Mighty Dicta

When dawn swept away night's covering and revealed the first day of August, Germany thought of another first of August, ten years ago, when the Empire declared war on Imperial Russia.

What were the old leaders of the German Imperial Army doing? The answer was soon forthcoming. The ex-Crown Prince, Field Marshals von Hindenburg and von Mackensen, Generals von Ludendorff and von Kluck celebrated the day by delivering themselves of mighty dicta to the German people:

Ex-Crown Prince: The memory of our fallen and badly wounded comrades should be a lasting summons to us to bend every effort toward bringing our beloved Fatherland from the depths to the heights."

Field Marshal von Hindenburg: "May the spirit of 1914 again be the common property of all Germans."

General von Ludendorff to the Prussian Fusiliers: "Your regiment was a thoroughly worthy part of the old Prussian Army. May its members never forget that and remain conscious of what they still owe the

Fatherland in view of the deeds they have already accomplished."

General von Kluck: Comrades of that old army, which was as hard as steel, remember the greatness of our fathers and the heroism of our comrades who fell in battle. Let us continue to be true to our calling and let us place manly Truth and Honor above everything." But word had yet to come from the Saxon Field Marshal von Mackensen, reputed the first cavalry leader in the world, thought by many the ablest soldier Germany had in the War. What would the hero of a dozen Rus sian victories say? The white-haired soldier, now 74 years of age, gave his message: " We old soldiers are bearers of the spirit of 1914. You comrades must see that it continues to live in the breasts of the rising generation." Not very different from the other messages, but from a different man. The old man, once a god of the Death's Head Hussars, is regarded by even so discriminating a people as the French as the greatest tactician of the War and referred to by them as having " the soft, sweet manner, the quiet firmness in giving orders, the unruffled pose at Headquarters and the coolness that belong to a great military genius."