Evening star., 1940-05-10
Zero Hour

Zero Hour
The zero hour has struck on
Europe's western front. Hitler's
most feared blitzkrieg has come with
al the ruthlessness and violence of
modern, mechanical barbarism. The
neutral soil of inoffensive Belgium
once more is being defiled by the
grinding heel of German aggression
and similarly shocking fate has
befallen peace-loving Holland and
tiny Luxembourg. Their only sin is
that they stand in the path of
carefully planned drive by the
Reich's formidable war machine
against her democratic adversaries,
France and England. The move came
with dramatic suddenness- -signif1-
cantly at the height of the British
cabinet crisis. Britain no sooner had
barred the weaknesses in her armor
than Germany decided to thrust a
well-timed dagger at allied vital
spots-inferior air forces. Goerings
vaunted air power is being given its
supreme test-with savage and omi-
nous initial results in the Lowlands
and in France.
The crime speaks for itself. But
this much is clear in all its stark
reality: On the outcome of the long
awaited German smash in the west
well may hinge the entire fate of the
allied cause and of European democ-
racy. The nearness of a decision on
whether Germany is to hold and use
the channel ports should impress
Americans with the critical stage at
which the war now has arrived.
France and England face squarely
the necessity of retaliating with
hard and devastating blow at Ger
many. There can be no minimizing
the immediate peril in which the
German invasion Of the Netherlands,
Belgium and Luxembourg places the
allied cause. Unlike Norway, where
an allied failure had only secondary
influence on the course of the war,
the Low Countries are so strategical-
ly located that their fate is bound up
inextricably with that of Britain and
France. If the allied cause is to be
saved from disaster German military
might must be met with fiery and
masterful counter offensive which
will wrest the Low Countries from
the hands of the invader.
Excuse for German violence-that
the allies were plotting a blow at
Germany through Holland and Bel
gium, that the little kingdoms were
conniving In a plan to overthrow
the German government and that
they failed to take military precau-
tions In the direction of the allies
equal to those taken on the Ger
man border-is sophistry Of the
usual Nazi brand. Who among
unbiased, sensible peoples can be SO
naive as to swallow such utter non
sense? The charge that the allies
were contemplating invasion Of Hol-
land and Belgium obviously is as
brazen and false a contention as the
mendacious Nazi regime ever has had
the effrontery to make. The absurd
ity of it is so patent tina t the
German case will receive not the
slightest credence from intelligent
persons.
Obviously, the allegation is part
of a formula which Fuehrer Hitler
has evolved from a long study of the
most ruthless precedents. It was the
excuse Germany used in Norway and
1t Is the excuse she will use again II
she decides to loose her thunderbolts
over Southeastern Europe. Ingredi-
ents of the Nazi formula are, first
of all, a false charge of conspiracy
against the Reich, followed imme-
diately-and without opportunity for
negotiation-by a violent blitzkrieg,
of which the attack on Holland and
Belgium is as perfect an example as
has yet been offered.
Reported misuse Of the Dutch
uniform, which is particularly
cowardly piece of work, clears up
some of the mystery about the dis
covery Of truckloads of Dutch army
clothing on the German border at
various times in recent months. It
is variation, of course, of the Nazis'
Trojan horse" technique used so
effectively in Norway.
The allies have pledged immediate
aid to Holland and Belgium in re-
sponse to appeals from Brussels and
The Hague. The big test of the allies
is at hand. They deserve every
blessing in that test that far-seeing
Americans can give them.