So I asked, as I asked every general I met, if the
German advance had been merely ruthless or if it had been barbaric.
He made no direct reply, but he said:
"You must remember that the Germans are not only fighting against an
army, they are fighting against nations; trying to destroy their past,
their present, even their future."
"How does America feel as to the result of this war?" he asked, "I
suppose it feels no doubt as to the result."
Again I was forced to explain my own inadequacy to answer such a
question and my total lack of authority to voice American sentiment.
While I was confident that many Americans believed in the cause of the
Allies, and had every confidence in the outcome of the war, there
remained always that large and prosperous portion of the population,
either German-born or of German parentage, which had no doubt of
Germany's success.
"It is natural, of course," he commented. "How many French have you in
the United States?"
I thought there were about three hundred thousand, and said so.
"You treat your people so well in France," I said, "that few of them
come to us."
He nodded and smiled.
"What do you think of the blockade, General Foch?" I said. "I have
just crossed the Channel and it is far from comfortable."
"Such a blockade cannot be," was his instant reply; "a blockade must
be continuous to be effective.
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