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Twenty.Unrestricted U-BoatWar On January 1, 1917, Austro-Hungarian and German U-boat of- ficers sit together in the officers’ club in Pola. News arrives to everybody’s relief: Germany has declared unrestricted U-boat war. “Thank God, they have finally understood. But it is rather late!” “Of course, now that they don’t know any more what’s what; we are supposed to win the war at the last minute. God only knows what’s going on. For a whole year we are supposed to do absolutely nothing, and now everything is supposed to go fast, fast.” “And how lovely that they have given the Allies plenty of time to prepare. Now the defense looks quite different from what it did a year ago. Then it would have been faster and easier. Now they say we are supposed to sink 600,000 tons a month; then England will be done for by autumn. . . . That’s been statistically and accurately calculated!” “They should go jump in a lake with their statistics! What do they know about how many ships England has added and how many are under construction in America! We’ll ‘manage,’ but leave me alone with those statistics—how many boats do you have in Germany?” “There are many still under construction. We have enough to handle the whole thing.” “Naturally, we cannot ferret out of you how many boats you have. But you are right; no one needs to know that. This place is full of spies.” “If only they would build them at home in Austria, too!” “But I can tell you this: in Germany they are working. The whole industry is geared to U-boats. They are launching one after the other. Instead of typewriters and sewing machines, torpedoes are made in the factories. Everything works that way. UNRESTRICTED U-BOATWAR 89 “It’s a pity about the lost time because now we have to make up what we missed in more than a year.” “Now the United States will also declare war!” “Yes, and also Nicaragua and San Marino. The world is in a fine state!” “You know, Bethmann-Hollweg was to blame for more than he probably knows! He always gave in and constantly showed only weakness . . . and oh, don’t hurt the enemy! That only strengthened and encouraged the enemy. When you feel weak and let the enemy know that, you cannot enforce peace. And he has always done it this way.” “But now, tell me this, why hasn’t he been dumped since everyone knows this?” The other shrugs his shoulders. “But now it does not matter any more, and we got our U-boat war!” “Fine, but do you know why we finally have it? Because the Supreme Command is not confident any more of a victory by land. The U-boat war is their last hope!” “But you won’t give up?” “Not I; that will be taken care of by those in the interior, yours and ours. Everything has been poisoned already. They have had nothing to eat for a long time . . . “But let’s not be angry today! How does that beautiful song go? ‘Because it was in springtime . . .’” “Hi kids, I’m buying the tenth bottle. Who will share it with me?” Twenty-One.Reconstruction in the Arsenal On full moon nights Italian planes fly to Pola. They are usually detected during their approach to the coast from the north because their clatter can be heard from afar, and forts and ships can be warned. But sometimes they appear by surprise from the sea in a glide. In Pola no lights burn, even on the darkest nights. All windows must be shut tightly and on the streets you must grope around 90 RECONSTRUCTION INTHE ARSENAL ...

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