My War Memories, 19144918
and must have led to considerable confusion. One common definition of the powers of the Government would have been far better. But this was wanting, and the War Minister did not succeed in supplying it. More and more, as the Chancellor yielded to party pressure, uncertainty and confusion spread from Berlin to the provinces. Independent action on the part of the G.O.C/s of the Corps Districts became rarer and rarer. The law creating the Supreme Military Authority, which might have done good, was ultimately fatal to us.
A further authority, with which G.H.Q. had to deal as of equal status, was the Chief of the Military Cabinet, who was responsible to the Emperor alone. He worked well and conscientiously, forming his opinion simply on the reports of the Staffs. He received my views also in the case of the G.O.C.'s of Armies and the Corps Districts. Beyond this, G.H.Q. had nothing to do with personal questions, save that it was morally responsible for Officers of the General Staff, and also for the award of decorations. I should like to have seen at the head of the Military Cabinet men who had had real personal experience of the fighting, so that we could rely upon them to do justice to the Corps of Officers. As it was, this body worked too closely on the lines of its peace-time routine, and did not bring strong characters to the front.
In questions of decorations, too, the importance of which must not be underestimated, the Chief of the Military Cabinet had jurisdiction. Here, too, he relied upon the reports of the Army Headquarter Staffs. Unfortunately, too long elapsed between the recommendation and the actual grant of decorations. It was only after long and continuous pressure that G.H.Q. managed to secure the grant of a " wounded " badge.
The conduct of the war in the colonies was in the hands of the Colonial Secretary. In peace time he had not maintained close touch with the General Stafi on the subject of the conduct of military operations in the colonies. In 1904 General Count von Schlieffen only obtained the control of operations in South-West Africa by a special order. The Colonial Office had not paid sufficient attention to the defensive possibilities of the colonies.
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