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320 SWEDISH NEUTRALITY [chap, xviii.
manoeuvres just when a far simpler and more
rudimentary conception of the war would have been so infinitely
more suitable to the imperfect mechanism of the Russian
armies ?
I well remember the painful days that followed this
sad episode in our war. I had to put a good face on the
matter, not appear to be downhearted, to distribute the
official lies knowing them to be such, and express hopes
I was far from sharing.
Almost at the same time sad and alarming news
reached us from the western front. In spite of their
valiant efforts, their stubborn resistance, the French
Army, the remnants of the brave Belgian Army and the
" contemptible little Army " of the British—a handful
of heroes—were steadily retreating before the
formidable advance of the German armies. Charleroi,
Maubeuge, Arras, the German outposts extending as
far as Meaux ... to those of us who still remembered
1870, memories rose involuntarily before us, in spite of
the difference that we knew existed between war then
and now.
Fortunately a few days later quite different news
arrived to give us fresh courage: " the Germans have
been stopped, the Germans are beginning to retreat"; a
few more days of great manoeuvres and of violent
fighting in North-Western France and the invading stream is
checked; the line from the Yser to Belfort is definitely
established and the interminable trench-warfare begins.
I wish to mention here that the glorious battles of the
Marne, the grand and skilful manoeuvre of Joffre and the
bold stroke of Gallieniwere not at all described as a real
and great victory in the French bulletins; it was only
through the explanations of our military agent that I
realised the extent and importance of the splendid
French success.
In Sweden this success even passed quite
unper-ceived, or else was vehemently denied; the good Swedes
could not imagine that the Germans could suffer a
defeat; the invincibility of the German arms had passed
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