Evening star., 1936-08-30
REV0[TSEENPART
OF DUCE'S DREAM
Main Goal of Ambition Is to
Dominate Mediterranean
and North Africa.
BY A. G. GARDINER,
xngland's Greatest Liberal Editor

BY A. G. GARDINER,
4ngland's Greatest Liberal Editor
By Radio to The Star.
LONDON, August 2s.-The omi-
nous delay in securing united action
to isolate the Spanish civil war was
to be expected. Spain, after lying
practically dormant in international
politics for more than a century, has
become a formidable piece" in the
great game that is being played be-
tween the relationships and the de-
mocracies for the control Of Europe.
A glance at the map will show its
vast strategic importance, and will
serve to explain the notorious CO.
operation Of Mussolini in Frances
adventure. That cooperation did
not begin with the actual outbreak
Of hostilities. Without the assurance
OF Mussolini's support, it is probable
that there would have been no civil
war. and 1t is certain that it could
not have assumed so formidable a
character.
Part of MussOlini's Dream.
Truly seen, the civil war in Spain
Is as much part Of Mussolini's vast
dream Of empire as the conquest of
Ethiopia and the Arab rising, which
he has so largely fomented in Pales-
tine. He has never concealed, indeed
he has always openly proclaimed, the
main goal of his ambition. 1t is to
make the Mediterranean an Italian
lake. which would give him the con-
troll Of the worlds sea route to the
East and make him dominant
throughout North Africa. The con-
quest of Ethiopia. with its potentiali-
ties of mighty black army, gives
him the promise of a stranglehold on
the Eastern Mediterranean, from that
powerful fortress he can hope to
dominate both Egypt and the Suez
Canal. If Palestine, with its vital
port Of Haifa, can be made too hot
for Britain to hold. his dominion over
the Eastern Mediterranean will be
established.
There remains the western gateway
with the mighty rock of Gibraltar as
Its key. Not since the eighteenth
century has Britain's possession Of
that key been challenged. 1t has
never been challenged because it has
become the symbol of the freedom Of
that great highway to and from the
east. That freedom is not consistent
with the conception Of the Mediter-
ranean as an italian lake-hence
Mussolini's backing of the rebel in
vasion from Africa. Should Franco
win, Mussolini will have made as
great a stride to his goal as he has
made by his conquest of Ethiopia.
Spain will become an outpost of the
Fascist dictatorship. and, with Franco
as his caretaker, Mussolini will be-
stride the straits from Ceuta to Ma
laga as effectively as If he were in
personal possession.
Would Isolate Gibraltar.
That situation, of course, would not
leave the position of Gibraltar un-
changed. 1t would cease to be the
accepted guardian of the freedom of
the great water gate of the Mediter-
ranean and become an isolated rock
with q Fascist Spain behind and
Fascist Morocco in front. 1t needs
little imagination, coupled with the
experience of Mussolini's swift and
audacious methods, to understand
that momentous things would happen.
Mussolini is under no illusion as to
the real conflict to which all his &C.
tivities are prologue. If he is to
erect Roman empire over the Medi-
terranean it must be done at the ex-
pense of Britain, and the astonishing
TRADES Of his press against Britain
during the Ethiopian war" made 1t
clear that he has convinced himself
that England, eaten up with pacificism,
Is down and out.
She is slave to that corpse of the
Goddess of Liberty" on which she
boasts that fascism has trampled
and she will not kick until it is too
late. As for France, the only other
stronghold of Democracy that mat
ters, she is trembling on the brink
of domestic convulsion herself, and
q triumph Of Franco in Spain might
well fan the smoldering ember Of
fascism across the Pyrenees and en-
able him (MussolinI to help the