Abstract
I. A RECENT issue of the Bulletin de la Société d'Encouragement pour l'Industrie Nationale1—the French counterpart of our Journal of the Society of Arts—contains two interesting and important, articles on the present and future influence of the war on German industry, written by MM. Jaureguy, Froment, and Stephen, which make known a number of facts concerning the means by which Germany has attempted, with more or less success, to evade efforts to isolate her during the war. In spite of the rigour of the blockade to which she has been subjected, there can be little doubt that, thanks to the knowledge, skill, and ingenuity of her chemists and engineers, encouraged and aided financially by the State, she has hitherto managed to provide herself with the means of carrying on the war—not only as regards munitions, in which she has been eminently successful, but also in regard to the alimentation of her people, in which, of course, owing to the complexity of the problem and to natural conditions beyond her control, her success has been less conspicuous. The new industries which have been created, and the great development of those already in existence, would, apparently, enable Germany to prosecute the war almost indefinitely. The determining factors will be the exhaustion of her man-power and the gradual weakening of her moral. Both these causes are beginning to tell, and it is abundantly evident from a variety of signs that the Higher Command is realising that the rot has set in. Junkerdom is now fighting only for its existence. The steady and persistent pressure of the Allies will accelerate the advent of the inevitable débâcle. The end will come when the remnants of the German armies are driven back to the Rhine.
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German Industry and the War . Nature 102, 66–67 (1918). https://doi.org/10.1038/102066b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/102066b0