Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1944-10-08

MILITARY auLQOrltleS VINO IN the past
have been so hopeful that all organized
resistance In Germany would break
down in the next few weeks now believe
there Is strong possibility that we may
have to fight hard winter campaign.
High-ranking military men in Washing
ton have never gone on record as pre-
dieting that the war would end on such
and such day. But in private they
showed a good deal Of confidence in
July and August that the Nazis, trapped
by two huge offensives from the west
and east, would give up the fight before
the end of this year.
This appraisal of the situation was
based on military and psychological fac
tors. From the military point Of view, it
was felt that the Germans, having to
fight on three major fronts, would have
to yield for lack of manpower and ade-
quate war material. The American and
British military men could not see how
Hitler's army, which had suffered such
terrific losses In the previous II months,
could fight on If the Allies launched
heavy and simultaneous attacks on the
three fronts.
The psychological factor on which the
forecast was based was the inability of
the German people to go through sew
eral months of hardship without the
slightest hope of their armies being able
to bring about a stalemate on any front.
The German people were bound to be-
come rebellious because of the lack of
food, clothing and particularly homes.
The cities Of the Reich have suffered
severely from the devastating American
and British raids The overcrowded city
population had to live in shacks with
out plumbing and heating and could not
survive unless they were determined to
endure the hardship of the severe Ger
man winter.
New Meaning to Surrender.
The garrulous statements from the
United States regarding the future fate
OF the Reich and its peoples have been
mama from heaven for DR.. Goebbel's
propagandists. They have proved to the
German citizenry that the end Of the
war would mark only the beginning Of
an era for them such as history has
never known. The sentence used in
Pravda, official Soviet newspaper, on
September ID in regard to the Finnish
people that henceforth they have mo
rights but only obligations" was to be
applied to the 80 ,o00, 900 inhabitants of
Germany.
According to the latest available sur
vey, this has caused them to tighten
their belts and prepare to Withstand any
war hardship rather than surrender
The words unconditional surrender
now have for them much deeper mean
ing than heretofore. But even this re-
action Of the public would have not been
as determined as 1t is now reported had
1t not been for the fact that in the last
few weeks, ever since we reached the
borders of Germany, they have become
hopeful again that the Allies may not
be able to break through their defense
lines as easily as 1t was thought at first.
The military plans of the Allies suffer
one major drawback-there is no over
all unified command The general lines
OF last summers offensive were estab-
hshed at Teheran in December, 1913,
when 1t was agreed among President
Roosevelt, Premier Stain and Prime
Minister Churchill that the Allied
armies would attack the enemy from the
east, the west and the south sinful
taneously.
But while the American and British
Armies are fully co-ordinated under one
commander in chief, the Russians have
nothing to do with that commander in
chief. Moreover, the center of the Amer
lean and British war strategy Is located
In Washington. The combined chiefs