The Waterbury Democrat., 1939-04-13

n history.
 neutrality and defend their frontiers is furnished by the Dutch threat to cut their dikes and flood one-third of the lowlands, the Rumarian men, ace of setting fire to their oil wells to prevent them from falling into German hands, and the Swiss readi- ness to explode mines planted along the frontiers and blow the Alpine cliffs into the valleys to block in- vaders.
 With the frontiers so well defend- ed to the east and southeast, the French hope to avoid the destruc- tion of 1914 but the wide open Pyrenees Spanish frontier has sud- denly become a serious menace to French security. It becomes in- creasingly evident that Gen. Fran cisco Franco will be closely allied morally if not militarily-with the two dictators who helped him win the civil war.
 Franco Asked To Help.
 Italy has not attempted to hide the fact that if the rival blocs clash Franco will be asked to provide air and naval bases for the Germans and Italians in the Atlantic from the Mainland ports of Cadiz, Vigo and Corunna as well as from Span- isa Morocco and the Canary Islands To offset that, the French may be expected at the outset of war to oc- cupy the Baleric Islands as a guar antee of Mediterranean communica- tions.
 If war comes, Italy will find her na- outlets plugged at Suez, Gib- raltar and perhaps out of the Adri- atic. The British will be at Malta and Corfu, and the French at Mo- dane and Vintmille in the Alps as well.
 Italian Troops Cut Off
 Two hundred thousand Italian troops in Ethiopia will be cut off from their home base with 5O0,000 Ethiopian warriors at their backs, clamoring for revenge. One hundred thousand other Italians in Libya would be pinched between the pow erful French forces in Tunisia and the British in Egypt.
 It is no state secret that the famous "Gamelin plan" exists and has existed since the Munich crisis last September, for the French pen etration of Italy. Under it, the French would use the Piedmont and Lombardy plains to strike down the Pc Valley to reach Germany through the Brenner Pass into Aus tria, thus turning the Siegfried line without violating Switzerland by taking advantage of the common German-Italian frontier created by Aanschluss.
 | Under that plan, Italy is to be knocked out completely as rapidly as possible. The ultimate aim is to beat her into submission on land and by air while the French fleet, backed by the British Mediterran- can fleet tries to sink the Italian fleet. To do that they must over come the menace of Italy's 120 sub marines and 200 bombers, so based that they need fly only few miles to fight foreign ships at sea. The French and British believe that by midsummer they will have overcome the present superiority of the dictator states and forged ahead The stratgey on the German Italian side probably would be to put the '"Gamelin plan" into re- verse. While Italian submarines and planes tried to wipe out French and British surface fleet in the Mediter- ranean in order to grab Suez and Gibraltar, the German army would be pouring through the Brenner Pass and using the Lombardy Plains to reach France on the right flank.
 Hold German Fleet at Bay
 With her present North Sea fleet, according to naval experts, Britain would be able to hold the entire German fleet at bay without weak ening her strength in the Mediter- ranean or risking security of her Atlantic traffic lanes. The latter must be kept open to insure the con- stant arrival of food, and war ma terial, which will be bought on a cash and carry" basis if the Uni- ted States revises the neutrality act.
 The German fleet is rapidly being rebuilt but her three big ships of 35,- GOO tons are still on the ways and will not be ready this year.
 One of the British French moves in event of war would be to clamp blockade against Germany and Italy. It is long-range means of bring ing the dictators to terms however and is difficult to make air-tight. | Why Germany Is Acting
 That is why Germany at present is engaged in an economic offensive, | typing up Rumanian oil and wheat and Jugoslavian meats and grain to insure deliveries in case of block ade and to allow Germany to go in- to those countries to take what she needs if they break their trade agreements by refusing deliveries.
 Germany has been preparing for years to meet an economic block ade, which has been the purpose of Hermann Wilhelm Goering,s four year plan to build up Germanys domestic production to national needs in as many fields as possible. While the British fleet presum- ably could bottle up Germany in the Baltic, its activities might be confined to the North Sea unless Russia entered the war.
 Germany Controls, With Russia Out
 If Russia stays out, there is no doubt that Germany could control the Baltic, and by heavily mining the narrow entrance off Kiel, be able to keep the British out and en- enjoy the natural resources of the whole Scandinavian Peninsula.
 Unless Germar1y or Italy directly