STALIN ON NAZISM POINTS OF DANGER

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20069, 16 October 1939, Page 6

STALIN ON NAZISM

POINTS OF DANGER

MARCH SPEECH RECALLED Some portions of M. Stalin's speech made last March are interesting in the light of current events. He said: —

“It is not surprising that Fascism has now become the fashionable commodity among bellicose bourgeois politicians. I do not mean Fascism in general .1 mean, primarily, Fascism of the German type which is incorrectly called National Socialism, for the most searching examination will fail to reveal even an atom of socialism in it. In this connection the victory of Fascism in Germany must be regarded not only as a symptom of the weakness of the working class and

as a result of the betrayal of the working class by Social Democracy, which paved the way for Fascism .... Italian Fascism or German National Socialism does not have anything in common with such a system (as the Soviet’s) ... We stand for the support of the nations which are the victims of aggression and are fighting for the independence of. their countries ... We stand for peaceable, close and neighbourly relations with all neighbouring countries which have a common frontier with the U.S.S.R. This is our position and we shall adhere to it as long as these countries maintain identical relations with the Soviet Union, as long as they make no attempt to trespass directly or indirectly on the integrity and security of the frontiers of the Soviet State. . ... In my opinion there are two focal points of danger—one in the Far East, in the zone of Japan, and the other in Europe, in the zone of Germany ... It is difficult to say which is the more menacing war danger .. . Long live the world united people’s front against Fascism and war.”