WAR DISCLOSURES

Hokitika Guardian, 7 February 1929, Page 8

WAR DISCLOSURES

BY PRINCE RUPPRECHT. WARNINGS THE KAISER DID NOT HEED. HEREIN, December 7. “' Our troops are burning to fight. . .” That is the first sentence in the War J)iary oif Prince Runprecht, the man who would now he King of Bavaria it' the German people had not gone to wa r. It was written on August 9, .1911. when the German people thought of tlie war as a jolly jaunt into the territories of their neighbours, and if adds to the tragedy of the three great volumes containing Prince Rupprecht’s daily record of the war which are published to-day. Prince Ruppreeht commanded the German (sth Army in August-Septem-ber 191-1. In October lie was at the head of the German Army on the Eys, and later held the German line ifrom Ypres to Arras, taking part in many battles, chiefly against British troops. In 1917 lie held the line frAm tiie Oise to the sea, and in 1918 commanded a group of armies. The diary and the letters which are included in the third volume show that the Prince, a man with an alert mind and plenty of common sense, was quicker to see coming disaster than those who had more influence on the direction of Germany’s course. “BOW TO THE INEVITABLE.” As early as May 191(5 he writes to his father that without doubt Germany must abandon some of the aims which she had set herself. “ A year ago 7 thought- differently, but wo must unhappily bow to the inevitable and give up many beautiful dreams.” One .June 10, 191(5. lie declares to the Bavarian Foreign Minister that he had given up the hope of a decisive success on the Western Front. On August 23 he tel is the King that unless peace, can be made witli Russia “ there is danger for us with a continuing war on two fronts of actually bleeding to death.” Two days later lie implores the King t i gp to the Kaiser and to speak to him about coming to an understanding with Russia. “Otherwise,” he writes “we shall probably lose the war.” In October there is a note of positive despair in a letter to bis father. SHARP CRITICISM. In the summer of 1917 the Prince makes a general survey of the situation in a letter to the Chancellor, Count Hertling. His criticism is sharp. The bomb attacks on London have failed. The chief danger for England had been the Labour Movement-—here the Prince was wrong—and the attacks or London had only stiffened the hacks „f the working people and turned them against Germany.” “The Kaiser,” he writes, “has lost all credit, and many serious people doubt whether the Hnlienzollern dynasty will survive the war.” He complains that General Ludendorff is taking over the direction of foreign and home policy and as aft-ei events proved—sums him up accurately: “He is not a cool, balanced statesman ; be lacks Hie necessary training.” In February 1918 he is greatly disturbed by plans broached by the military leaders for the union of Lithuania and Corn-land to Russia, while he himself holds that if strong forces have to be left on the Eastern front “it is absolutely impossible to end tlie war victoriously.” In June he writes a letter to the Chancellor that, in view of the lack of men and horses, the time has come to enter into peace negotiations. He declares that Germany’s only course is to renounce any idea oH annexing Belgium. In September his tone is piteous. “In a few days the enemy may break through the German front. The conclusion of peace, even with the gicatest sacrifice, is urgent-.” REFUSING TO FACE FACTS. On September 30 there are two letters to his father. In the morning he writes that the military position is worse, and complains that those in command refuse to lace facts. In the afternoon the tone is tragic. He says: “ What I have long feared has come quicker than 1 expected; definite defeat. The bar was bout so far that it finally broke. We have lost 800 guns in the last few days and the troops have no power of resistance loit It is absolutely necessary to stop immediately and at any price, for we are a.s good as defenceless.” It is the letter of a general conscious of defeat which the Prince sends to his father oil October 14: “ The situation grows worse before one’s eyes, (severe reverses can only be averted by constant withdrawal from the threatened fronts. ft is questionable whether this can go on longer. It is hardly thinkable that wo can hold lor long on the Meuse line il the enemy’s attack continues.” TROOPS WORN OUT. j Tie declares that the demands made I of the troops are beyond anything they | can hear. “ The men are so exhaust.- [ ed that they cannot put up a defeme 1 against even insignificant attacks. And later in the day he writes: “ Our troops are so worn out. It is piteous. If we do not have an arnustic(! whatever the conditions, at once, the Vorst is to be fearedt”

The last of these letters was written on November J, 1919. Prince Ruppreelit, begging the King to go and see the Kaiser and put the position before him, says: “ Things cannot go further a.s they are. . . Only an immediate peace, however hard its terms may be, can bring salvation. The movement which can lie discerned in Northern Germany -- which has already passed to deeds in Austria—may spread to Bavaria.” The Prince realised the revolution which was approaching in Germany and saw the sceptre falling from the hands of the House of Wittelshaeli. And this last tragic letter ends: “ Ml that is happening I foresaw more than a year ago.” ASHAMED TO BE A GERMAN. And in the entry in his diary on November 10, when the Prince was in Brussels, he says: “ Belgian Hags, black, yellow, and red, arc appearing on the Houses. 1 am overcome with unspeakable disgust. For the first time in my life, and so all the more deeply, I feel ashamed to lie a German. What must tlie Belgians think of us and how they must despise us!”