Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1941-02-06
INTERNATIONAL
NEWS REVIEW


Continued from Page u
month or two, perhaps-the last
Muss0lini soldier will have been
forced out of the Balkans-prO-
vided, of course, that Hitler does
not rush to the aid of the partner
from whom he himself had ex-
pected support.
In Africa the Italian performance
looks still sorrier, for here the fas-
cists are abandoning constantly more
territory and are facing the dire
possibility of being driven out of their
colonial empire entirely.
The British report new victories in
Libya-where Bengasi, capital of the
colony, is now being threatened; in
Eritrea and Somaliland as we'll; in
Ethiopia the returned exile, Emper-
or Halle Selassie, is organizing his
native army for real war of liberia
ton, supported by the British.
Arguments.
Although Hitler did find it pos
sible the other day to say in his
speech few kind words about Mus
solini, it is quite clear that he can
not expect much from him. He may
have to seek new alignments, and it
does seem possible this week that
they will come about on Balkan soil.
At this moment the German army,
practically speaking, is in control of
Rumania, and there is a strong pos
sibility that it may march into Bull
garia and march through Yugoslavia
in an effort to succor poor Mussolini.
Turkey, it is true, has served notice
and now again-that any attempt at
invading Bulgaria will mean Turk
ish military action against Germany,
but this question still remains: Can
the Ankara government offer eff
fective resistance against the nazis?
We don't know, for we don't know
how strong is the German manpower
on the Balkan peninsula.
There has been a new report
that Japan and Russia now at
last are about to sign their long
awaited nOn-aggression r ATTY.
That may be the first step toward
RuSSO-JapaneSe alliance, and it
may, some time in the future,
mean that not only will Japan
align herself definitely and &C
lively with her allies, Germany
and Italy, but that Russia, too
now merely a friend of Hitler's
may join that constellation.
Should that happen, it would spell
real danger.
Pressure on Vichy.
Hitler, always on the alert for new
possibilities of coalition in his war
against Great Britain, seems to be
exerting great deal of pressure on
the so-called government at Vichy,
unoccupied France. Marshal Philippe
Petain who heads that regime seemed
to be veering away from German in
fluence, but early this week it looked
as though he might have to yield to
Hitler pressure and reappoint dis
carded Pierre Laval second-top man
1t is reported that the German
government insisted very strongly on
LavaPs restoration, and also that if
Petain fails to comply with the Hit
Ter command, the consequences may
be disastrous to all who constitute
the Vichy government.
Berlin and Rome have jointly
been doing great deal of strenu-
GUS work to induce General Max
ime Weygand, still in charge of
the French troops in colonial
Africa, to join Muss0lini in his
war against the British. Although
there seems to have been some
wavering on the part of Wey-
gand, his latest known attitude
bespeaks loyalty to Great Britain
the old ally of now defeated
France.
Discussion.
In this country the problem of ex-
tending adequate help to Great Brit
ain continues at the discussion stage.
There seems to be a great deal to
talk about, but there is no official
or unofficial attempt to hide the fact
that American public opinion, quite
largely, is on the side of the British.
1t is chiefly, at this moment, a ques-
ton of how far to 60.
Reckless drivers killed more than
5000 people in America last year
injured $4,000 more. Drive carefully
this week-end-and every weekend.
The "show-off" has only one ad-
mirer-himseH. And even he can't
see himself-when HIS turn comes
in the morgue.