Evening star., 1940-01-01
War-Locked Nations
Greet New Yearin
B|acked-0ut Silence
Allies and Germany Vie
In Predictions of
Victory in 1940

By the Associated Press.
A dolorous heritage of war and
unrest around most OF the world
greeted the newborn year Of 1910
today.
Germany and the British-French
Allies, locked in a titanic struggle
now nearly four months old. agreed
the year would be momentous one
and Wed in predictions of victory.
In the grim cold of the north,
Finland reported an entire division
of Soviet Russian invaders had been
cut to pieces, and girded for con-
tinued warfare.
Japan, now in the third year of
the undeclared war in China, re-
ported 81 Chinese planes had been
shot down in a great aerial battle
over LiuchoW, while China's Gen.
eralissimo Chang Kai-shek began
the year with an exhortation to Ma
tionalists for further vigorous de-
fense.
Trouble for British Empire.
Civil strife loomed on Ireland's
horizon; India's restless millions
seethed with demands for inde-
pendence from Great Britain; Tur-
key counted her thousands of dead
from the natural calamities of
earthquake, blizzard and flood; and
the worlds nations not yet touched
by violence trod the paths of peace
with trepidation.
The United States Secretary of
State, Cordell Hull, expressed the
hope 1910 would see a return to
peaceful relations among all ma
tions, but warned that intensified
warfare would affect America more
and more heavily"
Even if peace should come this
year, many officials felt interna-
tional relations and the conditions
OF finance and trade would thrust
upon the United States troubles
worse than the war"
But peace, in the eyes of the bel
ligerents, appeared presently as
chimera
THE dawning year will be a hard
one" Germany's Propaganda Min
lister Paul Joseph Goebbels warned
In a radio speech. Victory will not
be a gift to Germany. All Germans
must work for it, not only at the
front, but at home"
He echoed sentiments expressed
Saturday by Reichsfuehrer Adolf
Hitler, who predicted 1910 would be
the greatest year in German his
tory.
Germany in Darkness
Germany greeted the new year in
darkness. Shattered dance halls
were crowded, but beer parlors were
closed. Empty streets echoed to foot
falls of doubled police patrols.
For fear the usual New Year
whistle-tooting might be mistaken
for an air raid alarm, British au-
thorities banned it in darkened
London.
French RADIO stations broadcast in
81 languages cordial greetings to
all peoples and all men who, in fact
or in heart, are with France and
Great Britain in their struggle for
the freedom of peoples and men
against Nazi Imperialism.
On the snowbound western front,
both sides reported little activity
since the furry of patrol actions
Saturday night.
Indian Nationalists, who have
seized upon British preoccupation
with the war to renew their demands
for independence, projected a pos
sible new campaign of civil dis
obedience. Their little leader,
Mohandas K. Gandhi, will test the
temper of his people in "Independ-
ence Day" observations January 26.
Significant Date for Japan.
That same date will be a significant
one for Japan, as it marks expira-
ton of the trade treaty with the
United States. Japan has evidenced
anxiety over the future of her i'm
portant commercial relations with
this country.
Spain, depressed by the aftermath
of bloody civil war, heard plea
from Generalissimo Francisco Franco
for cooperation in solving the ''un-
precedented problems" of reconstruc-
ton.
The tiny islands in the South
Pacific, just across the international
dateline, were among the first, and
most serene, spots on earth to greet
the New Year. Typical of these were
the Chatham Islands, whose 400 Eu-
ropeans and 300 native Maoris cele-
brated with dancing, feasting and
horse-racing.