Evening star., 1943-09-24
German Morale


OF mind? That is question of the
utmost Importance. Even in the last
war, the breakdown of German
morale on the home front preceded
that in the Army, and was the pre-
disposing factor in the rapid decline
of military fortitude in the autumn
of 1918. The Germans have always
tended to think and feel as a mass
rather than as individuals. This is
especially true of Nazi Germany,
wherein popular psychology has been
Systematically regimented. It's mo-
rale is thus pre- eminently mass
morale, tough yet brittle, and liable
to crack suddenly with scant warn
ing.
1t is precisely those premonitory
symptoms of cracking that are
keenly watched for by Germany's
enemies. The British government
has a whole corps of psychological
specialists centered in the Ministry
of Economic Warfare. The latest
report published by that body, based
on highly confidential information,
has just been summarized in cable
from David Anderson, London cor
respondent of the New York Times.
This summary makes interesting
reading. 1t states that German pop
ular morale, on the eve of the fifth
war winter, is sagging to a new low
mark suggestive of the autumn of
1918. Yet it points out the differences
as well as the similarities between
the two periods. The chief reason
why the German home front COL
lapsed in the last war was chronic
hunger. That is not true this time.
Whoever else may be starving within
the bounds of Fortress Europe, it is
not the Germans. Indeed, the British
report states that the food situation
is generally satisfactory, with mo-
notonous but ample rations for sub
SiStence.
However, this is largely offset by an
unfavorable factor unknown to the
German people in the last war. That
is the terrific destruction and psychic
strain produced by the Allied air
raids. In the worst bombed parts of
Germany, attempts at reconstruction
have become lackadaisical or are
being abandoned. Hopes of ultimate
victory are waning, the best to be
expected being the avoidance of
complete defeat by some sort of
stalemate. AS yet, this has evoked
few signs of militant opposition to
the Nazi regime. 1.-THE people are
found to be dispirited rather than
rebellious; resigned and listless more
than weak in the face of adversely
=" 1t would be a mistake to
assume that the people are turning
their backs on Adolf Hitler's leader
ship, for their irritation is taken out
on small fry authorities.
Passive pessimism and preoccupa-
ton with personal troubles thus
seems to be the prevailing. German
popular mood. Meanwhile the Nazi
propaganda machine grinds indus
triously on, feeding the people a
mental diet which, while unsatisfy-
ing, is accepted from force of habit
and for want of anything better. 1t
should be remembered that in the
Germany of the last war public crit
icism and even political opposition
was possible, and had become highly
vocal by 1918. Nothing like that is
tolerated in the authoritarian Third
Reich, where the slightest sign of dis
content is quickly discovered and
ruthlessly repressed by the Gestapo.
Fear of the consequences OF total
defeat is likewise sharper today than
it was in the last war. Indeed, such
fears are deliberately fostered by
Nazi propagandasin order to induce
mood of reckless desperation.
Present-day Germany thus ap-
pears war-weary and depressed, but
not yet ready for unconditional sur
render" That is a frame of mind
which must still be induced by such
Allied measures as intensified bomb
ing and new defeats of the German
armies in the field. The cracking
point of popular morale is not in
sight. But such point undoubtedly
exists, and when it arrives it may
show itself far more rapidly than we