Evening star., 1939-09-08
By DEWITT MACKENZIE,

Associated Press Foreign Affairs Writer.
The hot-spot of the war between
Herr Hitler and the three allies con-
tinued to be the great German drive
into Poland, while the Western thea
ter along the Franco-German front
proceeded with its extraordinary
hush hush" conflict
If we do not allow our attention
to be distracted from essentials too
much by the fascination of the flash
and roar of big guns, We find that
the most important developments
to date are these:
/. The onrushing German invaders
have gained control of almost the
entire Western third of unhappy
Poland and are closing in fast on
Warsaw
A heavy assault continues against
the vital Polish defenSes at the juno
ture of the Vistula and Bug Rivers
what might be called the Northern
gateway of the capital Two other
invading armies are thrusting at
Warsaw from the South and West.
The capital has been largely aban-
doned by civilians, who are fleeing
in long lines along the highways to-
ward the temporary security to the
East
2. In the Western theater the
French have been bombarding the
German Westwall, or Siegfried Line
of defenses. and say they have
pushed their forces forward toward
this line to a depth of several miles
in many places.
Part of Objective Achieved.
The purpose of this activity has
been two-fold: French force against
the German front is to relieve pres
sure against the hard-pressed Poles
by compelling the Nazis to with
draw troops from the Eastern Front.
Also, the Anglo-French army is
presumed to be getting set for a
major assault against the Germans.
| 1t would be mistake, however, to
attach too great Importance to the
apparent ease of the French ad-
vance thus far.
g. The French already have
achieved part of their objective, for
the Germans have been compelled
to send more troops for defensive
purposes in the West.
4. The Germans continue to pur-
sue their startling policy of con-
fining their aggression to the Polish
front and acting purely on the de-
fensive in the West. Indeed, they
have been pulling back from the
French advance into the no-man's
land between the French Maginot
Line and the Siegfried Notifications.
This accounts for the ease of the
French advance. They have en-
countered very little resistance thus
far.
Hitler Wants Quick Victory.
The explanation of this appears to
be this:
Herr Hitler wants to devote his
energy to a terrific smash at Poland
so as to achieve a quick victory. He
is profiting by the lessons of the
World War, when Germny lost eff
cheney by having to shunt troops
constantly back and forth between
the Russian front and the Allied
front in the west.
Also, Hitler is credited with want
ing to get peace as soon as he has
smashed Poland For this reason
he is holding his fire against the
French and British, maintaining the
attitude that he isn't mad with them
any more and that consequently
there is no reason why they
shouldn't agree to peace in due
course.
S. The British have continued
their bombardment of the German
people with propaganda dropped
from the air.
This persistent campaign is i'm
portant and one which the reader
should watch. The Anglo French
allies are trying to cause revolu-
ton in Germany, and are banking
that Germany's economic condition
will become so serious shortly as to
assist them. They are figuring that
when the German people get hun
CRY they will revolt.
The allies also are working on any
discomfort they can find in Ger