Evening star., 1943-11-14

A meeting between President Roose-
welt and Prime Minister Churchill in
the near future appears inevitable.
Whether or not Premier Stain will join
Is uncertain at the present writing.
The marshal has effective command
OF all Soviet forces and is devoting all
his time to this task Other affairs,
such as internal and international, are
left to his underlings He keeps a keen
eye on what they are doing-as he did
at the Moscow parley when his de-
cisions were final-but his principal
occupation is strategy.
When Mr.. Churchill left Washington
last August after the Quebec conference
1t was understood that he and Mr..
Roosevelt, accompanied by their usual
military and political advisers, would
meet again before the end OF the year
to consider the political and military
situation Of the United Nations in the
light OF new developments
The most important new factor since
last August was the decisive victory of
the Red armies.
Whatever arguments may exist as to
the extent of the Nazis' defeat-whether
their armies have been even partially
disorganized or whether they had in
tended all along to yield on the eastern
front In order to bolster up the defense
of the European fortress-is immaterial.
The cold fact Is that the Nazis have
been compelled to abandon the bulk
Of the territory they had gained from
the Russians at the price of heavy
sacrifices and all their hopes of resum-
ing the offensive to "pulverize" the Red
forces have been definitely abandoned
Utterly Defeated.
The Germans have been utterly de-
feated in Russia. regardless of whether
they have lost one or 10 million men.
And this defeat, according to the most
cautious military experts, is final.
The effect of the Russian victory is
being felt not only in the military, but
also in the political field All the ma
tions of Europe, without exception,
recognize now that the foremost mill
tary power in Europe is the U. S. S. r.
and II they want to look for security
in the future they must look to Russia.
The price they have to pay may not
be to the taste of some of them. It
may mean that by recognizing the tre-
mendous authority of the Moscow gov
ernment they must adopt its totalj-
tartan ideals if not necessarily in the
political field, certainly in the economic
and industrial field.
Economically exhausted Europe can
hope to revive under different machin-
ery-that of state economics. Whether
this means accepting completely the
political supremacy Of the U. S. S. R. is
matter which the future will decide.
For the time being, political observers
whose Job 1t is to watch the trends in
Europe believe that the overwhelming
majority of the republics and kingdoms
of Central, Eastern and Southern Eu-
rope from the Mediterranean and the
Pyrenee Mountains excepting Switzer-
land and Spain-pin their hope for re-
viyal and security+o on Russia.
The northern kingdoms are still
nourishing the hope that their old eco
nomic and political system will survive.
They have q good deal of loyalty for
their governments in exile and being
under the boot of the Nazis have no
sympathy with any kind of totalitarian
regime. What the situation will be after
victory has been won is another matter
which 1t Is too early to discuss now.
May Effect Strategy.
The victories which have brought
the Red armies close to the Bessarabian
border and soon will yield the Crimean
peninsula may have an important effect
on the Allied strategy.
Heretofore none of our military un-
dertakings in the Mediterranean and in
Italy has found single word of ap-
proval from Moscow. We have been
told repeatedly that We were wasting
our effort in peripheric operations
which would not deliver fatal blow to
the Reich. Even air boxnbardments were
not considered by Russian strategists as
sufnciently important to bring the Nazis
to their knees. A second front across
the Channel in the very near future was
the only action the Allies could take
SO we were told by Moscow-which
would satisfy the Russian high COM
mand.
These pressing demands by the Rus
slams had several interpretations which
ranged from the recognition that only a
hreakthrough the powerfully fortified
coasts Of Western Europe could bring us
immediate success to the suggestion
that clever diplomats in Moscow used
this pressure to obtain important politi-
cal concessions from the United States
and Great Britain. It Is impossible to