davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1941-06-08
Behind the Lines

For the sixth time in 81 months of war,
Hitler and Mussolini met last Monday at
their favorite trysting place-the little
Alpine village of Brennero.
Present were military and foreign
policy chieftains of Nazi and Fascist
governments, but little real information
came out of several hours of secluded
conversation. Agreement was complete,
a spokesman said, about the political
situation"
1t is worthy of note, however, that
each of previous meetings between these
Axis big shots has sig
Brenner nailed the beginning or
Poss Aqoin end OF major phase
of their strategy. In
this case, speculation turned most fire.
quently to probability they had discussed
further steps in Mediterranean theater,
plus what role United States may next
assume.
Perhaps most important of all political
developments of week, however, were
continuing precarious negotiations be-
tween japan and Dutch East Indies on
Evening star., 1941-06-08
The Home Front

Harsh utterances about policies of Ber-
lin and Vichy, fantastic speculations
about the mission of John G. Winant,
home from his post as Ambassador to
Britain, and major steps on the legisla-
tive front crowded war headlines here
in recent days.
Regarding legislation, principal con-
troversy was prompted by introduction
of bill giving President
Executive sweeping powers to requisi-
Powers tion all types of private
property for defense pur-
poses. Going beyond comparable pow
ers voted during first World War, pro-
posal aroused congressional resistance
and appeared due for modification before
enactment
Fitting into pattern of developing gov
ernment control over private life in
America was signing on Monday of
measure legalizing mandatory priority
system on industry-authorizin o. P.
M. to tell industry what it must produce
and when.
Also on legislative front was presenta-
ton to House on Thursday of 100000
100000 Army appropriation bill-hrgest
Evening star., 1941-06-08
CURTAIN BELIEVED ABOUT TO RISE IN SYRIAN WAR ARENA

formers demands for larger supplies of
oil. rubber and tin
Trying to maintain continuing flow of
these important commodities to United
States and England, Dutch agreed to
step up oil sales to Japan but have
baked at increasing those of other COM
modities.
Implying that persistence in this re-
luctance might mean war, japanese trade
negotiators on Thursday said. I'VE have
reached the edge of a precipice: now
We either fall over or retain our foot
hold"
On Friday Dutch negotiators deliv-
cred a generally unfavorable reply, but
who will fall over what precipice was
not Immediately clear
Drawing heavily on japanese sources
of supplies of foodstuffs and some of
very commodities being sought
Far in Indies, it was revealed
East during week, is Germany
paying freight on some 1,50O
tons of daily shipments across Tran
Siberian Railroad.
And from Vlchy it was reported un-
officially that Nazi government had final
ly made trade bargain with Moscow to
obtain larger proportion of Ukraine
wheat.
In quiet eddies offside the main cur
rents of this war, two other things hap
pened this past week.
In a Sunday radio broadcast from
Vatican City, that island of peace in
continent at war, Pope Plus XII called
for a safeguarding of individual rights
when there shall emerge from today's
conflict that new order which the world
expects and hopes"
And on Wednesday, almost % years
after he fled from the crumbling failure
of his own effort to impose German
kultur upon the world, Kaiser Wilhelm
II died at Doom.
He was 50 and it is doubtful if the
hatred which exists today in millions
of suppressed hearts for Adolf Hitler
surpasses that which was famed into
life by Wilhelm's Me and God" phi
losophy of quarter century ago.
Evening star., 1941-06-08

single appropriation since last World
War. Included was provision for funds
for 10000 fighting planes-plus this
ominous word from War Department:
1--WE have feeling that there
will be military need of all the planes
covered by this program"
Counting two-ocean Navy and lease
lend programs, this appropriation request
brings total since last July l to $43,-
000, 100000. Defense spending in May
averaged s27,OOO,oO0 per day.
On Friday, the President signed leg
islation permitting requisitioning of for
eign-owned ships now
Shipping standing in war-enforced
Seizures idleness in American ports.
Their employment in war
service in near future is assured, and
In this direction Maritime Commission
also added to long List Of American
Evening star., 1941-06-08

vessels which are being called into Gov
ernment use. To free certain portion of
British shipping for work closer to war
zone, commission likewise agreed to en-
ployment of American merchantmen on
several new Pacific routes.
During the week, President Roosevelt
asked s125 100000 more for development
of access roads" in defense highway
system. and in challenging tones recon-
mended to Congress that it approve
Canadian American agreement for de-
velopment of s285 100000 st. Lawrence
seaway and power project.
Several times during week, Mr. RooSe-
welt conferred at length with Mr..
Winant. AS both declined at first to
discuss tenor of Ambassadors report,
printed and spoken rumors became
wilder each day.
Evening star., 1941-06-08

"OhlN W SIolOOlOuD'
In quite another category are the
larger strategic considerations that lie
behind whatever specific moves may be
made against Germany What may be
called the grand strategy of the war-if
war comes-is not only proper subject
of discussion; it demands discussion,
for it enters into the very fabric of ma
tional policy. In his momentous radio
speech of May 27, President Roosevelt
set out one phase of this grand strategy,
as it has developed in his mind, when he
indicated that the United States was
prepared to act to prevent German
seizure either of Dakar, in French West
Africa, or the Portuguese island out
posts of the New World"-the Azores and
the Cape Verde Islands The Presidents
conception of how the Americas should
be defended was summed up in his SEN
tence: Our Bunker Hill of tomorrow
may be several thousand miles from
Boston
Blueprint for Victory.
These are matters-these determinants
Of the final blueprint that should be,
as the President has said, discussed
around the cracker barrels of the land
They are, of course. the conversational
stock in trade of the professional STRAIT
egists at Washington, and they are be-
ing canvassed with skill and foresight
by such writers on military affairs as
Maj. George Fielding Eliot and Hanson
w. Baldwin.
The question is how the United States,
If it actively enters the war, should set
about gaining the victory.
What follows is a report of some of
the views that have seemed to the
writer, either because of the source from
which they emanate or the nature of
the opinions themselves, to be worth
considering. Both official and unofficial
strategists have been consulted Nat
urally, while there is general agreement
on some points. there is sharp division
of opinion on others, as, for example,
Evening star., 1941-06-08

go where the Germans can't; we should
use it with daring and imagination.
What do the Strategists think we
should do, concretely, to exploit the ad-
vantage we enjoy in naval strength?
We should see that food and materials
of war get to England. England has
been in desperate case from her shipping
losses. We should, if possible, secure our
rear-make it clear, if we have not al
ready done so, that any threat by Japan
would be met jointly by us, the British
and the Dutch. We should use our sea
power in every way possible to tighten
the blockade of Germany We should
use this power, plus our air power. to
establish new bases from which our air
power could be made increasingly effec-
tive. Bases and bombers, bases and
bombers these. says Hanson Baldwin,
are two of our primary requisites.
NaZi Coordination.
Hitler has won the war up to now
because of the superb coordination of
the forces he has brought into play, the
integration of all Germany's resources
toward single end. He has made crush
ing use of the organizing talent of the
German people and their willingness to
submit to discipline. 1t is for the DEM
ocratic nations to assume the initiative
search out and exploit the weak spots
in the German effort, open up new
fronts on which it can be attacked-and
prove that the staying power of a democ-
racy is greater than a relationships
1t may be that the time will come
the fact ought to be faced-when we
shall send a great expeditionary force
to Europe But such force is not now
in the reckoning of most of our experts
Evening star., 1941-06-08

for "bdSes and bomberS."
Wide World Photo.
and actual fifth columnist at their
service tine Allies would have a thou
sand; men and women desiring freedom
and hating their oppreSsors with
savage hatred. That great element of
strength lies ready to our hand and
needs only skill in propaganda and or
ganization to make it a terrific weapon
wherewith to vanquish the Nazi
hordeS
Inside Agitation.
Every effort should be made to take
advantage of German inability to govern
other people. With the long coastline of
the occupied countries and their
hundreds of beaches, bays and inlets
from the North Cape to the Pyrenees,
weapons, ammunition and explosives
could be smuggled in by a multitude of
small boats manned by courageous ma
tionals of each country concerned The
land-bound nations, such as Czecho-
Slovakia and Poland, could be aided by
parachute dropped propaganda, supplies
and demolition materials in the same
manner. With our large groups of
foreign-born Europeans. thousands of
volunteers should be available for these
tasks to work from without and to aid
in recruiting and organizing aid within
each conquered country"
All those consulted by the writer agree
that the political weapon, used in con-
junction with the military, can be made
enormously effective.
Then there is the weapon of economic
pressure. That is weapon that We, as
Yankee traders. should know how to use
to good advantage. 1t should be used
without stint to cripple Germany, in ways
devised by a special agency for economic
warfare and integrated with bombing
attacks. the sea blockade and all the
other phases of a total war.
The war on all these fronts-propa-
gandist, political, economic-should be
Waged ceaselessly in collaboration with
the strictly military attack
sea power gives lis mobility. ue caD
Evening star., 1941-06-08

to strategic points abroad that we must
prepare our Army-even though such
contingency is not now envisioned-for
a mass assault All this in addition to
an all-out productive effort at home. and
a steady and unrelenting prosecution of
the war through propaganda, through
economic measures and through incite-
ment to rebellion in the Nazi-occupied
areas. We can afford to overlook Moth
ing.
Some of the great unknown quantities
have been mentioned. There are plenty
of others. One has to do with the suffl-
cheney of the German oil supply: About
that, none can be dogmatic. One con-
Germs the morale of the German people:
How long will it stand up when the tide
of battle begins to turn? A tremendous
question mark is Russia. Here again 1t is
futile to speculate; suffice it that the
prevailing Washington thought is that
Russia will continue to stand aside,
hoping to win the war without fight
ing it.
Japan? Will she fight? Or will she
llllu d way OuG VI llCi W
the Axis? There is food for thought in
the Presidents failure to mention Japan
in his recent radio address. The belief
grows-though perhaps it is only wish
full thinking-that the militarists OF
Japan are losing influence; that she is in
no present mood to run the desperate
risks that a war with the United States,
even a United States engaged al the
same time in the Atlantic, would entail.
Navy Is Ready.
If Japan fights. we shall face hard
decision in the field of naval strategy.
The central problem is Clear-how much
of our feet to maintain in the Atlantic,
how much in the Pacific. Only time and
events can give the answer. The Nav
is ready; it is splendid navy, the most
powerful in the world; its morale is high.
But it is yet not a two-ocean navy; you
might call it, as of today, a one-and-a-
half-ocean navy. War on two fronts
would confront it with supreme task.
1t is a reaSSuring thought that our nCw
ships are coming of the ways ahead Of
schedule, and that our naval aviation IS
the best in the world. If our Navy goe7
into action against the japanese feet.
naval aviation will play a heavy part
There is no disposition here to max"
light of the japanese fleet; it is recoc-
nized as a strong fighting force; but ti'o
aviation experts tell you that after two
of three weeks of battle with the Amer
lean Navy it would have to fight, than
to our nava! aviation, without eyes.
After the great battle in which tt
Bismarck was hunted down and surl-
Hanson Baldwin, though taking baci;
nothing he had said of the importanco
of sea power, wrote that the war haG
made clear that the old terms-sea pow
er, air power. land poWer-no longer had
a detached meaning. The three" he
said, "are now merged in what might be
called global power, with each service
dependent upon the others and with air
power absolutely essential to all"
To recognize the truth Of this and act
upon it, in all its implications as to air
power by sea and by land, is one way to
win the war
Evening star., 1941-06-08

on the relative merits of sea power and
air power.
If there is one point on which, more
than another, the strategists see eye
to eye, it is the vital Importance of
holding the British Isles. Controlled by
Hitler, they would be a base for a west
ward attack Controlled by his enemies,
they are base for a constant assault
on the war-making facilities of Ger
many-her factories, her airfields, her
communications system her submarine
bases, all the ports that make up the
intricate and delicately adjusted war
making machine behind the lines. AS the
war stands today, the hope of a British
victory, in the opinion of many. rests
to great extent on bombing power
Bombing Power Vital.
This need for bombing power-both a
British and an American needs dis
cussed in provocative article in the cur
rent Atlantic Monthly by Francis Vivian
Drake, pilot in the r. A. F. during the
first World War and now, as a natural
lied American. a businessman in this
country. The views of Mr.. Drake are in
tune with a large and growing body of
expert opinion on the aviation require
ments of the United States-opinion re-
f1ected in the recent order of the PreSi-
dent to all the Government depart
ments involved for "a substantial in
crease in heavy bomber production" Mr..
Drake writes:
Our own specific need is for tre-
mendous bombing power at long dis
tance, so that we can sink every hostile
ship that approaches our shores or seeks
to establish air bases. Wherever we
turn, to the defense Of the Panama
Canal, to the protection of the West
Coast, to the policing of our end of the
convoy lanes, we find the need for strik-
ing great blows with heavy bombers in
the Pacific the Atlantic or the Carib-
bean, far from the central homeland
The British are now in a parallel situa-
Evening star., 1941-06-08

figures which have made clear the seri-
business of this phase of Britains losses.
On Wednesday, Berlin announced that
since beginning of war in September,
1889, British have lost IL ,644 900 tons of
merchant shipping. Through April, Lon
don admitted losses of 100000 tons.
British merchant tonnage approximated
2l0O0,00O tons before war.
Britain is bleeding to death" Nazi
spokesman gloated, adding that losses in
81 months equaled construction in IL
years of peace and 10 times rate of
present capacity of British yards to re-
place vessels lost American replace
ments, this spokesman continued, will
fall far short of meeting Britains needs.
Interesting to Americans was informa-
ton from maritime sources in New York
on Wednesday that four Brit
Sea. ism ships had been torpedoed
War in single day in area within
TOO miles of Labrador-well
within zone covered by United States
neutrality patrol and indicating employ
ment of powerful, long-range cruising
submarines.
Severest outbreak of air war during
week was German blast at Manchester
before daylight on Monday. For several
hours, Nazi flyers poured thousands of
incendiaries and high explosive bombs
into this great industrial city-counting
among their victims two hospitals, three
churches, three hotels and a theater.
Military objectives were reported hit in
other raids on English Midlands on
Thursday, but London passed through
its fourth week without a real night at
tack.
r. A. F. flyers made one major sortie
during this week, claiming to have
started "a whole circle of fires" in their
forty-sixth raid upon Berlin. Duessel-
dorf, Ostend St. Nazaire and several
Ruhr cities were other objectives during
the week, and another set of bombers
claimed to have covered entire length
of Kiel Canal.
Evening star., 1941-06-08

Finally, on Friday, Mr.. Roosevelt said
Ambassador has reported on $3.50 items
of British wartime conduct and was ac-
cumulating information on $3.50 items
of Americas defense program.
Then, somewhat angrily, the President
tagged down the speculation that AM
bassador had brought word of imminent
British capitulation or intention to seek
peace; countered by accusing German
government of attempting to dupe Amer
leans through spread of ordered propa-
ganda here.
On Friday, Secretary of State Hull
whipped out anew at Vichy's collabora-
ton with Berlin, recounted our tradi-
tional friendship for France and hinted
that there will be marked reversal Of
this policy If French Join in war against
Britain.
Evening star., 1941-06-08
On Fighting Fronts

There was further unfolding this week
of Nazi strategy to drive British COM
pletely out of Mediterranean theater by
shaking empire loose from it's control
of rich oil lands of Iraq, blasting British
Navy out of Alexandria and Malta,
occupying Suez eventually making
Gibraltar untenable as British base, and
finally spreading Axis control down west
coast of Africa to Atlantic outpost at
Dakar.
To Axis. success in this venture would
bring great resources of OIL vital to mod
ern warfare. 1t would turn
Axis Mediterranean into an Axis
pIon mare nostrum" - something
Mussolini often dreamed but
never accomplished; an unmolested
highway for transport between Europe
and Africa. And it would give to Hitler's
sea raiders a South Atlantic frontier
dangerously threatening to British ship
ping around Cape of Good Hope and to
democratic influences in South America.
In reverse, each of these Axis gains
would be British losses, although for
months past the British shipping lifeline
from Oceania and the Far East has
been around Africa rather than shorter
route through Suez For British pur-
poses, Iraq oil has been used almost en-
tirely as fuel for Mediterranean-Africa
fighting forces, but its availability to
Germans would correspond to major
break in Britain's Atlantic blockade.
Not inconSequential, too, Is effect this
extension Of Axis influence is having on
Turkey nominally committed to alliance
with Britain, but already in danger OF
being cut off completely from any ave-
hue of actual collaboration with British.
AS week began, German-Italian forces
we're mopping up last stages of British
Greek resistance in Crete, announcing
on Monday they had captured Sphakion,
last evacuation port at southwestern end
of island Berlin claimed $4,000 priS-
oners, while Rome estimated allied losses
by death and capture at $4,000. British
sources asserted $4,000 men had been
evacuated safely to Egypt and declared
total defending strength had never ex-
seeded 10000.
In any event, added to damage in
ficted on British Mediterranean fleet,
entire unsuccessful defense
Crete of Crete was damaging de-
Effect feat-far from balanced by
probability that German
deaths might have exceeded those of
British and Greeks.
Next steps in this phase of today's
war was expected to be German attack
upon Cyprus, British-held island close
to SYRIAN Turkish coast, to be followed
In turn by full-dress warfare in Syrian
Iraq sector.
IN fact, German infltration into Syria
was well under way by midweek with
hrst troop arrivals being by small vessels
Evening star., 1941-06-08
I'd Naval Experts Tell How Begerent America Could Win

ton. Their pursuits can help to ward
off enemy attacks but only the heavy
bombers, smashing at the heart of the
Nazi industry in plants thousand miles
away from England, can win this war for
them. The British Navy cannot reach
the factories, the British Army cannot
invade Germany. against Infinitely Su-
perior forces. But it is stupid sophistry
to cite this fact as a reason why the
British cannot win the war; these OBJ
stacles can be overleaped by great air
power applied at the vital sources of
Nazi machine power"
Max Werner in his Battle for the
World" well shows the prime Importance
of Britain as a base of American opera
tionS. Britain he describes as having the
same significance to the United States
that France held for Britain. 1T is, on
the one hand, Americas safety zone, and,
on the other, its advanced base of opera
tions for counteroffensive." The pres
ent writer in his roundup of opinion
found no dissent from this view.
Outline of Strategy.
objective of the United States should be
to insure the preservation of the British
Isles as base for sea, air and political
offensive against Germany.
Point No. is that If we 60 into the
war, we should strike at Germany not
only on the military front, but to the
fullest extent on the propaganda, the
political and the economic fronts These
are significant as never before in war;
fare
To exploit to the utmost the psyche
logical effect of our entrance, we should
go III with trumpets and banners. There
should be radio broadcasts to the Ger
man people reminding them of the pro-
ductive capacity of the United States,
of the strength of the American Navy,
of the great mechanical Army we are
preparing, of what happened after we
entered the first World War in 1917.
There should be a steady stream OF
propaganda designed to stir up trouble
for the Nazis in the occupied countries.
We should study the German methods
of propaganda and better them.
But in the ef1ort TO lnc1te rebellion IN
the Nazi-held countries, we should not
stop with propaganda. We should
smuggle in arms to revolutionary groups,
we should supply them with money;
making use of the expatriates among us,
we should introduce flfth-columnists to
commit acts of sabotage and foment dis
content. Impossible to do all this? Not.
say the strategists, if we organize and
integrate our war effort as the Germans
have organized and integrated theirs:
not so long as the British Isles are held
as a base and the British and American
navies control the sea lanes and are able
to establish new bases
Democratic Fifth Column.
What might be done along these lines
is graphically told by Maj. Malcolm
Wheeler Nicholson in his book, "Ameri-
can Can Win:
Another weapon to be used in these
(the occupied nations is the fifth
column technique so cynically employed
by the Nazis. 1t can be, properly handled,
a two-edged weapon to aid in their down.
fall. Where the Nazis had one potential