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Aviation History
1918
1918 - 1186.PDF
OCTOBER 24, 1918, they are left alone to answer as they deem proper. There is, however, one aspect of the suggestion for an armistice which seems to have escaped general atten- tion, and that is that any suspension of hostilities pending peace negotiations is a matter which affects the war by sea equally with the land war. Naturally the enemy has carefully refrained from raising the naval issues. He has more or less indefinitely sub- scribed to the demand for the evacuation of occupied territories and the giving of guarantees for the due performance of the subsequently determined peace terms, but there has been no word yet as to naval guarantees. Yet it is absolutely vital to us that the Hun should not be able to take advantage of an armistice to secure a more favourable position at sea than he occupies at present, and that we should not present him with a lever to be used against us in the final peace negotiations, presuming that there are such negotiations. It must not be forgotten that once the fighting is stopped there is no more than an outside possibility of hostilities being resumed, and that therefore the terms of the armistice will be very largely those of the subsequent peace. Now, it is unthinkable that we can allow the Germans the con- tinued possession of the second fleet in the world—a fleet whose power has been prostituted to the most unholy uses during the war. If, then, the armistice which must almost as a matter of course be the pre- liminary to peace includes the only possible " guaran- tees " of the surrender of the enemy's armies ashore, the conditions must equally insist upon the surrender of his fleet and his submarine flotillas. Then there is the question of compensation in kind for the sinking of British and Allied tonnage during the war, and the only compensation to which we can listen is the con- fiscation of the whole of the German mercantile marine and its division pro rata to their losses among the Allies. If we leave that question open to discussion later we shall find ourselves headed off. The Germans will know as well as ourselves that none of the present belligerent nations will want to take up the sword again, and are certain to try to bluff us on the know- ledge. They will probably not succeed entirely, but it is beyond the shadow of a doubt that they would get better terms than as though they had begun with the loss by surrender of their navy and mercantile marine. To put the matter in the fewest words, the side which is in possession of the greatest and weightiest of accomplished facts will come best out of the ultimate conference, always, of course, assuming that we shall accept from the enemy something short of the utter humiliation of absolutely unconditional sur- render. As to that we do not know what is likely to hap- pen. The making of peace is a matter which concerns the politicians, and we do not trust them altogether. We do not like the silence which has been kept in this very matter of naval guarantees. Enquiry only elicits the somewhat nebulous answer that, in this case, the term " military " also includes naval, and we are told in the same breath that the question of armistice is one that rests entirely with Marshal Foch. To the plain British citizen it also looks like a question which very vitally concerns Sir Rosslyn Wemyss and Sir David Beatty. We think we know what their views as to necessary guarantees would be, but does the War Cabinet share them ? We have heard a lot about our war aims, but the time has come now when we might hear a little about our peace aims. The Hun has got to know at some time or other the exact sum of the price he is to pay for his evil deeds, while this country, which has made unexampled sacrifices during the war, has a right to know from its spokesmen the terms they propose to accord. We have done with secret diplomacy—all the cards are, we are assured, to be placed on the table in future games—so let it |»e said at once that the irreducible minimum of our terms is already settled and what that minimum is. L Lisbon, as seen from a height of 2,000 metres. (Photo, by Dr. Almeida Saraiva.)• •- •<:. 1187 . .. ;:•"; = •.
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