THE REAL GERMANY.

Taranaki Daily News, 12 September 1916, Page 3

THE REAL GERMANY.

CONDITIONS OF TO-DAY. SPECIAL OBSERVER'S ACCOUNT. 'A FIGHT FOR EXISTENCE. T-iirt 1. The London Times published in July an account of the tine condition of Germany which had reached it from an unimpeachable source. It is based upon the experience of an observer who reached Switzerland a few days ago, after having lived in Germany and enjoyed special facilities for observation since the beginning of the war. The article commence*:— It is hard to describe the feeling of bewilderment that overcomes any person who reaches a neutral country alter having lived for nearly two years in the atmosphere of Germany I gather that the Press in the German speaking part of Switzerland has been regarded in some Allied"countries as reflecting German views and sympathies. Whether this is so or not I cannot say; but I can say that, when I read the German Swiss newspapers, and it began to dawn upon me that the atmosphere in which I had lived so long did not reflect the true situation of the Allies, 1 felt inclined to exclaim, ''Do I sleep, do I dream, or is visions about?" Robinson Crusoe, returning from his island, can hardly have rubbed his eyes with greater astonishment. The Press of German Switzerland, from which my first impressions of the outer world were lerivcd, certainly tells the impartial truth in sufficient degree to save its readers from sharing German illusions. What more can beaskqd of a neutral Press? Scarcely less astonishing than the discovery that the position of the Allies is not what Germans fondly believe it to be is the mistaken conception .prevalent in some Allied countries of the real condition of Germany and of the state of mind of the German people. I propose to describe as simply as possible what that condition and that stale of mind really are.

THE PUBLICS VIEW. Unless I am entirely mistaken—and my experience of life in Germany lias been continuous—no essential change in public feeling lias taken place imong the German masses since the beginning of the Avar; or. if there has been a change, it has not been in the direction of discouragement. The utmost which ordinary Hermans can be got to say is that "it i? high time Mint peace were made''—hut they mean, of course, a German peace, one which shall consolidate and correspond to Herman victories. They not only feel that they arc victorious, but they are firmly persuaded that they can-

not be beaten. At first it was thought that the war would be short and triumphant. Confid- . enee in the Army and in its chiefs was boundless. Illustrated papers represent the spirit of Bismarck as brooding over Paris and pointing the way to a repetition of the mighty deeds of 1870 ami IS7I. The Battle of the Manic was taken as a proof that the task might be longer and harder than 'had at first been supposed, but all talk of a German reverse was checked by the explanation •that, on the Marne, the German armies had merely stayed their advance for a time, in order to take up positions carefully selected 15 years earliei by the foresight of the General Staff. As time went on the conviction grew and,deepened that Germany was fighting for her very existence. Though obliged by the necessities of the situation to attack, the view constantly inculcated upon the people was that Germany was and i= on the defensive. There are no means of getting this notion out of the public mindFEEUXT! TOWARDS EXGLAXD. Gradually the bitterness of feeling towards England increased. It is now intense. The Germans had been hopeful that, in the event of a Europenn war. England would at least be neutral. Some even dreamed that England might be on their side. They never imagined that she would declare war upon them. The declaration of war was consequently a ' great blow, though the plira«:> of the King of Bavaria—"So much the better; the more enemies the greater honor"— quickly passed from moutih to mouth. At the'time I felt, and 1 still believe, that had the attitude of England been plainer Germany would have shrunk from making war until she was quite sure that England would stand aloof. Now nothing short of thorough military defeat will convince the German people that they can be beaten. Otherwise there will he no peace except on Germany own terms. The people are prepared to suffer, much as they may dislike the inconvenience to which the war has put them. This i? particularly true of Slates like Bavaria, where I spent =ome time before leaving the country. If the Bavarians could he given a smashing blow there might be a rapid end of the war, hut they are now as persuaded as ■ ihev were at the beginning that their generals and their soldiers cannot be defeated. Even a Prussian defeat would not make much impression in Bavaria unless the Bavarian armies were defeated at the same time. The Allies may not have noticed how carefully the Berlin Government plays upon the feelings of the various German "tribes." To-day it is the Pomeranians, to-morrow the Brandcnburgcrs, next day the Saxons, and then the Bavarians who are singled out for special praise in the official bulletins. Everything is so organised in every detail by the Government in order to carry out its policy that the public has no opportunity of acquiring views of its own. Popular cc~fidence in ollicial management and in the official account?, of things is still absolute. This situation *cquircs the careful attention of the Allies. I will try to indicate some of the source? of this German confidence and to suggest means by which it might be undermined.