The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-03-25
ALLIES START
 TO STIFFEN UP
Continued from Page D

the motions of preserving her neu- trality by protesting the violations to Britain, but obviously without any prospects that the British would cease taking every advantage of the jagged Norwegian coast which forces ships to go outside the three- mile limit at several points and therefore makes them vulnerable to attack.
 Germany charged that the Ed mund Hugo Stinnes also was sunk inside Danish waters but the British contended that 1t occurred outside.
 The result of the allied naval ac- tivities was to make clear that the British and French navies hence forth would pay less attention to the technicalities of international law, which British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain charged Ger many with having violated so fla grantly that the Reich could have no recourse against any future ac- tion by the allies.
 Why Allies Tighten Up
 This stiffened attitude toward the neutrals appeared to be partly the result of the setback suffered by the allies in Scandinavia when Sweden and Norway permitted the Finnish war to end rather than let allied troops turn their nations into bat tleground and partly the result of popular demand in Britain and France for more active warfare against the Reich.
 A similar situation appeared to be developing in the diplomatic strug- gle in southeastern Europe, where the interests of Soviet Russia are more directly involved.
 Since the war ended in Finland, the Nazis have worked furiously to convince all Europe cnat Germany was about to get together with the Russians and Italians to control the Balkans and thus close their south- eastern flank against allied naneuv- CTS just as the northern flank had been closed at least temporarily. Pressure On Rumania
 The immediate German pressure was on Rumania, which had been trying to work both sides of the street and make the biggest possible profit out of oil and other resources needed by the belligerents. To bring the Rumanians into line, the Nazis made much of the meeting between Adolf Hitler and Italian Premier Benito Mussolini at Brenner Pass and then permitted rumors to cir culate that Soviet Premier Viaches- lav Molotov was on his way to Ber- lin, thus fostering the idea that a promised surprise" was about to be disclosed in the form of solid Ger man Russian, Italian bloc that would run the allies ou; of the Bal kanS.
 Nazis still insist that such devel- opment is to be expected. But so far it has failed to jell. Mussolini ap- pears to have cooperated but not to the extent of embracing the Bolshe- viks. The Russians have been less CO., operative and-after the NaziS re- fused to issue 8 denial-put out an official statement Saturday saying that Molotov was not going ot Ger many.
 Counter Offensive At the same time, the allies began & counter offensive in London and Paris to give the impression that Germany was threatening the Ru- manians with military club and that the British and French were ready to stand by the Balkan na- tions regardless of their failure to give big-scale aid to Finland. Much emphasis was placed on the fact that Rumanian economic mission will go to London to offset the Nazi mission under Dr. Karl Clodits, now in Bucharest.
 Furthermore, 1t was said in Lon- don that the allies had passed up Turkish efforts to improve Anglo French relations with Russia and that London and Paris felt no con. cern about possible Soviet adven- lures in the southeast, where they are committed to aid such nations as Turkey or Rumania. In neutral sources it was felt that on the otllei hand the allies probably would vel. come any excuse for striking at either Germany or Russia-or bOtt t--from the southeast.