This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1921 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER II THE RESULTS OF UNITY OF ACTION One of the chief psychological elements of success in warfare, whether military or industrial, is unity of action. It constituted one of Germany's elements of strength in all her undertakings, political, military or economic. Thanks to constant effort, the ...
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This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1921 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER II THE RESULTS OF UNITY OF ACTION One of the chief psychological elements of success in warfare, whether military or industrial, is unity of action. It constituted one of Germany's elements of strength in all her undertakings, political, military or economic. Thanks to constant effort, the Allies eventually equalled the Germans in the matter of armaments; but in the matter of initiative and unity of action they commonly proved to be greatly inferior to their adversaries. An English Minister, in one of his speeches, laid bare the serious consequences of this inferiority, but failed to perceive its fundamental causes. It was long before the Allies fully realized the psychological origin of the failures of which they were the victims in the absence of united action. The Allies (said Lloyd George) more than once sought to remedy this dispersion of efforts and to establish a strategical unity. On various occasions conferences were held with a view to concerting common action. They only succeeded in the artificial conjunction of the plans established by the command of each of the belligerents in respect of the operations which they were undertaking on their own fronts. Having shown the serious defects resulting from this persistent lack of co-ordination, notably when the Allies neglected to attack Austria in the East and were too late in giving assistance to the Serbs and Rumanians, the speaker added: In 1916 we held in Paris the same conference with the same appearance of preparing a great strategic plan. The result was no better. The Minister's speech provoked a series of impassioned UNITY OF COMMAND 105 debates in the English Press and in the House of Commons, and was the cause of a new Allied Conference in Paris-- I believe the...
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