GERMANY'S OUTLOOK.

Taranaki Daily News, 26 August 1918, Page 4

GERMANY'S OUTLOOK.

Recent cables contain many significant indications that all is not well with the German armies and the German people. According to the forecast of high Teutonic authorities I he Germans should hav.e been in Paris long since, but instead they are being forced back day by day; instead of pressing on to victory they are being defeated by the Allies, and these same high amkuiilies find it difficult to continue iheir policy of deceiving the people wiih assurance:-, ilia! these levcrse-; arc leading lo gival successes in the future. The excuse of retiring lo pre-arranged positions is now worn threadbare, so iln- I'Yankfurler <::!>:■■;i<-- has I,ceo '■» '■:;: lain t;:- pre.s.ntj -Ia if !'-;>p'.- - i.i remme the offensive in tii- auiuam: liiai. German strategy hi!-; Wl \ slopped, bill has :)■■■ i. '.>' I" "II lilll ~Hilled, ||. |),;,y !'a , .i , ;,v_ he ;i mimsl thai liie (,'er"ia;i j,;-m>; ■ in, ye suiii-iriij iiiiciji.. :;•'>.<- lo l-ead hei-,veen liie liius <>'' Ihr-:e ol'h-isl ;i;i,| .semi-official! pronouncement:,, irnd ijmi ])y 3 -0 ,V j men-power is tupid.'y dwindling. !«'iiil" ike Allh-V forces are daily illeis-e.sne.'. Tiny mils! know—it was bla;;ii!ie(l forth so potentlyillfd. lie-re c-rnid be mi mistake about liie matier—lluil. (he ~,,. prmae eli'iii-: lo (le;.-:M the Aiwjo- ! '>• "'■'■!! forces was launched some j mouths bark, with ail the reI mmvr-s aj Cm many \s emiirmnd. 'I ' |: " ua.ve :-;ob;:h;y asked one su- «'<>>■ r ei,:;.\ limes duriiio; iiie lm,i few v,-,-. :>■; what there is to show fi>i' Hie . nmises of vieiory ilia! were made, aiid ihey mav well '''■ el <:ravelv noxious. posmbly i veil di. al a record of b>-:se: instead of j/;iius. Will iiie sosuid assurance in a German j newspaper that the retreat is a ■ 's":-si;y'; p'\'mo pacify the people j iv,'io we; * promised .'. Srusiiing; victory and a glorious peace of an

negations and indemnities V Hardly likely. There are indications that the outlook is being more clearly discerned by the people of Germany, and that they are making the war lords realise—as the world at large realises—that the interruption of German strategy and the talk of resuming the offensive in the autumn has to be measured in the balance with the five months' losses suffered by the Gorman armies, including over a million and a half of casualties. Hitherto the German High Command lias contemptuously ignored popular opinions, so that the reinstatement of von Hindenburg in supreme command, the downfall ol: von Ludeudorff, and the temporary (projbably permanent) shelving of the Crown Prince, as sops to public clamor, point to apprehension on the part of the military rulers that sooner or later they will have to reckon with the people. According to a cable from Rome, the Giornale d'ltalia says that "defeatism" is progressing alarmingly in Germany; that the popularity of the military idols is disappearing, and that the change from the truculent spirit of last March is almost incredible. Even more significant are the contents of the captured order issued by General von Ludendorff, concerning the searching of soldiers going on leave to prevent bombs or arms being carried away into the country, there to await the advent of a revolutionary movement after the war. If such an order was actually issued, it certainly indicates that a movement is on foot in the German Army in the direction of altering the constitution of the country after the war. It is quite evident that although the German Command had determined on attaining a final issue of the struggle this year, yet, failing that, would have been content with a spectacular triumph of some sort to steel the hearts of the people to endure through the dark days of winter. The sacrifice of Ludendorff and the Crown Prince on the altar of public opinion points to changed times for, Germany, for she can hardly expect after this autumn to ever again find herself in a position to assume the offensive. What then is her outlook? Merely to assume a purely defensive role, by sitting down on the Hindenburg line until the Allies feel themselves sufficiently strong •to drive the invaders back on to the Khine. Germany's real hour of trial has yet to come, and her future will depend not so much on her armies as on how tlje civil and military units will meet these defensive tactics. They will doubtless do their utmost to ward off the final blow, but changed times for Germany cannot be avoided. They have already commenced, and there are signs and portents indicating that the people are being disillusioned, and that the military rulers are adopting a different tone. The coming winter will be a severe trial for the German people, and the longer the war lasts the greater will he the (litticulties in Germany's path, (ireat fighters' as thev 'are when flushed with success, there is now such a large proportion of unseasoned troops in the German armies that the morale is seriouslv affected by reverses, besides whic'i .the numerical odds are rapid!v favormg lhc Allies. At the same time there must come a moment when the German retreat must stop and a desperate effort be made to withstand the Allied pressure.