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Hokitika Guardian, 11 March 1930, Page 4

One of the most significant and relnarkaule incidents m the history of German sea power was chronicled in the cable news lately. ftYliat is left of Germany’s High Sea- Fleet has been transfrred from \V illielmshaven, oil the North Sea, c.o Kiel at the Baltic end of the great canal. This “change of venue” lends iiself to a great many interpretations. Possibly the Germans are anxious to warn Russia that she is not to he allowed to dominate the Baltic. Possibly the German Government, in view of the anxiety displayed by France over the German “po.ket battleship),” wants to conciliate her critics and to promote the international movements for the limitation of naval forces. But to grasp the full bearings of this new move on Germany’s position, says a northern writer, we must turn back the pages of history over 70 years, to the far-off days when Bismarck was carefully laying the foundations of the German Empire, and the other European Powers were too much occupied with their own affairs to / take any particular notice of Prussia. AVhen Bismarck, after' long and devious intrigues, brought the Schleswig-Holstein question to a head in 1864, and, with the help of Austria wrested these two provinces. from Denmark, there is no doubt the possession of iel, by Germany, the establishment of a great naval base and the possible construction of a Baltic-North Sea Canal which would duplicate Germany’s naval strength, all played their part in shaping his policy. The Kiel Canal came to be the sign and symbol of Germany’s naval expansion. The building up of a- great naval base at Wilhelmshaven was regarded by Britain as a direct menace to her safety, and many German authorities explain the long hesitation of the naval and military ‘‘jingoes” of Germany to precipitate the war by the fact that the canal was not widened to accommodate the largest warships till June, 1914. The withdrawal of the German fleet into the Baltic is thiis an event of the utmost international importance, and it will be generally recognised as marking a definite turning' point in Germany’s relations with foreign Powers. Just as the Schleswig-Holstein war prepared the way for the German Empire, so the final retirement of the fleet into the Baltic has fixed the close of Germany’s struggle for supremacy. “World-pow-er or Downfall” were the two alternatives set- before her in Bernhardi’s famous book; and there could be no more complete and convincing proof of her defeat and abasement than this.