A BACKGROUND OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 290, 5 September 1942, Page 6

A BACKGROUND OF THE WAR

Third Anniversary VICTORY AND PEACE DEDICATION Three years of war. Three years of blood, tears, toil and sweat. In some cases, three years’ groaning under the ruthless heel of Axis oppression. That is what most of the United Nations looked back upon when they observed the anniversaries of the invasion of Poland and the declarations of war on Germany which followed. 'Sorrowful retrospection, however, is of little use in total war. What matters today is the future. The third anniversaries find the United Nations looking forward rather than backward, looking to the day of liberation and peace which lies almost hidden behind the huge effort still required before it can be attained. In spite of Axis successes in the 1942 campaigns to date, there is no doubt whatever that the United Nations are in a far better position than a year ago, and incomparably better off than two years ago, when the British Empire faced almost alone the rampant triumphant might of Germany.

History Repeating Itself No sane observer would suggest that the United' Nations will- not have to take more bitter blows and disappointments before the Axis military strength begins to break, but the position today bears resemblance to that obtaining when, in the last war, the fourth year of hostilities came round. Then Germany, triumphantly exulting in great victories in the east, was talking -of the huge force® which would be released to administer the coup de grace to the Allies on the Western Front in the spring and summer of 1918. Confidently, the German leaders were telling their followers that the might of the United States could net affect the issue; not an American soldier would reach the Western Front, it was stated. When, following the crucial days of Ludendorff’s spring attack, the Allies passed to the offensive and rolled back the cracking German and Austrian armies there were more than a million United States troops in the battles. So, today, German victories in jhe east are being hailed as the forerunners of the neutralization of Russian striking power which will permit the transference of vast Axis forces tt> an assault on Britain, the one enemy, on Dr. Goebbels’ own statement, without whose defeat German successes could not be decisive. Every day the preparation of Britain, the Empire, the United States, and other members of the United Nations grows more complete. Every day the decisive attack from the west moves nearer. Armaments amass, aeroplanes gather, aerodromes are levelled out and prepared —all for the one end, the attack on the Continent, which Germany fears and which the United Nations know must be carried out, whatever the cost, if their cause is to triumph. And it is the added weight of United States assistance which will prove the decisive factor, just as in 1914-1918. Winning The Peace There are signs that the United Nations are taking care that the mistakes of the peace settlement of 1919 shall not recur. President Roosevelt’s stirring exhortation to the youth of today to make itself ready not only for the winning of the war but also for the building of the new world which . will follow, emphasizes that. It may seem to some that only one thing should be* thought of as yet, the winning of the war, but to win the war and then not be ready to tackle the aftermath, would be almost worse, firom the point of view of responsibility to civilization, than losing. Thus it is, as the anniversary was observed this week, that a call was made for prayer, and thus it is that radio broadcasts have emphasized the . need for closer association, and for strengthening the bonds between peoples so that international boundaries will mean less and humanity more, in the post-war world.