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12 WITH THE GERMAN ARMIES IN THE WEST
might be useful, should we at some future time be confronted
with a situation comparable with that of Germany at the
present moment. The outcome of a campaign does not
merely depend upon preparations, war material and training.
The fighting spirit and general mental attitude of the soldier
also plays a most important part. The soldier must know
why he is fighting and what he is fighting for. The psychological
factor is therefore of the utmost importance. The officer
leading his men to the front and into the firing line has neither
the attitude of mind nor the time for such studies. His
whole attention is and must be concentrated on the fighting
itself ; he only thinks of utilising the striking power of his
men with the utmost effect at the right moment and in the
right place. He is therefore—and quite rightly—blind to
everything else. A layman on the other hand, whose attention
is not distracted by considerations of conduct of war, has better
opportunities of studying the psychology of the soldiers.
Once this war is over, whole libraries of books will be written
about it. I do not think it an exaggeration to say that on
the western front alone upwards of a million and a half diaries
are being kept at the present moment. In all directions, in
all fighting units down to the company, the platoon and the
battery, official war journals are being kept and accounts of
the fighting are being prepared from the bedrock furnished
on the one hand by the draft of outgoing reports and on the
other by incoming papers, orders, reports and communications.
The soldiers record their own personal experiences, the officers
their military observations. Many a note-book has no doubt
protected a heart or checked the death-dealing bullet. Thus
the sections of the German General Staff, whose task it will
be in due course to prepare the materials, will be occupied for
many years to come with this monumental labour.
WTien I went out to the front, it was clearly established in
my mind that my narrative would be quite different from the
military accounts. I was not going to devote any attention to
matters of purely military science, which could only be dealt
with by experts. Even Sweden has from the very beginning
had its military attaché. Major Adlercreutz, of the Scanian
Dragoons, and later on Lieut. -Col. Bouveng received permission
to accompany the German forces. Strategical and tactical
observations would thus be absent from my narrative. It
would no doubt have been interesting and instructive to
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