Evening star., 1941-04-28
Athens Fulls

Although British rear guards con-
tinue to offer stubborn resistance,
the surrender of Athens practically
rings down the curtain on the Bal
kan tragedy Just three weeks after
the Germans launched their smash
ing dawn attack over the Bulgarian
mountains into the Vardar Valley,
gray-green infantry gooSe-Stepped
down the broad avenues of the Greek
capital and hoiSted the SWaStika flag
on the AcropoliS. Thus the Nazl
juggernaut crushed two valiant ma
tionS and overwhelmed British eX-
peditionary force in precisely twen-
ty-one days.
There is no use blinking the fact
that this whirlWind campaign con-
StituteS the most notable achieve
ment of the German war machine.
Both in YugoSlavia and in Greece,
the Germans confronted natural
obstacles which had baffied their
italian allies in the similar Albanian
terrain The YugoSlavs had mobi-
lized approximately 100000 SOL
dierS, while the Greek forces and the
British contingent must have Swelled
the defenders strength to nearly
100000 Although Yugoslav tactical
dispositions were faulty, they seem
to have fought stoutly at the start.
Not until their lines had been broken
and their communications were dis
rupted by mercilesS Stuka bombing
did the CroatS give up the fight. AS
for the Greeks, nothing could have
been more heroic than their resist
ance. while the dogged endurance OF
the English, Anzac and Scottish
troops were in the best British mill
tary tradition. The speedy outcome
of the campaign is therefore an
ominous revelation of German strik-
ing power Able strategy, tactical
skill, specialized performance Of
highly trained units, and amazing
coordination could alone have
brought about this result.
The strategic and diplomatic roper
cuSsions of this German triumph
are bound to be important and
widespread From new bases on the
Greek mainland and adjacent is
lands, the LuftWaffe will be in better
position to harry British communi-
cations in the Eastern Mediterran-
can, while conversely bombing of OBJ
jectives like the Rumanian oil fields
by the Royal Air Force has become
impracticable. Turkey is much more
exposed to German pressure, and
unless Russia gives at least veiled
support, it may yield to axis demands.
That would intensity the danger to
the Suez Canal, already menaced by
the Italo-German drive across North
Africa to the Egyptian border. In
similar fashion, German pressure
upon Vichy for French "collabora-
ton" grows more insistent. while
Spanish reluctance to acquiesce in a
German drive through the Iberian
Peninsula toward Gibraltar and pos
sibly into Portugal visibly diminishes.
Thus, throughout the Mediterranean
area, axis prospects brighten and
Britain's situation becomes more
precarious.
However, as Winston Churchill
we'll says, these ominous reverses
should be viewed in their due per-
spective. Britain can lose the Medi-
terranean without losing the war.
In the last analysis, this war will be
won or lost in the British Isles and
on the broad Atlantic. So long as
Britain holds out, and so long as the
sea lanes which are its life line can
be kept open for munitions. food
stuffs and raw materials, Hitler has
not and cannot gain the victory
which he must have If he is to con-
solidate his hold over a rebellious
and blockad -pinched European con-
| tinent.
That Is the ultimate lesson to be
drawn from the hectic weeks which
have just passed. The British know
it we'll. America should realize it,
too.