Evening star., 1941-08-22
lmperiled Leninqrud


military situation, the darkest aspect
seems to be developing in the region
Of Leningrad. This key city, the
second largest in the Soviet Union,
has manifold importance. Founded
by Peter the Great, creator of mod
ern Russia, as the window to the
west" it has remained the chief
outlet for foreign trade through the
Baltic Sea, while its suburb of Kron-
Stadt is the only base for RuSsia'S
Baltic Fleet. Even under the Cars,
the city became a great industrial
center, especially heavy industry
with extensive iron and steel works,
ShipyardS and kindred enterprises.
The Bolshevik revolution trans
ferred the capital to Moscow and the.
city, its name changed from st.
Petersburg to Leningrad in honor of
the supreme revolutionary leader,
languiShed for a while. But the
Soviet plan for RusSia's transforma-
ton from an agricultural to an
induStrialized country brought new
prosperity to Leningrad. which is
now huge center of industry sup
porting more than 100000 popula-
ton.
Obviously, the loss of Leningrad
would be heavy blow to the Soviet
Union, depriving it of a main source
of manufactures and war materials,
and destroying its Baltic sea power.
From the very start of the war, the
Germans and their Finnish allies
have been driving at Leningrad from
four directions-doWn the narrow
peninsula from Finland, eastward
from Finland around Lake Ladoga,
along the coast from the Baltic
States and overland from the south
west. Dogged Russian resistance
has kept the Finnish drives from
making much progress, but the
German drives south of Leningrad
are now perilously close. Marshal
VoroShilov, generalisSimo of the
northern army group, admits this in
manifesto to the people of Lenin-
grad urging them to defend their city
to the death.
The situation is rendered still more
serious by the imminent cutting of
communications. The German vic
tory at Novgorod, seventy miles to
the south, endangers the rail and
motor trunk line to Moscow, thus
rendering reinforcement precari-
Gus. Indeed it is doubtful whether
adequate aid could be sent, because
the German pressure on the central
battlefront is heavy, while disaster
threatens RuSSia'S southern armies
in the Ukraine. Nothing short of
desperation would have caused the
Russians to dynamite the gigantic
hydroelectric plant on the Dnieper
which supplies most of Southern
Russia with light and power by long
distance transmission lines.
With RuSsia'S southern industry
thus crippled and with its northern
nucleus of Leningrad threatened
with capture, the Soviet Unions
capacity to produce war materials
for its armies and maintain its gen.
eral economic structure will have
to be re-evaluated. Under the Soviet
regime, the region in and around
Moscow has been heavily industrial
lied, but if the Germans succeed in
their northern and southern cam
paigns, it is at least doubtful whether
Moscow can long be held against the
concentric German attack which
probably would ensue.
There remain the new industrial
centers along the Urals and in ST.
IBERIA. Some of these have attained
notable proportions, but so secretive
has the Soviet government been
about them that exact information
is lacking abroad They thus form
the unknown quantity in Russia's
ability to sustain the war on its pres
ent gigantic proportions.