Evening star., 1939-06-11

ened with the usual purge if he cham
pions the cause too strongly by UNDER
standing the English language too well.
Stain reiterated last week his old point
of view: There is no possible war In
Europe alone. A war means a general
war, and Russia is reluctant to become
involved in fighting on two fronts, in
Siberia and in Europe. If the "democ-
racies' believe that RuSsias assistance is
sufficiently important to them, why not
! guarantee the Soviets future actions by
covering the Baltic states and the Pa
cific by an unequivocal guarantee against
the axis attack? Why should Britain
and France remain Indifferent in the
event Germany is establishing gateway
to Moscow by taking over the helpless
Baltic states, or if Japan. through the
conquest of Outer Mongolia, succeeds in
cutting off communications between ST.
IBERIA and European Russia? Japan
could not undertake such an adventure
if her lines of communication were
threatened by a strong Franco British
naval squadron in the Pacific. and Ger
many might hesitate to attack the Baltic
states if they were covered by definite
London-PariS guarantee.
The hesitancy of the British to comply
with Stains demands will be overcome
shortly by the dire necessity of having
Russia on the side of France and Great
Britain. The Kremlin political Shylock
will have his pound of flesh, but even
with formal pact there are many who
wonder whether the U. S. S. R. will live
up to her engagements. The Russians
were the chief supporters of the Spanish
Loyalists; yet the only real support the
Negrin government obtained from Mos
COW was in the shape of arms and am
munition paid for at prices higher than
those charged by the professional gun
runners. Will Poland and Rumania have
the same experience?
Italy Weak Part of Axis.
The optimism of the average man re-
garding the interna tional situation is also
based on the fact that nothing spectacu-
lar has happened since the middle of
April when war seemed inevitable; when
everybody expected Hitler to march into
r.
Since this did not happen the logical
I conclusion Of the man in the street is
that Hitler got scared; that MuSsolini,
who is supposed to have cold feet con-
tinually, had violent attack of the jit-
terS and urged his partner to slow down
the pace which would inevitably lead tc
a war.
The facts are, however, different. The
Germans, having learned a bitter lesson
in the last World War, now leave nothing
/ to chance. The weak point of the axis
is Italy, where the people are not so war;
like as they are in Germany.
In the event that France lives up to
her treaty with Poland, it is conceivable
that she would attack the line of least
resistance-Italy. The Alaps form an i'm
portant natural chain of fortifications.
But these strongholds can be reduced
through a determined attack by the
French. The Germans remember only
too we'll CaporettO, where as soon as the
Italians were dislodged from the high
peaks they offered no further resistance
until allied forces came to their rescue.
There were no Notifications where troops
could rally between the mountains which
separate Italy from Austria-hence the
Italian rout.
Gen. Won BrauchitSch visited the
italian terrain and decided that an
Italian Siegfried line must be estab-
lished between the French frontier and
the River Pc Valley. Some works had
been started in March but they were
slow and, from the German point of view.
! inconsequential.
Fortifications Nearly Finished.
| The German-Italian staff conversa-
/ tions resulted in Fastening these works.
| Col. Fodt, the engineer who was re-
sponsible for the construction of the
Slegfried line was sent to Italy to estab-
lish similar line of Notifications. No
less than 250,O0O workmen were con-
scripted for this purpose, and, under the
leadership of German engineers the line
is now almost completed. 1t is reported
that it will be ready some time at the
end of this month.
Of course, the Italian Notifications are
not so comprehensive as the German
/ olCSlllC VI IllC L lCllCll V1dSlIlOU
They are a copy of the Czecho-Slovak
system. When the Germans and the
French planned these works they had
to consider that there were no mountains
of any consequence between the two
countries The Czecho-SlovakS took ad-
vantage of the mountains of Bohemia
hence their system was more applicable
to the italian terrain. AS soon as the
Italian defensive works are completed
and manned, Hitler is expected to raise
his voice again demanding Danzig and
the Corridor despite whatever new men,
bers for the defense of democracy" the
British may be able to enlist in the in
terval
The work on the Po Valley defense
system is proceeding at an un-Latin
pace.
Because of these facts, there is an in
creased apprehension that this summer
may prove to be more tragic than the
/ summer Of 1914.