NAPOLEON'S WAR MAXIMS.

Taranaki Daily News, 23 April 1917, Page 8

NAPOLEON'S WAR MAXIMS.

"If Napoleotf were alive to-day?" llow often of late have you heard that prelude to something pertinent, patriotic, or otherwise?. But is Napoleon dead? Whose spirit has inspired the French at Verdun? '

Do not forget that tlie great Bonaparte said as well as did things in a | masterly way. His siyings, particularly on matters military and policies o£ State, are as true and 'vital to-day as ever they were. More bo, in a way—for, with the prophetic vision of the born ruler of men, he made observations that apply with startling fitness to modem instances undreamt of by the generality of people a hundred years ago. Witness the following pregnant passages, culled from Napoleon's "Maximes de Guerre," from his correspondence and from various historic State papers. To the Genoese Government, when, in 1799, it was tottering to its fall, Napoleon wrote: — j "Tho events which are happening under your very eyes should have taught you that without force and a good military organisation States are incapable of existing." Almost everything that Napoleon wrote teems with texts on military preparedness, the means of securing it, and jhe policy of using it when attained. The time is not yet in sight when the following will be out of date:— 'Tut 110 faith in talk which w not borne out 111 action.'' "The nation should be told with courage that for its very existence a great army must be maintained." "It is always in days of trouble that the elements of national strength make their appearance and create a great army for the defence of the motherland." "It 19 high time that the young men who are living secure in our towns ceased to dread the efforts and dangers of war, and were trained to arms to enforce respect for their country." "It is not my wish that, young men should remain idle. If they have large fortunes, they must defend them. Place them in various regiments." "When a whole nation is armed stnd eager to defend its freedom it is invincible." "The surest lever of power is a military force provided by law and led by genius. Such a force compulsory service secures, In the long run men become accustomed to conscription, and the factious politicians who oppose it vanish in the dust." _ "Every citizen should regard tho principle of conscription as salutary and sacred, if he does not wish to see his home destroyed and his country abandoned to the ravages of barbarians. "A great and enlightened nation is nut governed with half-measures. Energy, consistency, and unity of aim arc requisite." "In the present state of affairs we cannot trust any alien." When it comes to concrete war maxims in actual practice the whole histcry of Napoleon's campaigns is before us. Here are a few characteristic crystall.sations:— "Loss of time is irreparable in war. The excuses offered for it are always futile, as properly planned operations miscarry only when there is delay." "Tactics should be changed every ten years," "The human mind naturally believes that a small force will be beaten by a large one." "To scatter forces in little packets is not the way to make war." "I don't believe in the proverb, 'To know how to command you should know how to obey.'" Napoleon believed Sn single command undivided and absolute, of the army—■ the one commander, of course, to. b" Napoleon himself. He had this idea and began to put it in practice from the start of his carer, as is shown by the following despatch to his Covernment during the Italian campaign of 17i>6:— "You ought to have one s!nMe general in command and to scO Oat Ihrrt is no influence to hamper him in lli movements and operation". I ;.av« carried out my campaign without eons,,ll- - anybody. I could hav«i iccomplished nothing if I had been compiled to fall in with the viewß of some other person. If you weaken your strength by dividing your forces, and if you destroy unity of military thought, you will have lost a splendid opportunity." Napoleon's masterful mind never flashed so brilliantly as in the sarcastic ericitism of lesser men. Witness this dispatch to his brother, King Jerome, in the war against Austria, 1809: "I have seen your gtneral order, which mikes you the laughting-sto-k of Europe. Have you no friend about you to tell you the truth? You boast of qualifications which have ridiculously little to do with war. You oufht to be a soldier first, a soldier second, a soldier all the time. You ought to bivouac witli your advanced guard, to be night and day on horseback, to march with your leading detachments, so as to get in-, formation early, or else remain with the women. You wage war like a satrap." In his maxims of policy and diplomacy, the philisopher-ruler that Napolean was supremely appears in a shrewdness that is surprisingly adaptable to present-day conditions:— "Incompetent people have this great advantage over the able man—that they are always entirely pleased with themselves." "It is success which reveals the great man." "Political factions are compounded of dupes and rogues." "The most dangerous people in political crises are well-meaning men whose consciences are swayed by false ideas." "Onco you have made up your mind stick to your decision. No ,'ifs' and 'buts' then." energy!' Only be defying the prejudices of the feeble and foolish can the welfare of nations be secured." Here is a passage which shows curiously how accurately Napolean divined the effect of high-angle fire from heavy artillery which has been one of the most remarkable surprises of the war, "The value of fortified places is henceforward problematic if it has not entirely vanished. The enormous volume of high-angle fire projectiles and 1 shells has changed everything. FortIresses have no longer to be defended against horizontal fire, but against curvling fire and high-angle attack. None of