Evening star., 1943-09-03
Peace Said to Depend
On Accord With Russia
By Maj. George Fielding Eliot.

follow this war must rest on a working
agreement between the sea and air
power of the United States and the
British commonwealth, and the land
power of Russia
That. in plain words, is the lowest
common denominator of peace.
Unless such a working agreement,
based on mutual confidence and on
community Of self-interest, is reached,
there will be no secure peace; there will
be no freedom from fear.
The struggle between sea power and
land power has been going on for two
and half centuries Sea power has
! grown enormously in Importance as ma
tions become less self sufficient, as the
demands of industry grow more various
and voluminous, and as industrial sup
port became more vital to armed forces
of all sorts.
! Sea power operating from a secure
base-as the island of Great Britain
was able to deny to land power its i'm
| ports of raw materials, and to the
states depending on land power the pros
| perity of their overseas trade. 1t can
| still do this
| Usually the armies of maritime ma
tions have been small but they have
had some compensation in the fact
that command of the sea has enabled
them to choose the place and time of
their intervention in land campaigns.
The Peninsular and Crimean wars,
and our own invasion of Cuba in 1898
are examples which come readily to
| mind. Sea power thus has given mo-
bility to such land power as might be
allied with it. Now 1t gives mobility to
air power, the strategic mobility which
air power does not possess in its own
right because of the limitation of its
tools.
Today the Germans are confronted on
the one hand by a powerful Russian
land power which, having withstood
German attacks is now steadily ad-
vancing and recovering its lost territory.
On the other hand, the Germans are
faced with British and American sea
and air power which has cut off their
exterior communications and is striking
hard at their internal military and in
dustrial structure. Moreover, this sea
and air power possesses certain elements
of land power which. make up for their
lack of numbers by their complete free
dom of action to choose the time and
place of their intervention
Consider this situation carefully, for,
1t is not only the key to the course of
the war, but it is also the key to the
maintenance of peace when the war is
won. When that time comes, Germany
will be completely disarmed There will
be no other land power OF any conse-
quence on the European continent, with
the sole exception of Russia British
and American Armies will be there, but
they cannot long be maintained there
certainly not permanently. On the other
hand, the air above Europe will be
almost entirely dominated by British
and American air power, and the sea
approaches to Europe by the British
and American fleets. The Russians have
airplanes, but those are mostly trained
in the close support of their armies;
they have not strategical air force.
In the settlement of European affairs.
is 1t not obvious that there must be
agreement between those two elements
OF force? And is it not likewise obvious
that the maintenance of peace for the
future requires agreement between
them? If Germany is to be kept dis
armed. and if-as seems certain-it is
long time before any other consid-
cradle military power makes its ap-
pearance in Europe, then we shall have
an entirely new condition in which
Russia represents the only force but in
which a new element of force, Anglo
American air power, can reach to any
corner OF Europe except into the depths
of Russia
To put it badly, Japanese sea power
and air power are going to be eliminated
once and for all by the complete de-
Struction of japanese industry. The
world will have no more threats from
that island nation of savages. That
leaves British and American sea and
air power, with their world -girdling sys-
tenn OF bases, quite capable of dealing
swiftly and completely with any threat
TO world peace except such as NAV arise
In the depths of one of the great con-
tlnents. from source out of reach of
those bases and more or less Indifferent
to the economic pressure of blockade.
Such source might be in Russia, or it
might be in China-but the latter is
out of the picture as threat to world
peace for many years to come, if not
for generations.
1t follows that If peace is to be as
sured, the British and American peoples
must come to an agreement with the
Russian people. The Russians have no
economic need to set out on a career of
conquest; they have plenty of riches and
resources at home. Their only interest
in territorial expansion must arise from
1ear-from determination to be secure.
That security they can have far more
cheaply and certainly by cooperating
with Britain and America than by irving
to conquer their neighbors and coming
INTO eventual conflict with Britain and
America-always provided they are sure
they can trust the Western powers.
That is why it is so important 50
vltally important, to establish a basis
! OF mutual confidence betueen pucei.