Evening star., 1940-11-03
BALKANS WAIT BRITISH MOVES
Yugosovo and Turkey Ready to Aid Greece
By Constantine Bropn.


Suez Canal. the Mediterranean Sea is
resounding with clashing arms BY land,
on the sea and in the air the totalitarians
and their foes are fighting the second
decisive battle of the year.
The Italian attack against Greece has
been expected ever since the end of the
Brennero conference between Mussolini
and Hitler. The attack on Gibraltar was
scheduled after Generalissimo Francisco
Franco was boosted to the rank of father
Of the country and the executive man
agement of Spain was placed in the
hands of his brother -in-lav, Ramon
Suner.
The axis is not fighting Greece and
the other Balkan states. They are small
fish which would have fallen into the
totalitarian. flying pan as soon as Eng
land was brought to gan. But the new
campaign was decided on because~ the
possibilities of defeating Great Britain
by arms in the course of this year appear
somewhat remote to the leaders of Berlin
and Rome. Since the island itself is not
ripe enough to fall into the lap of Ger
many and Italy the British Empire must
be weakened by expulsion from the
Mediterranean.
What the outcome of the struggle be-
tween the totalitarian states and Great
Britain will be, with the Balkans as
detour, it is not possible to say at the
present time. There is no doubt that
Germany and Italy have embarked on an
adventure which will not be a blitzkrieg.
The opposition of the countries desig-
mated at Brennero as the next victims of
the axis is bound to be more violent than
that of the Western European states.
Their industry is non-existent, their
cities are used to being destroyed and
ravaged, and their people consider state
OF war quite as normal as peace.
Resistance Depends on Britain.
The resistance of the Balkan states
depends entirely on how much effective
Support-not words of announcement,
but actual troops and war materiel-
Britain will be able to send them. Brit
aims position in turn is somewhat predi-
Gated on the attitude of the French
troops (about 100000 mem in Syria. The
attitude of the army in Syria depends on
what its commanders are willing to do:
whether they are going to obey what
ever orders may be given by the Vichy
government or whether they will act to
the best interests of pre-armistice France.
Greece has undertaken to fight the
Italians. This has been known in we'll
informed quarters in Washington for the
last three weeks. The odds against King
Georges kingdom are heavy. The total
military force of Greece does not exceed
600 900 men. The actual fighting strength
cannot be counted in excess of 250,0O0.
The air force was negligible, but in the
last six months has been strengthened by
British airplanes and instructors. The
Notifications on the Greek Albanian
border are in good shape and have been
lately improved by the arrival of modern
war equipment from Great Britain. This
equipment was not needed on the island
any longer, since the British expect to
fight a defensive war in the next few
months. Hence, part of the war materiel
which had been manufactured or pur-
chased to be used in France was sent to
Athens. Tanks were kept in the valleys
of Greece to meet possible italian break
through the mountain passes According
to usually reliable reports, Australian
units landed in Greece some time ago
to bolster the morale of the Greek Army.
The Greeks have practically no navy
compared with that of the Italians, but
the British have undertaken to meet
the Italians in an open sea fight and
need only the Greek naval bases as
support for their men of war.
Terrain Favors Greek Army.
The Greeks have the advantage over
the Italians because Of the fact that
the Olympus Mountains, which sepa-
rate Albania from Greece, are almost
impossible at this time OF the year.
The winter has set in already and
flying conditions are difficult, If not i'm
possible. The narrow gorges do not per-
init the mechanical units to operate
as in the plains. The action of the
Italians will have to be confined mostly
to artillery fire and bayonet attacks
In the past the Greeks, with their
nervous temperament, have not been
particularly good at this kind Of action
!