Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1937-01-21
INTERNATIONAL
NEWS REVIEW
Continued from Page ~
By Osborne

word-may find a shortcut via Spain.
for, from his particular viewpoint, the
liberal-radical government at Madrid
and Valencia is really "BOlshevist'
regime, and, he made it clear, Rus
sian support of the Spanish govern
ment is an established fact. He has
not and Goering hasn't, nor has Mus
solini, admitted that thousands OF
German and Italian volunteers are
supporting the Spanish fascist rebels.
Before Goering and Mussolini was
joint Franco-British request that
all powers agree to keep foreign vol
unteers away from Spain. "Ja,' Goer-
ing said, and ISL" said Mussolini-
both meaning, "yes"-they were will
ing to give that pledge if-IF Great
Britain would join the German Italian
front against Soviet Russia! If Great
Britain, ineXplicably, should refuse,
then Germany and Italy would feel in
honor bound to pour ever more SOL
diers into Spain to help defeat the
'Bolshevist" government.
But, apparently, MussOlini dares not
go too far in that direction. Great
Britain is not interested in taking
sides for or against communism, and,
furthermore, quite recently Italy
signed an agreement of friendship
with Great Britain. 1t wouldn't do
to risk FORGETTING that friendship!
Then, too, Germany has in recent
years more than once found that calm
Great Britain would support German
viewpoints when all other powers
were antagonistic. Would it really
do to offend Great Britain?
France and Russia.
Germany and Italy may not be fear
full of Great Britain, but they feel
they cannot do without British friend
ship, so it is doubtful that they will
carry out their threats in case the
London government refuses to join
hands against Russia.
Then there was France; France was
to be given the very same offer, but
the French chamber of deputies had
anticipated it, for, very adroitly, at
just that time it passed unanimously
a law empowering Prime Minister
Leon Blum to stop further influx of
French volunteers to Spain. So,
really a request to France would be
rather pointless.
AS matter of sober fact, the Ro-
man conversations between Goering
and Mussolini do not appear to have
resulted in anything very concrete
or definite.
Russia's attitude toward Spain had
been under FrancO-British scrutiny
for some time, and this week note
came from Foreign Commissar Maxim
Litvinov that what Great Britain and
France now recently proposed in re-
gard to keeping foreigners out of
Spain, had been preached in a Rus
Sian note six weeks ago! Only, then
nobody paid any attention to it. Rus
STA, for that matter, was willing
enough-if all others were, and if suf-
ficient control would be established
right in Spain, to keep volunteers
away from that danger-fraught coun-
try. Next move is yours, gentlemen!
Siege of Madrid.
While diplomatic pickering goes on,
the fascists siege of Madrid is being
continued, but not with, it seems, a
great deal of success. A few weeks
back it was taken for granted tt at
Franco and his fascists would be able
to conquer the Spanish capital in
jiffy. Not so now. The rebels are
facing far sitter resistance than they
had calculated beforehand, for not
only are they unable to enter the
coveted stronghold, but they have
even been repulsed from large areas
which they had occupied during the
beginning of the siege. 1t is not yet
certain that the rebels will win.
1t is said that what accounts for