The Basis of Future Operations
His work was not, it is true, of decisive value to the Entente, but it did materially reduce the oil supplies of our army and the home country. We must attribute our shortage in part to him. The Military Administration brought in men acquainted with the Rumanian oil industry and applied itself energetically to its second most important task, of restoring the oil production by clearing blocked wells, making new borings, and re-establishing the refineries and getting them going again. The output increased, though very slowly.
To many people in Vienna, influenced by their privations and not well-clisposed towards us, it seemed that we were not getting on quickly enough with the gathering of the harvest and the resumption of oil working, and in February 1917, complaints came from Vienna and were repeated to me from Berlin. I had my doubts for a time whether the work was really being well done. However, I was able to judge of the difficulties to be overcome in Rumania from my own experiences in Kovno, and I did not let myself be misled. By April the complaints had ceased, and the Administration was generally approved.
The distribution of the supplies from the Dobrudja and Walla-chia was carried out in accordance with special agreements among the Allies. There was no great difficulty in settling on a basis for the distribution of the oil, but the sharing of the agricultural products of Wallachia was one of the most thankless tasks of the Quartermaster-General, General Hahndorff, whose frank, thoughtful ways and wide understanding of war economics made him particularly suited for the task. Bulgaria had no interest in the distribution of the Rumanian supplies, as she was receiving the Dobrudja harvest. Turkey received only a small quantity, having been allotted advances from the large stocks lying in the Dobrudja. It was thus a question of an understanding between Germany and Austria-Hungary, or, more correctly, Austria alone. The Austrian negotiators made huge demands; we took a leal from their book and made equally large claims. After a furious discussion, the happy medium proved once more the best way to agreement, and ultimate satisfaction on both sides. Of course, representatives of our War Food Office were brought into
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