Evening star., 1938-04-10

france as TeSuLL OF Ile GeTUluH
seizure of Austria. ,rhich prouides
the Rome Berlin ariS Uith solid
stretch OF territory from the north
to the south of Europe. ReuiSionS
in the plans of the French general
stat for defense OF the nation, to
meet the changed conditions, are
described here BY the diplomatic
correspondent OF LIE Petit Parisien.
BY PIERRE VITOUX.
PARIS, April 9 tN.ANA)-Wor-
ried by the German absorption of
Austria, which gives the Rome-Berlin
axis compact block of l3O.OOO,OOO
people with an army of 100000
soldiers, well-equipped war factories
and powerful navy, the French gen.
eral staff is now bent on the task of
revising its plans for the defense of
the national territory
1t is held that Germany and Italy,
In case of war in which France
would be on the opposite side, could
very easily move their forces from the
north to the south of Europe and even
into Africa. Such movements, the
French general staff holds, could be
directed against two points considered
the weakest - Southern France,
through Switzerland, and North
Africa.
AS long as Germany acted without
the active support of Italy, German
plans for an invasion through Swift
zerland did not particularly worry
France. Nowadays, the Rome Berlin
axis has changed conditions entirely.
Several facts have led the French
general staff to consider such plans.
Maginot Line Impregnable.
First, the Notifications known as
the Maginot line. on the Franco-Ger-
man border are considered practically
impregnable, Consequently, an at
tack from that direction would not be
readily contemplated by the Germans.
Second, north of the Maginot line,
complete network of Notifications
now extends along the Luxembourg.
Belgian and Netherlands bordors On
the energetic initiative of the former
Belgian defense minister, M. Deveze.
the frontier around Liege bristles with
Notifications. Alongside the old north
ern canal, itself broadened and dotted
with concrete and steel classmates, the
new Albert I Canal has been built. It
IS 200 feet wide and long enough to
make flanking difficult. The Neither
lands, in turn, have reinforced their
defenses. Large scale release of flood
waters between Antwerp and Liege
would effectively stop the invaders.
Third, the French border along the
Jura Mountains is deprived of any
modern and powerful works of de-
tense. That is the road followed by
Schvartzenberg and his army in 1914,
a. the time of Napoleon's penultimate
campaign.
Fourth, the French Alpine border is
practically watertight. French Alpine
troops, fortified in their mountain
strongholds, could successfully resist
penetration from the Italian side.
Expect Attack via Switzerland.
French military authorities envisage
German army breaking through
Switzerland and having as its OBJ
jective the valley of the Rhone, to
threaten Paris from the rear, behind
the Rhine Notifications. At the same
time Italian aviation could act against
the Rhone Valley and the Creusot in
,r-1o
stroy the plants engaged in arms
manufacture. Also, such move
would cut the line Of communication
between Paris and Marseilles, disrupt
Ing the transportation of troops from
North Africa
1t is recalled in this connection that.
during the last war, similar maneu-
YER was begun. Gen. Won Below. whc
commanded the Austro- German ar
mics at Caporetto, admitted to Lore
Cavan, chief of the British general
staf1. in 1922, that the objective of
his offensive was neither Milan nor
Genoa. If the italian troops. REIN
forced by French and British divisions,
had not been able to make a stand on
the Piave, Won Below would have con-
tlnued his movement into France,
toward Lyons. The French would
then have found themselves compelled
to withdraw forces from the northern
front, just at the time that the Ger
mans were preparing their great offen-
sive Of March 81. 1918.
Against the possibility of Germany
successfully carrying out this plan
IN the future, the French general staff
counts on Swiss resistance and forti-
fication of the Jura Mountains.
Swiss Realize Danger.
The Swiss realize that their terri
tory may be the next theater of war.
President Giuseppe Motta, who has
foreseen this danger in a book pub
lished few months ago, has been in
strumental in developing means of le-
slstance to an invasion.
The Swiss-German frontier has been
solidly fortified with massive concrete
gun emplacements and machine-gun
nests strategically distributed. Places
where tank attacks could occur have
been planted with rail ends sticking
above ground. The Swiss army has
been reorganized to give it greater
mobility and fire power The former
heavy three-brigade divisions have
been replaced by small, modern di-
visions of three infantry regiments
each.
Copyright. 1898. by the North American