or no preparedness and defeat.
France had the illusion of being ready:
she was not. She lost and fell This
is a lesson
There is the lesson about air su-
periority.
We knew vaguely that Germany was
building planes We talked about it. but
meanwhile we did not build planes, at
least not enough. Why? This is not
the question today. The only important
fact is that we were inferior in air power.
and Sc we lost the battle. The war will
be won by the nation or the group of
nations which will have the mastery of
the air, and that is all
have no more tragic recollection than
that of my conversations with soldiers
coming back from the battlefront after
/ the defeat. Always the same refrain:
I'VE were crushed by German dive bomb
ers coming in waves every five minutes,
and there was not French or British
plane in sight" This tells the whole
story. One thousand bombers would
have won the battle of Sedan, which we
lost. This is lesson.
Time of Great Value.
There is the lesson about the value
of time. The word "blitzkrieg" is be-
coming Cliche: We arc losing tracl;
| Of its tragic connotations Both French
and British were dilatory and procras-
tinating, thinking in terms of months or
years. while the German general staff
," '" oS liiiihAiiS' anu dSOillS. III tNiAiio Va
days or hours. This is lesson.
There is the lesson about philosophy
of war and military doctrines. 1t can
be expressed in two lines: Both French
and British general stats thought of
this war in terms of 1918, not in terms
OF 1910. A victory was won % years
ago; therefore, we were in possession of
course, Improvements had to be intro
duced, new weapons, new tactics for
tanks. motorized units, aviation On
fact, there were some young technicians,
such as a certain Col. de Gaulle. who
were writing books about it, But the
general staffs knew better; there existed
Sacrosanct orthodoxy about the 'eter-
nal principles of warfare, illustrated by
the great examples of the last war.
Liaison of the various arms. occupa-
ton of the terrain, continuity of the
front, value of fortified positions to stop
an Offensive, these and few others were
intangible tenets With the building of
the Maginot Line. another article was
added to the creed: The impregnability
of scientifically constructed line of
defense. This "Maginitis," as some
called it, was not healthy influence to
maintain high offensive spirit. The
lessons of Spain and Poland were not
needed. They could not. the high COM
mand felt, apply to the best army in
Europe This is why, after the 10th of
May, both French and British lines were
broken ito pieces" literally, by an army
which was led by a general staff free
from all traditional dogmas, and apply
ing methods which came as a surprise
and an irresistible shock Uncritical
faithfulness to obsolete principles proved
a disastrous factor, and taught, too late,
another lesson.
These are some of the facts a French
man recently back from defeated France
can tell about the catastrophe of a coun-
try he loves more than anything in the
world. These facts are all beyond doubt
or discussion. They are tragic, sad, often
humiliating. To speak about them would
break my heart. if I were not sure
that there may be some good in telling
about them.
might have kept my remarks on
higher, more theological or philosophical
plane; if kept close to those material
and concrete facts, it is simply because
my sorrowful conviction Is that France,
a peace-loving, humane, civilized and
brilliant nation, lost and was conquered
on account of such material, concrete
and brutal facts.
Whether they contain a lesson, or
several, for America. 10 not for me, .
Frenchnan, to decide.