November 27, i()i5. 
L A N 1) A X I) W A T E R 
FOREIGN OPINION. 
•i> 
The German Mind. 
^I. Maurice Barres,"thc famous writer,. gives expres- 
sion to this \ic\v in the Echo dc Paris of November 15th ■. , 
There is siimcthing unutterably ponderous about the 
workinf^s of the (ierman mind. Pedantry is the rule. h'ven 
the leading lights in the land liked to marshal their facts 
dogmatically, explaining the ob\ious every inch of the way. 
One remembers tiie unnecessary insistence of the great people 
like Goethe, \\"agner and Bismarck. .And the nation is exactly 
like its famous men. It explains itself before everybody, 
careless as to who may hear. It is so certain of its superiority 
that there is no tone of apology about it. 
In the Zukunjl two articles by Maximilian Harden, of the 
Bismarck school, will explain my meaning. After having 
enumerated all the blunders committed by the Entente, he 
suddenly breaks off to demand peace, " peace with Serbia, 
from whom we shall take Macedonia, giving her Albania and 
some ports (m the .Adriatic ; peace with Italy, whom it is not 
part of our programme, nor that of .\ustria to ruin for ever ; 
a definite understanding over Belgium, and we shall have 
unravelled the Gordian knot. The advantage is all on our 
side ; this, the psychological moment may never occur again." 
This is what Harden wrote on October i()th : — November 
bth finds him still harping on the same note. " Bismarck was 
great," he says, " because he had the courage of his con\uc- 
tions. He knew when to go to war, and when to make peace. 
It was his duty to foresee the course which a war would take. 
and to stop it. at the risk of his life his h(aiour and his glory, 
if he felt that it would drag on unhappily. There are limits 
beyond which war is not profitable to anybody." 
This is said by a German who speaks with authority, who, 
to carry conviction, invokes the patron saint of the country. 
Germany must make peace while she still holds securities. To 
delay, is to risk losing everything. 
What are these securities ? Belgium, part of our country 
and of Russia, Poland and Serbia, in all probability. (kr- 
many's plan is to dominate and to intimidate the world. But 
what if the world should refuse to be intimidated ? E\cn if 
we were to lose the Balkan campaign we have at our disposal 
more men and more material than the Central Powers, and 
these must tell in the end. Maximilian Harden knows it. 
German Victories. 
The ■ Journal des Dcbals on the same date discusses 
the various victories which Germany claims. 
We know, thanks to information received from neutral 
countries, that the Central Powers have a way of their own of 
interpreting events. They point to the map of luirope, insisting 
on victories in Russia, victories in France, in Belgium and in 
Serbia, and, from a merely geographical jwint of view, the. 
sight is impressive enough, especially as the Continent of 
Europe alone is insisted upon. The "Colonies are not even" 
mentioned, still less the sea, where the Allies in spite of the 
murder of a few civilians, still ha\e, and always liave had, 
absolute mastery. 
According to all the rules of the game, peace should now 
be conclude(l, a peace with hopour which William II., well 
known for his pacific intentions, would be delighted to sign 
for the sake of his own country and the salvation of the world 
in general. Unfortunately, " his excellent intentions are 
frustrated by the stupid villainy of France, b\- inexcusable 
malice in Italy, by culpable British perfidy and unthinkable 
Russian brutality. And everybody in Ge'rmany knows tiuit 
Serbia had the audacity to present Austria with an impossible 
ultimatum, that Belgium violated German neutrality, etc. 
Hindenburg in London. 
This from Lc Temps, deals with a new German 
publication which should be of interest in England : 
Critics of contemporary manners complain that the true 
significance of the war has somehow escaped the literary 
genius of Germany. At present, German poets go on writing 
their sentimental sonnets, as if nothing at all had happened, 
and famous novelists mcrelv add a warlike touch or two to 
the local colour of their tales. " Where is the geniu^," 
Germany asks, "who, catching the true meaning of this 
colossal struggle, shall immortahse it for all time " ? It is 
unthinkable that the Kaiser should have gone to war without 
duly appointing some gifterl personage to chronicle his diplo- 
matic triumphs, and the heroism of his soldiers. 
% t oWiejti.ast«;a-t(uadd,tl«M:-Ciuc«naji,vi> organisation j^not- at 
fault this time. The great work on the war has actually been 
■,\ritten and its hrst edition will run to 50,000 copies. The 
subject " Hindenburg in London " is. to say the least of it, 
surprising. We have seen details of , illuminating chapters 
such as, for instance : " With the army at Calais," " The 
crossing of the Channel," " highting in the South of England," 
" Aeroplanes over the Thanns." ' The last battle of the 
Century," " Before London," " In London," etc., etc. 
One may object that Hindenburg has not reached 
Calais, has never crossed the Channel, nor entered London 
in state. But are we sure of it ? (iermanv may, for aught 
we know to the contrary, be better informed than we are. 
The House of Lords the other day said some hard things about 
the labours of the Censor. He mav have chosen to suppress 
the news of the taking of Calais, the crossing of the Channel, 
and the rest of that enticing programme. Besides, even 
supposing all this not to have happened vet, nothing can 
prevent it from coming off in the near future. ' The author 
has merely reckoned on a certaintv. AMratever may, or 
may not happen, the good people who will have paid their 
two Marks for this splendid piece of work will remain firmly 
convinced that the Kaiser's arm\- reallv did cross the Channel 
and that Hindenburg, on horseback, processed impressively 
through the City of London. 
The appearance of " Hindenburg in London " is a little 
previous — to express it charitablv. But the book mav have 
its uses after all. \\ hen the German professors, at present 
missionising Turkey, will have managed to have taught the 
Turk their language, it will no doubt command a sale in Con- 
stantinople. And, we may be sure, that the Turks will believe 
e\'ery word of it. 
The Moment for Decision. 
The following is from The Patris, a leading journal 
of Athens, in sympathy with M. Venizelos : 
Time presses ; only a few days,, and the inevitable must 
happen. The Balkan drama is drawing to its close, and Greece, 
till now a more or less indiherent spectator, will share in the 
general disaster. No amount of initiative, no good will, no 
supreme effort will help us to-morrow. It is now, or never. 
Bulgaria threatens Greece. Let us not be deceived by those 
who pretend that Greece will be in a position to confront 
Bulgaria, and to settle accounts with her by and by. What 
we could not do to-day, we shall not be able to do to-morrow. 
Greece, considering her natitmal and geographical posi- 
tion, should not have remained neutral. She should have 
joined the Entente if only because the latter has no interests 
in the Near East. .Austrian policy tends to one end only — 
Salonica. When, after the first Balkan war. Salonica became 
a Greek possession, Austria cajoled Ferdinand of Bulgaria 
into war in the hopes of snatching Novi Bazar from Serbia 
and Salonica from Greece. To-day, in spite of the former 
failure, she has not given up hope. .\nd .Austria, let us remem- 
ber, is Germany's ally, the German outlet, as it were on the 
Mediterranean. 
Diplomacy's Purpose. 
This is from the Novoye Vremya, of Petrograd : 
•War was declared fifteen months ago, and what changes 
•have we not .seen since then ? h'ifteen months ago, Turkey 
was neutral ; now she is fighting us on three fronts. Bul- 
garia's intentions, we fondly imagined, because M. Radosloff ' 
told us so, were entirely friendly. To-day the nature of their 
" friendliness " has been revealed. Infteen months ago 
Greece had almost decided to side with us. To-day she 
declines to believe in England's offer of Cyprus, convinced 
that only a Kaiser can bestow gifts. 
What is the meaning of these lamentable failures ? In 
Russia, when a voice is raised to protest against our foreign 
policy, our diplomats never fail to muster an imposing array 
of excuses. " Diplomacy," they say, " is labour lost in the 
Balkans. Give us a decisive victory over the .Austro-German 
troops, and the trick will be done." No doubt ; but was 
dipolmacy invented for this ? 
Victories, we know, speak for themselves. If our troops 
were to enter Berlin, diplomacy would have no trouble at all 
to obtain fa\ourabIe terms of peace. But these terms would 
be the work of the sword, not of the pen. Is it for this that 
we spend seven million roubles a year to keep our Embassies 
going ? Does (jur Diplomatic Corps imagine that the country 
exists for it. when it ought to know that it exists for the 
country ? Diplomacy must speak before, not after, the guns, 
and our Foreign Ministers are paid, not to make capital out of ., 
fvktories, which -is -hardly necessary, but^tp-raake '^»od'-.'»n* t-* 
temporarv defeats. 
