Evening star., 1937-01-09
France
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on Spanish soil. reports said, they are
crowded into troop trains and rushed
to Seville.
Nazis Land Troops.
Sources close to the foreign office
said French representations to the
Franco headquarters at Tetuan,
Spanish Morocco. charged:
l. A number of German function
aries have taken over the administra-
tion of the country.
2. A number of German troops al
ready have landed in violation Of
existing treaties.
3. Barracks have been erected in
preparation for numerous more Nazi
soldiers.
4. Illegal Notifications are being
erected.
German officials in Berlin declared
repeatedly nothing is known here"
about such developments.)
One high French official. referring
to the belief Germany sought foot
hold in Morocco as lever for bar
gaining for other colonies, said en-
phatically:
I'VE think the German idea is to get
into Spanish Morocco and stay there.
The idea behind the move Is to
wreck our colonial mobilization"
He was assumed to be referring to
the French mobilization plan in the
event of European war. This plan
calls for the quick movement Of colo
NAL troops to the mainland as q
trained organization nucleus.
Has Rights to Protect.
Foreign Office quarters considered
the Moroccan question independent
from the rest of the Spanish threat to
European peace.
They declared France had rights to
protect in Africa apart from her de-
termined attempt to prevent the
spread of the Spanish conflict by
Tightening the non-intervention ac-
cord.
The foreign Office said it was CO.
operating closely with Great Britain
in all moves since British interests in
Gibraltar also were threatened.
Britain was believed afraid Ger
many contemplated construction OF a
little Gibraltar" across the straits
from their stronghold dominating the
western entrance to the Mediterranean
and guarding the British trade route
to her colonies in the East.
Fortifications being erected at Ceuta
on the coast just IA miles across the
narrow waterway were described as
modern and imposing by semi official
French dispatches.
Other dispatches from Casablanca,
French Morocco, said large contin-
gents of armed German troops. in uni
forms, had landed at Melilla, Spanish
Morocco, within the last two weeks.
They were said to have been as
signed to barracks in different parts
of the city.
Three German destroyers and many
German submarines were reported
anchored in the port.
Engineers With Troops.
The Nazi troops were said to have
been accompanied by many German
engineers and were under the COM
mand of an unidentified German
officer.
The engineers began Immediately,
these dispatches said, to reorganize
tho irop iplo nI
Meilla, for mass production.
France so far, it was said, has made
no direct protest to Germany. be-
lieving the crisis a matter between
herself and the insurgent Spanish
junta at Burgos which has permitted
the infiltration.
The situation was felt in Paris to
be rapidly assuming the proportions of
the "Agadir incident" of 1911 when
the arrival of the German gunboat
Panther as a challenge to French
influence in Morocco nearly provoked
a Franco German war.
Officials asserted the exact limits
between their right to diplomatic ac-
tion and military force had not been
determined, but said they believed
treaty violations would justify French
Intervention in the Spanish zone
1t was considered in some quarters
France, under the treaty of March
20, 1912, between France and the
Sultan of Morocco, and the Franco
Spanish treaty of November ~, 1912,
is empowered to use military force to
prevent the landing of foreign troops
in any part of the Sultan's domain,
which includes Spanish Morocco.
The Sultan Is the nominal absolute
ruler of the two Moroccos, but in
effect France and Spain each admin
lister the territory in their sphere of
influence.
The two treaties of 1912, giving
France and Spain administrative con-
troll and a virtual protectorate, were
the result Of the Agadir incident when
the German warship suddenly ap-
peared in the harbor to protect
German nationals endangered by dis
orders.
Also, it was pointed out, under the
Versailles treaty ending the World
War, Germany renounced any inter-
ests and. rights she might have in
Morocco.
Ships at Casablanca.
The first units of the Atlantic feet
arrived at Casablanca, French Morocco,
today. Other vessels, now based at
Brest. are scheduled to sail south
January 10