Evening star., 1947-03-13

(Dr. Deutsch, University OF Mime
sofa history professor, today con-
cItdes the series on the Hitler r-Stnhn
toooing and arrangement OF 1894
,cith an account of the "diUorce pro-
ceedings" Which ended In tDar be-
tDeen the t,oo po1Cers. DR.. Dentsch
dug out this story OF the Berlin
Mosco,D alliance as chief OF research
and analysis in the OSS mission to
Germany after We day.
Having bowed to Hitlers rebuff on
the Polish question" Molotov turned
to Romania, voicing Russia's anxiety
over the Fuehrer's guarantees to An
tonescu which seemed to be directed
against the Soviet government.
Hitler maintained that the Balkans
were Germany's second great source Of
raw material. Here, too, 1t was neces-
sary to forestan complications that
would give the British an opportunity
to interfere.
Molotov, disdaining further argument
on Romania, told Hitler Moscow was
anxious to arrive at an arrangement
with Bulgaria similar to that between
Romania and Berlin.
The U. S. S. R. desired defensive
alliance and access to the Mediterra-
mean.
Hitler became frosty. indeed. He asked
pointedly whether Bulgaria had asked
Russia for guarantee such as Romania
had requested of Germany.
Ignoring this query, Molotov said that
what he wanted to learn was the attt-
tude of Germany.
Hitler replied coldly that the situation
in Romania was fundamentally differ
ent from that in Bulgaria.
Again rebuffed, Molotov returned to
Hitler's pronouncement on the British
possessions in Asia. He asked whether
he could assume Germany had no in
terest in the areas south of the Cau-
casus. Hitler reaf1rmed this and added.
ION the contrary, Germany would well
come the expansion of the Soviet Union
in that direction" On this somewhat
to an end.
Preparations Will Be Continued"
We can only surmise the state Of
mind of Vyacheslav Molotov in the
evening of November IL, 1910. During
the state banquet rendered him by
Ribbentrop, the Royal Air Force arrived
on the scene and the two Foreign Min
isters were hurried into a shelter. There
they passed the time by going over some
Of the ground covered during the day.
Ribbentrop again argued that the
Persian Gulf was the natural outlet
for Russia, but Molotov interjected that
the Soviet government also was con-
cerned with the further opening Of the
Baltic. 81 ~ r. ..,af,
Ribbentrop was 30. taken aback that
he retorted: I'VE would not even talk
about that-for Germany 1t would be
intolerable"
Adolf Hitler's reactions are some
what better documented than those OF
Molotov War Directive No. 18, issued
under the date November IL, stated
tersely:
Political discussions have been initiat-
ed with the aim of clarifying Russia's at
titude for the time being. Irrespective Of
the results of these discussions, all
preparations for the East which have
already been verbally ordered will be
continued. Instructions on this will fol-
low as soon as the general outline of
the arn1y's operational plans has been
submitted to and approved by me-"
The evidence at hand does not indi-
cate the hour at which the directive
was composed but it appears more
logical to assume that Hitler launched
it after rather than before he had taken
the measure Of the Soviet policy.
We must conclude therefore, that 1t
was Hitler's decision that negotiation
was fruitless and war inevitable.
He said as municipalities
Goering the following morning. Russia,
preparing to attack Germany, Hitler be-
lieved, was striving for flanking positions
on both the North and the South. If
the Soviet obtained control of Finland,
Bulgaria and the Dardanelles, it would
place in jeopardy Finnish nickel, Swed-
ish iron ore, Romanian oil, Turkish
chrome and Yugoslav bauxite.