| Show it must mu st bil of ha 0 ah oh 11 4 11 A 4 it W I 1 T J S if at IT as I 1 Z w 0 CT 4 Y 4 by ELMO SCOTT WATSON ACH armistice da kindles emotions and memories tit in the minis of ille zens yens of tile the nations n alons which vv in the great conflict of 1114 1014 18 such as no other city in lit year ties has at present the power to do says anis tile british military h copt B U 11 liddell hart in the epilogue of his book the kelt war published recently by bv little brown and company a Y for those who ft ho shared in the experiences of those four and a ter years of struggle commemoration does doea not stale with repetition he continues but the mood in which it Is commemorated has under gone subtle changes on the original armistice itself the dominant note was a sigh of relief of 0 infinite volume most restrained among those who had the most direct cause for relief most exuberant perhaps among those who least app the relief the earlier anniversaries were dominated by two opposite emotions on the one liand hand grief a keener sense now that tile the storm had passed of the vacant places in our midst on the other hand triumph flamboyant only in rare cusps cases but nevertheless a heightened sense of victory that the enemy had been laid low that mood again has been modified modi fled armistice day ay has become more a com merno ration than a celebration the passage of if time has bus refined and blended the earlier e emotions so that without losing sense of the personal loss and of quiet thankfulness that as a nation we proved our continued power to meet a crisis graver than any lc in past annals WP we are conscious above all of the gen erril effects on the world and on civilization in this mood of reflection we are more ready to recognize both the achievements unit and the point of view of our late enemies and perhaps all the more befi uise we realize that both the causes and ali hie course of war are determined determine by bv tho folly and the fril lity rather than by the deliberate evil of human nature the war has become history lil story and enn can he be viewed in the perspective of history for good it has deepened our sense of fellowship and rom coal 01 of interest whether inside the lie nation or between nations but for good or bad I 1 id it hns has shatter pil our filth falth in idols our flat hem worshiping belief flint great men are different clay from corn mon men leaders are still mill necessary pel po hips rhalls more necessary but i r evv of nf their common humanity Is a safeguard either expecting from them hiem or trusting lit in them too much tt it hns has been for the benedit of if brith both history and of future generations hint flint the enst decade tins has seen such a flood of evidence nil and revelation of documents and memoirs that most uloet of the alters actors uro are still alive provide lit 1111 invaluable check in sifting tile the evidence while the his torrins themselves have been so immersed Ini lit in tile atmosphere of war that they have a certain tin im from the abstract theorizing Mii which a ills his corinn in ills his cloistered study fifty years later so easily contracts we know nearly all that hut Is to be known the one one drawback draw buck Is that thai the flood flond has been so huge chrit only the file student lins has been able to cope with its investigation that excellent statement of the spirit of armistice day as it Is s observed now and as it will be observed in the years to come Is a fittl fitting ij cilmet to tin an excellent one volume history or of the world war which gives the lie reader ns as no other single boalt lias has yet done it a clear idea of that flint con illet ilow it came to bo be how it was fought and how and why it resulted as it did tile flie reading of it might well be a singularly fitting part ot of ilia ho observance of armistice day for afler one has rend what Is written there there inevitably conies canies to the mind of the reader that cry wrung first from the baarts of the war weary wear nations 0 when a at lust list the hideous nightmare of four rears vonra of SI wits was ended till lip cry which has become a solemn vow it must tint not happen lii ippen and armistice day Is a day for repeating that vows bov tie the paci pacifists fists will gain no comfort front tile hie war ar por for it shows all rou cost clearly thit unless the chev y can clinnie million rin nature linture ture their recipe for li holding war inn enn never he a made to work nor will ft III file militarists had in its pages any to support their theories its is to the lest way to ward off on tile the lunger of war on the contrary cont t the lie history of the world war constitutes tile the most damning indictment that can he be brought against the extremists on holli both sides but sonie some where in between ties lies the answer in the common sense of tle tile masses of the people of nil all nations who have to fight the wars which are brought to then them by their blundering pence peace leaders and who suffer most in those wars through the lie mistakes of their blundering war leaders it Is f from rom out that common sense wits its increased recognition of the folly and frailty rather than tile the deliberate evil of human tin nature ture and its deepened sense of fellowship und community interest whether inside side the file nation or between nations 11 tant there comes the sorrowing cry and tile the sol dmn vow row of it roust must not happen n alanl the fundamental causes of tile the world war cun can be epitomized in three words according to cup tain laddell hart they are fear hunger and pride benr of owe ove nation by bv another whether there was any real justification for it or nut not i hunger for more territory tory and more prestige in the family of nations r I 1 pride which would not allow tile lie lenders leaders tin and diplomats of the various nations to recede from stands they had taken even though their stano could gaan aln them no rent advantage and arf another threat tit nl the pence of europe Althis ugh allied during the war and even after it fixed file blame for the war upon ilia hie ventral powers the alie e evi dence chich tills british historian brings forth foith shows that ali it till nil the R r anne Hn angland gland rus sla la germany genii my ausilla ionly and ohp bill kan santes had moire in the rear the hunger gerand and the pride which brought on it tile lie wor the origins of the war wint inck back nore inne than f 40 learh and by loh 1914 the lie surface of the HIP conal nil nent wits strewn with powder the hittel spark was struck tit HI ilip Bo vulli jil on oil june 28 8 1014 1914 even tills this spark might not have li IM set olt oft the explosion eipl ion had li al it 11 not been fur for the f fial let flint tit in gor many austria and ilie military men during the crisis pre fire reding tile itlie lind had gained enli ed the appi upper r hand ball mer ivr and were determined upon war nil inspired in alicd liv isy it a common fear of heing liean caught off IT guard lit in fact the lie blui blum lr lers of military technique Is ore one of tile main s of tills this book in it holthe the german calef or still han 1 is shown its as it lilun blun dering war vr lender it lie paints hindenburg and Luden I 1 dorlY as gromi howo great ret only lit in legend and in allied iry idols tire its as ruthlessly exposed eins cd foch Is shown us its i over rated gei gereral eral especially during the early earl purt pint of the war 1 loltie ofTie fulls falls to rase lit li the llie heights required of a great commander kimiji indar in ahlet deause of t lack of initiative PId nell hart cond condemns enins ills optimism divorce from froin reison and shows flint popular opinion to alir contrary nitwit list anding joffre jainie was not tile lie liero of the marno os as ills his name lins ills owe oine down in nor a truly great military lender in the file four year struggle ruggle bt on the western front one stroke of napoleonic alc genius if noted anted and hint flint wits by that most of military men general GaIl leni safety safely shelved when the ilia war began lit in the job of military governor of parts it was tills professorial officer in eye eyeglasses glasse and lellon gel who saw the opportunity that joffre did not see and sir coln jo D french did not see who sue suc ceeder in III opening joffres eyes with the result that an army was ns sent around paris to strike the germans germana on their exposed flank stopping their advance and then forcing their retreat tills wits nas the first battle of the alie marne nor floes does tills this british export expert spare the military leaders leni leis of ills his own on nation it was as blunders by high british official tit at home which brought bron glit about tile dardanelles Darda nelles und and flasco fiasco when they refused to heed beer the of their mites who ahn were on tile lip ground and kilo know v hast needed to make tile the it sue site cess it was chesi same arm in chair warriors who though having had find timple ii dance warning of the german Gernian penns phing for using ns lri gas either pooh poo lierl the file iden idea or disregarded it enair ay fill and it wait ns the sump same men who delayed the of links which hah burned out hit to lie be MK such li a bormida forn ildi life ble weapon and then were only onh holf h e arlel in of the hie idea sir lorn john french the ilie fjeld who begrin began the war nr Is painted us its endlessly vacillating rind sir dougla 8 hal big fers for ills his belief lit in his divine right to command and fur for ills his needless sacrifice of men in the first chrep years spins of at the war in enet it Is lint flint lust last which lends a tone lone of bitterness to the cry of it fiust not nit happen again I 1 the masses of people of the lie nations might rend read captein biddell harts book and have only a casual interest in his of successful and unsuccessful technique of why tills stra move won and that Inc error lost a pawn ision in tile the grent game of war nor would they be In inclined lined to blame this general or that one for his failure hut but when they read how lio tills this general or that thiet one gambled with tile the lives of thousands of men inrid when there was as no real advantage to lo lip gained and flipse Is borne upon them the file full horror hin of it the needless slaughter of nf the piling mn n of the nallon then hien it Is that flint 11 11 ll II fiust not luippen again I 1 takes tin on an omin otlis tone sach t wh i isas are nil all too toi common in 1 lit iteal war lit in li it tile one rends reads how flow in september ilu 1914 innie llie tin nn a breah through li liv hy the french and 1100 ai in two to ret heiters fors his fits glnn r fi tiled true liue lip hp did enin 11 slight amount of ground lull but the tapo bosl l was n casi talty list of I 1 lit ID 1918 the world balled I 1 lidi it ny its hip clip general of nil the korep 10 nm lo tit nt lust last hid brought victory flat kiil liil Inlo oln fl artil fi 1 lbook 1 us as hint in it wl rt ia wal wild begged sir french il td in rt it I 1 kiili french ni ili M niep lc io the 1 glnn tit nl till ill costs sn q tit alir p british general hurled ilk troops into inlo tit hie littan litta 1 and when ills his seeing the flip uselessness of efforts asked to withdraw sir john french rr eiith influenced hv by boull overruled their falli ant alip they were to stay there to ti lie lit in readiness to lo old tile flip grenvil offensive olT enslie hut flat hint flint of never for finally 1 atieh I IKI confessed chat tant loffre so io fur for from ing was ais for crimps to be sent from arps tit ti streng iben ills often she bhe near arras aims that hull tile kept ills his troops in fit clip ballent sallent where liere they llie were one huge p target to be pounded and gassed incessantly with kheir scanty ammunition running out until relief lump came nt last lit in the flip fourth week of may the flip cler at milas exhausting their own in oina iral ir nl superfluity of shells sl ielli ill HIP luthor of the real war speaks bien ls volumes in these words to fliri nood good money after hile ani Is f ilish kul but to throw way loons lives where chete Is nil ni reasonably chance of Is in the hent beat of bi ittle mistakes tn in the command are and amply sut but tile the rent indictment of arises when nhen attucks flint are inherently vain are ordered merely bet bemuse ailse if 11 they could succeed they would he use ful fill por pir such manslaughter whether it brings front ignorance lenni anie it 11 false conception conc eltIon of aar or a ant of if moral courage commanders should be hold held ne countable to the nation lint but lest one get bel the idea that this I 1 british III Is ag ng ngan dinst ln the slaughter of life his countrymen through tle tile mis of the military lender leader of another nation netlon let it he be recorded that flint heis he Is no less strong in his enunciation denunciation of britini generals too I 1 ab 4 by jentei Is nov paper union |
