Hermann's New Leader and the Old Through French Eyes.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 235, 15 December 1916, Page 3 (Supplement)

Hermann's New Leader and the Old Through French Eyes.

ENEMY LEADERS FRENCH APPRECIATION

HINDENBURG AND FALKENHAYN.

In a book which has been published quite recently in Paris, under the title of Silhouettes Allemandes, there appear two curious biographical anecdotal sketches of Field-Marshal von Hundenburg and General von Falkenhayn, which afford interesting reading at the present moment. The author, M. Paul Louis Hervier, is a lively and accomplished writer, who has made a special study of German history and literature. He is also one of the rare Frenchmen who understand our literature (says the Morning Post), and he is well known as the writer of a life of Charles Dickens.

According to this authority, Paul Benckendorff von Hindenburg was bom at Posen sixty-nineye ars ago, and he went to school at Glogau, a small garison town, where his father was stationed as an officer. On leaving school, young Hindenburg received a certificate us follows: " Apart from the fact that he is too great a talker his conduct has been good. His progress in theology, Latin, and geography has been satisfactory, but in arithmetic he is as bad as bad can be." It seems that the too talkative schoolboy has since learned the art of holding his tongue, and also that he has mastered the difficulties of the multiplication table. He comes of a military family. Ever since the German people have shown a disposition to recoup liim for the long years of neglect from which lie suffered until he suddenly emerged into fame some two years ago (one would look in vain for his name in the German Who's Who for 1914), German writers have devoted much research, to the martial deeds of his ancestors. It is asserted that twenty-three Beckendorffs have died in the service of their count 17 under the banners of the Electors of Brandenburg and the Kings of Prussia. Hindenburg himself was one of four Beckendorffs who served in the German armies in 1870. In that campaign two of the four wer'e killed, and the remaining two wounded. Already Hindenburg had served in the six weeks' war of 1866.

A LUCKY SOLDIER. At Roseberitz he wa.i wounded in the head by a rifle bullet. It was a. narrow squeak, and the Marshal preserves in his house at Hamburg the helmet which he was wearing at the time and which has a bullet hole in it. In the war of 1870 he was particularly lucky, for he took part in several battles, and was not wounded once. On one occasion a bullet grazed one of his boots. At St. Privat he received the Iron Cross. There he was picked up from under his horse, which had been shot dead. He was badly bniised, but otherwise uninjured. At fifty-four years of age he was appointed to the command of a Corps d'Armee. After a comparatively uneventful career, fte was placed on the retired list five years ago. At that time he was generally known as the old madman or the man of the lakes. Events have marched rapidly of late, and the old madman has been hailed as a demi-god. The nickname mian of the lakes had reference to his studies with reference to the Masurian Lakes from the point of view of military tactics. With him those lakes became an obsession, and formerly while on active service he boraowed a gun from the garrison of Konigsberg and made his men fire all day long into the hikes in order to note the effects obtained with bombs of different calibres. In addition to this he had the gun dragged about over all tlia roads with a view to discovering the degree of resistance of different kinds of ground. If the sun got stuck fast sit had to be dragged out in all ha«te, whi'Je he, watch in hand, took note of the time required for the operation. By this means he acquired an intimate knowledge of the consistency of the mud in different regions. General Mud was another nickname which stuck to him. Three years ago the question was raised in the Reichstag of the advisability of draining the Mansurian marshes. Hindenburg, lieing apprised of the project, made certain representations to the Ministry of War, the result of which was that he was officially delegated to oppose the project at the next sitting of the Chamber. He delivered a portentious speech, tending to show that the Masurian Lakes presented an important natural obstacle on this side of the frontier of Eastern Prussia, which was otherwise poo: .y defended. This view prevailed, and tlio project was vetoed. In spite of this Minister of War does not seem t(. halve felt that he had any occasion for his services, and Hindenburg continued to live peacefully in retirement in Hanover. At the period when wax broke out an elderly gentleman was to be seen daily at a certain hour seated by himself at a little table in the Linden Oafe. His air was grave, forbidding even, and when he opened his mouth, which as not often, he spoke burg.

THE CHESS PALYERS He had few friends, but at times he would be seen playing chess with an adversary, who, like himself, was a retir>ed officer. The players ma do their moves with solemn deliberation, scarcely ever exchanging a word with each other, and puffing out great clouds f smoke from their rapacious and wellfiMed pipes . If tiie proprietor of til*" 1 cafe had been questioned at that time as: to the identity of liis customer he would doubtless have said: "That is Hindenburg. a retired General, who lives in Hanover. He. comes here regularly: he is not sociable, and he has few friends. He is aivravs accompanied ev two or three dogg. He is quite a character.-' At the present moment the Linden cafe is about to blossom forth i" the Cafe Hindenburg, and people point with pride to the corner where tho solitary customer used : to spend so much of his time. They will tell you that his family, which came originallv Iron Eastern Prussia, was poor, that his rniieer was undistinguished, hut that he was studious and careful. As a young lieutenant, they sav, with on I" 2s 6d a day for his pay, In supported his widowed mother; lie worked har.l. nnd came out top in the examination for a Captain's commission; ho was riot popular w'th his fellows, because he took no pnrt in their social doings, but his men likedi him because they know that beneath a- rough exterior he h id a kind heart. The respect which his men entertained for him was qualified, however, by fear, for hj« was a sWn dNeir.'inarian. It was at his dearly-beloved Linden Cafe that he heard of the tnre of Liege and Xamur and tlie battle of Mons. Tt was then that a sudden and dramatic change in his destiny

took place. General von Ludendorf, who had been a brother officer of his. ' mentioned his name to the Emperor William. The Emperor laughingly said . that nothing was to be expected of the man of the lakes; but it so happened that it was precisely in the region of the Masurian Lakes tliat the German armies in the East found themselves in difficulties at that moment. The Emperor was persuaded to give Hinden'burg a trial, and orders were sent out accordingly. "All of a. sudden," the Marshal himself has declared, "I re- | ceived a telegram informing me that t the Emperor had bestowed 011 me a command in the army of the East. ! did not even have time to buy warm i clothing, and to have my old uniforms furbished up. I took a sleeping-car in a train de luxe, and travelled to Eastern Prussia like a prince." A few weeks later lie commanded a corps d' armeie of reserve, and drove back the Russians at Augerburg.

' IDOL OF THE GERMANS. ! Not lorg afterwards the erstwhile forgotten General found liimself in position of Commander-in-Chief of the German Army in East Prussia, the ido! of Germany, which acclaimed him as n Heaven-sent leader, and a FieldMarshal. With this accession of fortune the silent customer of the Linden . Cafe remained what he always had j been. He spoke little and he smoked a great- deal. It may be said that ho > does not meditate his plans; he smokes' ! them. And he is as brusque and uncou- [ promising in his manner as ever. Apropos of this charactistic, a story is told of his meeting the German Emperor at manoeuvres some years ago. The German Emperor and he had been commanding rival armies, and Hindenburg, of course had been beaten. At the close of the day the Emperor asked the vanquished General what he thought of the mimic campaign. "It was very pretty, your Majesty," sai'd | Hindenburg, "because it was all pretence; but if we had really been lighting I should have completely demolished your men. Your Majesty made several tremendous mistakes. I could have taken your men in flank, and all those ] d : d not kill I should have driv'en into the Baltic." The Emperor never forgave that remark, and his ad--1 versary for the day was under no illusions as to why lie was left to dawdle his time away so long in Hanover. Even since he became petted and famous he has had more than one encounter with his official chief. On one occasion he refused to recommend his otti- ' cers, who possessed great influence for the Iron Cross, saying that they had not done anything to deserve it. The Emperor said nothing, 'but the officers got their Crosses all the same. Hindenburg, however, is considered too valuable \ man to be placed once more on the retired list. Even in officialridden Germany public opinion would not hear of such a thing. When a whisper went round that the popular Field-Marshal was suffering from gout, whole wagcn-loads of slippers and medicaments were sent to him at the Eastern front by his fervid admirers in the Fatherland The story of his colossal statue and the nails that are driven deep into it is well known. M. Hervie r more than hints that the so-called gold- < r nails for which so high a price is exacted am really only gilded', and he chuckles to think what a disappointment has awaited the thieves, of whom ii: seems there are a goodly number, who hflvt stolen them under cover o? night.

THE EX-FAVOURITE. General Erich von Falkenhayn is r. man of a totally different stamp. A strategist by profession, lie is a diplo- ' nmtist by nature. Until his recent dis- ' grace he appeared to have played his cards so well that he had accomplished the difficult task of gaining the eonli- ! deuce both of th? Emperor and of -lie Crown Prince. Von Failkenhayn was ' praised to the skies both by Germans and Austrians for the part lie played - in the campaign that resulted in the ' capture of Warsaw, and for a time 'ie J was first appointed to the post which was vacated by von Moltke on the ' ground of illness. People at that time asked whrt he had done that he should be made Chief of the General Staff. Criticism was hushed, however, after the. Russian retreat in Galieia, and m all stationers' shops one saw his portrait, with the legend "the hero of j Warsaw." In May, 11* 15. the Emperor conferred on him thy Order of the

Black Eagle, a decoration usually re- ' served for Princes, and in doing so 'said: "With keen and clear glance, | accurately gauging the situation, you 1 discvoereJ the point at which the Rus- ( sian Army was most vulnerable, and ' the propo-als you made in consequence achieved a great success. The present | glorious victory gives me a fresh cp- . portunity of declaring my thanks and , those of' the Fatherland for your devoted work, which, in a quiet and unselfish manner, you have poriormed n j inv service and that of the Fatherland.

Among those who made it possible for the German Army to show a bold front to the world of enemies and to achieve gn at success over thein, you stand, as Chief of the German Stall with the f • >1(1 army, in the first rank. A- a

token of my gratitude f confer upon

you the Order of the Black Eigie. .Mas for tiie mutability of banian affairs and the ingratitude of Prince*! I : is an Order of a totally different kind that i- no-.v presented to this far-seeing General by his august mast r. Von Falkcnhayn is of Bohemiui extraction, btii as far back as the beginning <>! the seventeenth century 11i*< ancestors removed from Prague to Vienna. As matter of fact, he is Au-trian rather

than Prussian in temperane'iit. Like ii*-st men of Southern hh:od, lie is

emotional, passing rapidly fiont gai.tv to the lowest d pths of depre.-ion. Tli< disposition is hectoring and overhearing. There is a vein nf m< h'reholv in his nature, due, it is said, to the fact that some years ago he lost h's eldest

son, a youth on whom he li e 1 centr- d great hopes for the future. However, he has still two children. :• c, ei and a

EARLY CAREER

daughter, both quite yonng. His tastes are very simple, and his home is that (/ an ordinary middle-class German.

Von Falkenhayn was born at Be!ehau in 1861, and in early life he joined ai cactct corps. In 1880 he became a lieutenant in an infantry regiment stationed at Oldenburg, and seven years later lie entered the Academy of War with excellent recommendations. For three years he was cn the GeneraJ Stall, then in 1893 lie was promoted captain. Two years later he was appointed to a company of the 21st Infantry Regiment at Thorn. After staying at Thorn for a year he went out to China under Field-Marshal vion Waldei •see and made, by all account, a great impression on the Court at Peking. The late Dowager Empress received him most graciously, and one of the Chinese Princesses prepared a cup of tea for him with her own hands. The Dowager Empress even conferred on him the decoration of the Two Dragons. While in China, lie came across Yuan Shih-kai, as yet unknown to fame, and it is said that it was owing to this fact that the late Chinese statesman became so imbued with Prussian ideas. Falkenhayn re-organ-ised the Chinese Army, a task which kept him employed for two years, and at the end of that time, his fame having spread to Tokyo, lie was invited to visit Japan, where lie was received bv the Emperor and decorated with the Order of the Rising Sun. It was even suggested that Jie should accept a high temporary apointment in the Japanese Army, but that his Government, fearing international complications, recalled him to Germany. After remaining for a brief term at the General Staff, he was made Attache at KiaoChau. In 1900 he returned to Germany and served as a field officer in the 14th Army Corps. On the outbreak o e the Boxer Rebellion, however, he went out once more to the Far East with the German Expeditionary Force. On his return once more to Germany he was a pointed to the command of the -ith Regiment of Guards. From this moment his promotion was rapid, until June, 1913, when he was made lieuten-ant-generil and Minister of War. Xever before had there l»een so young p. man in that position in Germany. Finally, in December, 1914, while retaining his post as iMnister of War, he became Chief of the General Staff. But soma time afterwards General von Hohenhorn replaced him at the Ministry of War, and he was able to devote himself exclusively to the duties of Chief of the Staff, a division of labour for which the great Moltkc had always contended.

THE EMPEROR'S CAMPANION. Since the lieginning of the war Falkenhayn has l>een an almost constant companion of the Emperor, whom he accompanies on his visits to the different fronts. The German people have, ot had, a very high opinion of Falkenliayn's power of organisation. To him they largely attribute the power of economic resistance which Germany has shown in the war. As regards foreign policy, it is a. fixed idea with Falkenhayn that Germany, if it is not to be overrun in the future by Russia:, with its constantly increasing population, must create a new buffer State in Eastern Europe, to be made up of Poland, Lithuania, and the Ukraine, which Jie would call the "Eastern Slav Confederation." Great enthusiasm was shown at one time for this paper project both by the Emperor William and the Gerfuan people, but naturally, since tlid beginning of the Russian offensive, it has receded into the background, it is thought that Falkenhayn never believed it advisable to endeavour to take territory from France, but that he detests France even more than Russia, and is keenly desirous of bringing about her downfall and humiliation.