Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1943-08-29
Germany Enters 5th War Year
With Many Parallels to 1913
BY carl g.. Cranmer,
AeSnria tod brace Nrritnr

NEW YORK-The war which Adolf
Hitler started out to win in hurry
enters its fifth year next Wednesday.
with the decisive battle being fought to
break the nerve of the German people
In 106 more days it will have lasted
as long as the First World War 1t al
ready is history's most catastrophe con-
f1ict in bloodshed, destruction and dis
ruption of civilization.
The milestone is reached with the
Allies still outside the mainland of
Europe and with Germany enjoying
many apparent military advantages over
her position at this stage in 1918 Yet
the signs multiply that again she is
heading for apse-perhap with her
armies yet strong. The Reichs down.
ward spiral in the past year has been
amazing.
Yet the time is critical for the Allies
They cannot consider the war won. Mis-
takes, miscalculations or fallings out
among themselves might ruin their pres
ent prospects. The biggest question
mark is the degree of cooperation which
can be worked out between Russia and
her chief Western Allies, Britain and the
United States.
The guns were already blazing along
the Polish border and the first wagon
loads of this wars mountains of dead
and wounded were winding back from
the front when Adolf Hitler rose to ad-
dress the Reichstag at 10 o'clock on
Friday morning, September /, 1899.
Complacency Is Gone.
The SNUG, uniformed Nazi hierarchy
overstuffed with bloodless victories, COM
placently gave. ear. They already had
heard the announcement of his deterni-
nation to meet force with force"
Il am putting on the uniform and I
shall take it off only in victory or DEATH"
he cried in his imprisoned address.
There will never again be Novem-
Der, 1918, in German history"
But there is no overstuffed compla-
cency IN bloody, battered Germany
today. The plush has all been worn off.
Hitlers uniform, if it is the same one,
must be frayed and greasy.
Reports received through neutral capi-
tails make it clear that Hamburg bomb
&lASI titS SO4l0ppC VI bIlS CDt1JdIl1OH
Fascist regime of Mussolini in Italy, ter
rife losses in Russia, defeat in North
Africa and Sicily, the slump in the
U-boat campaign and the steady attri-
ton of years of warfare shave worn on
German nerves and caused many to lose
faith in victory.
The Swedish correspondent of the
Stockholm Aftonbladet boldly tele-
graphed to his paper on August that
the bomb war was beginning to have
effects on the population similar to the
Allied blockade in 1918, and nobody
knows how long the population will be
able to endure it.
The Raj alone dropped $500 long
tons of bombs on Germany during the
second quarter of this year-twice as
much as 1t sent hugtling sdown.the pre-
vious quarter and twice as much as stnetss
Nazi Luftwaffe could drop on all England
In that air forces palmiest days. the last
three months of 1910.
Decisive Battle at Home.
The Germans themselves frequently
admit, in their appeals to the German
people, that the decisive battle is being
fought on their home front
But there are no signs of collapse in
the army. The army fought stubbornly,
skillfully and we'll, though outnumnered,
In Sicily. 1t fights tenaciously in Rus
STA with a fierceness that costs the Red
Army dearly.
This high efficiency of the army plus
the knowledge that it still holds all West
ern Europe and battleline in Russia
which is from $50 to 900 miles beyond