The fifth element of German advantage: the value of military Pan-Germany
Berlin relies, above all else, on her military resources to render secure for all time that economic Pan-Germany which is destined to provide her, in peace-time, with a permanent means of acquiring wealth and world-dominion. Military Pan-Germany is, therefore, the complement and the pledge of economic Pan-Germany. The Kaiser’s successful seizure, through the fortunes of war, of new sources of man-power—Austro-Hungarian, Bulgarian, and Ottoman soldiery; of new strategic points or regions of exceptional importance, located in invaded countries or in those of his own allies, has furnished him with the basis of military Pan-Germany. In 1914, Prussian militarism held sway over only the 68 million inhabitants of the German Empire. At the beginning of 1917, it had been extended by consent or by force to the 176 million people of Pan-Germany.
This result—evidently the consequence of an immense extension of exclusive influence throughout Central and Eastern Europe—has permitted the German General Staff to take over at will certain strategic points or regions of the greatest importance, over which it exerted no direct influence before the war. Zeebrugge, on the North Sea, for instance; Trieste, Pola, and Cattaro on the Adriatic; the Bulgarian coasts of the Ægean; the Ottoman Straits; the Turkish, Bulgarian, and Roumanian shores of the Black Sea, have always been strategic points or districts of exceptional value.
This value, however, has become vastly greater now that these points or districts form part of a single military system under the directing and organizing power of the Berlin General Staff. At present, these essential strategic points and districts are the strongholds of the Pan-German frontiers. They are, in fact, connected by continuous fortifications, defended in the most effective way the world has ever known by an intensive system of barbed-wire entanglements, deep-dug subterranean shelters, machine-guns, and heavy artillery. The internal military organization of Pan-Germany is being carried forward with uninterrupted speed. Factories of war-material have been judiciously distributed throughout the whole territory, with the double object of utilizing raw materials near their source of origin, thus avoiding useless transportation, and of making possible the swift dispatch of munitions to any threatened sector of front. For this reason the Krupp firm, at the outbreak of war, established important branch factories, not only in Bavaria, but also in Bulgaria and Turkey.
The railway system and strategic automobile roads in Pan-Germany have been developed very swiftly—notably in the Balkans and in Turkey, where the need was relatively great. Back of every military front railroads running parallel with that front have been constructed, so that reinforcements may be sent to any given point with the maximum of speed. All this, taken as a whole, has converted Pan-Germany into one gigantic, extremely powerful fortress.
A new phase is now in preparation. The Kaiser’s General Staff, not content with holding the high command of all forces in Pan-Germany, is determined to standardize as far as possible their arms, their munitions, and their methods of instruction. The Deputy Friedrich Naumann—one of the sponsors of the Mitteleuropa idea—is plainly smoothing the way toward this end, which, because of geographic reasons, most intimately concerns Austria-Hungary. In the Vossische Zeitung he has just outlined a scheme of ‘full and complete harmony of the Central Empires in so far as military matters are concerned.’ He boldly adds an avowal which is well worth remembering. ‘Mitteleuropa is in existence to-day. Nothing is lacking save its organs of movement and action. These organs can be provided by its two emperors, since they have at their disposal the necessary elements for the creation of a common army.’
This prophecy merits our close attention; for it can readily be seen that, if the unification of the Armies of the two Central Empires were to take place, neither Bulgaria nor Turkey, on whose military resources the German General Staff is getting an increasingly firm grip, could prevent the absorption of their armed forces into the Pan-German system.
As for the military strength of Pan-Germany, it is an easy matter to estimate it. Even if the Kaiser’s armies were to withdraw from Russia, Poland, Belgium, and France, Pan-Germany would still include 150,000,000 people. Now, as Germany has mobilized about 20 per cent of her own population and that of her allies,—who have become vassals,—we see that Central Pan Germany can count upon approximately 30,000,000 soldiers. Prussian militarism, whose destruction by the Allies has become the true, legitimate, essential aim of the war, has therefore become far more widespread, through the carrying out of the Hamburg-Persian Gulf scheme, than it was in 1914. It is proved by well-established facts that Berlin, while vigorously pushing a peace campaign destined to disunite the Allies, is doing everything in her power to turn Pan-Germany into a fortress the strength of which is unexampled in the world’s history. In any case it is undeniable that, as military Pan-Germany is a pledge of the success of economic Pan-Germany, its establishment constitutes an important element of advantage for the German cause. This will be further proved when we come to examine the two final elements of advantage.
VI
The sixth element of German advantage: the importance of the vast economic profits which accrue to Berlin at the expense of Russia through the establishment of Pan-Germany