[except due to] miscommunication in Hamburg

Question

A new attempt was made at the time of the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruhr_Crisis in spring and then again in selected parts of Germany in the autumn of 1923. The http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Army was mobilized, ready to come to the aid of the planned insurrection. Resolute action by the German government cancelled the plans, except due to miscommunication in Hamburg, where 200-300 Communists attacked police stations but were quickly defeated.^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_International#cite_note-24} In 1924 there was http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estonian_coup_attempt_of_1924 by the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estonian_Communist_Party.^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_International#cite_note-25}

1. I think "cancelled" should have been "helped cancel/ make it(The Red Army) cancel."; am I right?
2. I have seen two consecutive prepositions many times, but I'd like to make sure whether "except due to" is possible.
Thank you in advance for your help.

Clive · Accepted Answer

1.
Let's consider a simpler example.
eg We were going to have a picnic yesterday, but rain cancelled our plans.
This is stylish English, and is easy to understand.
If you wanted to, you could write it more mundanely as
eg We were going to have a picnic yesterday, but rain made us cancel our plans.

. . . helped cancel . . makes no sense here. For one thing, it suggests that we wanted to cancel our plans.

A flaw in your quoted text is that it does not tell us who made the plans. Presumably it was whoever made 'the new attempt' and mobilized the Red Army. No doubt the broader context clarifies this point.

2.
The prepositions are fine. You need to parse the sentence like this.
Resolute action by the German government cancelled the plans, except ( due to miscommunication ) in Hamburg, where 200-300 Communists attacked police stations but were quickly defeated.

Clive

Park sang joon · Answer

Thank you, Clive, for your very easy to understand answer.

Then, I'd like to know if I can always use two consecutive prepositions.

Clive · Answer

No.
You can't say eg I fell into from the river.

Clive

[except due to] miscommunication in Hamburg

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