The Dominion. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1918. A CONFESSION OF DEFEAT

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 29, 29 October 1918, Page 4

The Dominion. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1918. A CONFESSION OF DEFEAT

. In the circumstances in which it has occurred, the resignation of von Ludendokfe; i§ the best evidence yet j afforded that the German militarists realise that their case is past mending. There has been Bpme talk lately about setting up a.military dictatorship in Germany, and it can hardly be doubted that had such a move, been made Ludendorff would have ; been the man selected as dictator. ■ Instead he has resigned, and it seems reasonable to hail the event as marking a long stride by the Allies towards the essential achievement to which they are pledged—the destruction of Prussian militarism. Ludendorff, as _a French commentator observes, "disappears because he is beaten." But unless appearances are strangely' deceptive, . Ludendohff's resignation is less important as an indication of his personal failure and defeat than as evidence of the fall from favour of the gang with which he is identified—the, party of brute force, of blood and iron, which has lost its hold ,upon the German nation not because any, moral revolution or change of heart has undermined its power, but because it has failed to do what it sot out to do; and ia unable to find an answer to the rising power of the Allied armies. Ludendorff is, or,was,;the living incarnation of Prussian militarism, its chosen champion.' His retirement is an open confession that the forces of Prussian militarism are impotent against the counter,, forces an outraged world has arrayed against them. . . •

The significance of the event in this full sense, and as it bears upon the immediate course of the war, is best gauged by the apparent impossibility of filling the place Luden , - dorff has vacated. At time of writing there is no intimation in regard to his successor, but apparently Hindenburg is again exercisJttg the supreme command from which he has never been formally displaced, though in all the later stages of the war actual control of the German armies has been vested in, his former Chief of Staff. • In any case, it is fairly certain that Lebendorff's resignation, whether it is voluntary or enforced,-does not mean that hopes are entertained of .replacing him with a more capable * commander. Although,he has never been as , popular a figure as Hindenburg was in his heyday, it is generally agreed that ho is the best brain of the German war machine.. Overwhelmingly as the German' armies have been defeated this year, and hopeless as their position now is, it is still true that "no .other German genoral rivals him in reputation. As far as can be judged, Mackensen, Falkenhayn, and the various army commanders who have come into prominence at times, are men of distinctly smaller calibre. It has been recognised for a long time that Hindenburg is decidedly inferior to Ludendorff, and there is little doubt that he owed much to the latter in connection with the successes against.Russia which laid the foundations ofhis popularity. On the facts in sight, Ltoendomt's resignation does not mean that Prussian militarism is changing one instrument for another, but that the best instrument at its disposal has been found wanting. , This should mean, in turn, that even the most extreme faction _in Germany now perceives the futility of attempting to improve existing prospects on the field of battle", and that eveD<by its most ardent advocates military! action is , now regarded as altogether secondary in importance to the efforts that are being made, in other ways to escape or modify the penalties of defeat. Nothing less than this, is/ suggested in Hindenbukg'b latest address to th'e German armies. It may be summed up as a plaintive confession of failure and defeat. He stated that he approved of the "steps.mado in favour of peace," and appealed to the German troops not to dabble in politics, and to trust him as in days , of good fortune. The address makes an addition to the convincing evidence already in sight that in.turning from LUDEMJORFF back to .HINDENBURQ Germany is not improving her military prospects, but is admitting that they are hopeless. Significant as it is of the waning power of the German military autocrats, Ludendodff's resignation evidently must be , attributed much more to external than to internal causes. It is the best evidence yet supplied that militarism is a spent and dying force, but there is no evidence that any spontaneous development in Germany has contribthis'state .of affairs. According to a message just received, LfDENppRFF's retirement was more in the , ' nature of a dismissal than a resignation, but the point raised is comparatively , immaterial. The German people in case have allowed the game of militarism to be played out almost to the end -without even entering an effective'pro•test, much less making any real effort for their own emancipation. Ludendorff's removal is almost certainly a'n_ event of positive significance as indicating the disintegration of German militarism, but there is as little in.the circumstances as in the. obviously insincere approaches i of the allegedly . democratised German Government to encourage 'the Allies to hope for any purposeful initiative on the part of the German people in creating a new 'and better order. \lt is of good augury that Ludendorff has at last been dislodged from his placo of power, but the fact that he was allowed to hold it so long undisturbed and unchallenged .emphasises the. necessity of taking nothing for granted where the internal remodelling of Germany and guarantees of future world peace •■•■ i concerned. The crumbling of t... powers that have, hitherto dominated Germany in no way resembles the process of rehabilitatiqn' in which' an aroused and awakened nation might engage. On fchu contrary, it stands in the greatest possible contrast to such renovation of the body politic. All that is demonstrated thus far is that the Sense of defeat is rapidly extending in Germany. It-has yet to appear that her people arc able or willing to contribute to their own liberation.