Evening star., 1944-01-30
Wars Length to Be Fixed
By Psychological Factors
German Morale Held More Likely to Yield
to Promises of Fairness Than to
Threats of Annihilation
By Constantine Bro,On.

me 6fONn.
France. The Germans had formidable
force across the Channel. The British
were still unprepared They fought des-
perately and stubborn1y because they
realized that defeat would mean the
end of the British Isles as well as the
empire itself. Free people prefer death
to slavery.
1t would be unwise to believe that the
German people are less aware than were
the British and the Russians of what
will happen to them and their country
If the Allied armies break through their
defenses and destroy the Wehrmacht.
AS a matter of fact, we have told the
Germans plainly that they need expect
no mercy when they are defeated The
German propaganda machine has made
great use of the Kharkov executions by
the Russians to bolster the fighting de-
termination of the Nazi army.
Won by IA Points.
The statements of President Roose-
welt and other Allied leaders that Ger
many would have to go long way to
convince us that she will not be harmful
again were used by the same propagan-
dists to tell the people of the Reich that
the famous words "vae victis" (woe to
the vanquished would be applied to the
Reich with vengeance. And to the
official utterances of the Allied states
men are added the rumors that Ger
many will be divided into small sections
with parts of the Reich turned over to
Poland or Russia, while others might be
used to expand Czechoslovakia or AUS
tria or any other country desiring por-
tions of the Reich.
This matter is discussed frequently
in many Washington quarters in which
a parallel is being drawn between the
present situation and the one which
existed in 1917 when President Woodrow
Wilson, an idealist, brought forth his
IA points which promised the Germans
that they would live as free people in
free society of nations if they would
rid themselves of the powers which
brought about the World War
The inside story of war is known
only several years after the war is over.
1t has become clear since the end Of
the World War that Mr.. Wilson's IA
points contributed more to the break
in German morale than defeats dealt to
the German armies.
Many military men maintain that the
Allied armies would not have broken so
| easily through the German lines had it
| not been for the fact that the German
| people and the German fighting men
| gave up a hopeless war not because
they felt that they had been vanquished
but because they believed they had a
better chance to live as free people in
world such as envisaged by President
Wilson.
Expected Longer war.
Had it not been for this factor no one
knows how much longer the war might
have lasted or how much more costly
the battle might have been. 1t is well
known now that none of the Allied gen.
| erals believed that the Germans would
| break in 1918 and had made plans for
| at least another 18 months of fighting.
| In many quarters this has been used to
| demonstrate that military men have a
habit of looking at the dark side of the
| picture and do not know when the
enemy is licked. The truth is that it is
now possible to have long-range evalu-
alton of the psychological factors lead
| ing to breakdown of morale. Some
thing snaps in an army or among the
| civilian population and in a short time
the morale is gone.
Those who have made real study Of
| psychological warfare maintain that
neither hunger nor hardship is necessar-
| lily conducive to the much-desired break.
| Throughout history people have fought
bravely against what appeared to be
| impossible odds. But a near-defeated
nation can be brought to her knees by
| promises and suggestions that her people
would live under better circumstances
and conditions if they gave up the
| struggle.
The coalition which fought Napoleon
| until he was defeated was emphatic in
proclaiming that members of the coali-
ton were not fighting the French people
but only their leader. In spite of
Napoleon's chain of military victories
| the French people abandoned him, the
army lost heart and victory was made
| easier.
The American generals and admirals
who are responsible for the coming
| attack against the Nazi fortress are
| confident that the American and the
British forces can do the job. They also
| are fully awars that, however cunning
and well concealed our military plans
may be, the price we will have to pay for
| victory against the Nazis will be ex-
tremely heavy, unless, of course, the
! morale Of the Germans breaks before,
or soon after we set foot in Western
Europe.
See Long Struggle.
AS things stand today, it would be
foolhardy to believe that the German
divisions delegated to defend the Reich
will give up with little or no struggle
Intelligence reports and the stubborn
resistance of the Nazis in Italy and
Russia point to long and heavy
| struggle.
Quarters which are aware that the
defeat OF Hitler will not end the war
SO lar as America is concerned wonder
whether change of tune in regard to
the future of the Reich would not bring
better results. There are indications
that If the Germon people were required
only to dispose of Hitler and his hench-
men and return all stolen property the
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