Evening star., 1940-01-14
Hitler's Strategy of Endurance
Cuts Chance of Terrific Drive
Reports to American Officials Point to Fuehrer's
Faith That France Will Crumble
Under Inactivity
BY Constantine Broom.

44AS1C "A1A pC IlU SCIIlldu OuGIlSlVG
the western front for a long time to
come If Hitler's strategy remains as is
This information, which has recently
reached Washington, emanates from
sources reliable enough to be paid atten-
tlon to by high officials in the State De-
partment and White House
Hitler is determined, according to
these reports, to stick to the wear
their-nerves-down' strategy He be-
lieves implicitly that in the long run the
inactivity on the western front will play
havoc with the French and that two
things will happen in such an eventual
ity. Either the French command, Wor-
rled about the men behind the Maginot
Line, will lose its own nerve and attack
the slegtrled Line, or the high allied
command, realizing the implications of
an unsuccessful drive, will do nothing
and there will be disintegration from
within in France.
For the time being, the WatchWord of
the German general staff, which is COM
PEELED to follow the Fuehrer blindly, is
that the entire activity of the Reich
its stores with all the raw materials nee
essary for war of long duration. Ac-
cordlng to reliable reports, the talk of
an eventual attack on Sweden, Norway
or Denmark is purely propaganda min
istry hot air, intended mostly for foreign
consumption. An Intervention in the
Scandinavian Peninsula is possible only
in the event of entering either of the
two countries with troops to go to the
rescue of Finland.
Allies Might Force Action.
For the time being the Reich has no
dlfnculty in obtaining the necessary raw
materials, especially ore, from Sweden.
But if French and British troops are
landed in Norway, thence to try to make
their way through Sweden either to at
tack Russia in the north or go to help
the Firms, there is no doubt that the
German Army will enter the territory of
those two countries. Barring this even
tuality, the German general staff con-
templates no military action in the
north.
The economic situation of Germany,
according to confidential and entirely
reliable reports from American observ-
ers, is far from being satisfactory, but
it is not much worse than it was two
or three years ago. There is no actual
lack of any kind of raw materials The
main source of worry Of the high COM
mand is the almost complete collapse
bf the railway system.
Tn flo Ioe ef
military has urged the government to
concentrate on highways. These we're
built in large numbers and have made
the movements of the army much easier
than over the restricted railroads. The
expansion of the highways was made at
the expense of the railways. While stra-
logically the Germans were correct in
doing so, from the point of view of
transportation of raw materials, they
have found that they have been wrong.
The recent agreement with the Ruma-
nian government, whereby that country
agrees to sell Germany most of its oil
production, has proven this. Rumanian
oil is available but there are no tank
cars or a sufficient number of heavy
locomotives to take that oil from the
Rumanian frontiers into the Reich. The
Danube is not navigable for at least
four months of the year and lighters
cannot be used. The deficiency of oil
In the Reich, which would be more
seriously felt if German aviation were
to begin important raiding operations,
would have been lessened had the Reich
maintained the previous high efficiency
of its railroads. According to these OBJ
servers, the submarine campaign had to
be curtailed for few weeks in order to
replenish so far as possible the oil sup
ply. But that is the one serious diff
Guilty in Germany new at the present
time
Many Not Yet in Uniforms.
There are quantities of men between
the ages of Is and 40 who don't yet wear
the uniform. In populous cities like Ber-
lin, Munich and Dresden, as we'll as in
smaller towns, these men can be seen
following their usual occupations. They
have their orders to join their units at
a moments notice, but they are not yet
required to go to the front
The Siegfried Line is fully manned
According to the latest reports there are
something like 1,250,O0O men between the
Swiss and the Dutch borders In some
military quarters the presence of such a
strong army on defensive line requiring
a maximum of $4,000 men for its pro-
lection has been interpreted as an indi-
cation that Hitler is preparing to launch
a coup as soon as weather conditions
will permit large-scale operations in the
west. This Interpretation appears er-
roneous. The German general staff
maintains larger number of troops
than is theoretically necessary to defend
the West Wall because it intends to have
sufficient men on hand to meet any
emergency or surprise from whatever
quarter it may come.
The presence of an imposing army
on the Hungarian border might mean
that Hitler could consider campaign
in the Balkans in the course of the
spring in order to give the Reich unchal-
lenged control over the raw materials of
Rumania, Bulgaria and Turkey. Two
of these ountries-Rumania and Tur-
key-are either pledged to the allies or
in sympathy with the French British
cause. 1t may be necessary, say the OBJ
servers, for Hitler to put stop to all
this Irritation by acquiring for the Reich
the vast resources which exist south of