Wairarapa Times-Age THURSDAY, MAY 16, 1940. THE OVERRUNNING OF HOLLAND.

Wairarapa Times-Age, 16 May 1940, Page 4

Wairarapa Times-Age THURSDAY, MAY 16, 1940. THE OVERRUNNING OF HOLLAND.

till that had been heard about the strength of the water-line defences of Holland and the stubborn fighting qualities of its population, the sudden collapse of Dutch resistance, save in Zeeland —an island territory of great importance from the naval as well as the military standpoint—no doubt has come to many people as a rather shocking surprise. One great factor in the situation presumably must be, however, that, in the circumstances in which the invasion of the Netherlands has taken shape, the Allies did not consider it desirable or practicable to attempt to bring to a decisive test in that country the struggle in which they are engaged with Nazi Germany.

The Allied air forces have been engaged heavily in Holland as well as in Belgium, and no doubt will continue their activities in both countries, but little has been said about the movement of Allied troops into Holland. It is now rather obvious that the “actual front” on which the French report having repulsed enemy attacks at some points does not enclose Holland. How much of Belgium it will eventually be found to enclose has yet to appear definitely.

That being said, the swift success of the Nazi invasion of Holland no doubt is a grievous and bitter disappointment to the Dutch themselves as well as to the Allies. Critical as.the position obviously has been from the opening stages of the invasion, it was hardly to be expected that the main Dutch defence would collapse so soon. The undefended state of the Netherlands northern provinces was known, as was the strategic weakness in the south, beyond the zone of inundation and at the point of junction with the Belgian defences. It was anticipated very generally, however, that a stout and protracted defence would be made of “Fortress Holland,” the coastal and inner area screened by inundations. The hope, indeed, had been raised that within that area the Dutch .might be able to defend themselves indefinitely, as the Athenians did in ancient days within their Long Walls.

These hopes have gone tragically by the board, a result to which the German use of parachutist troops, many of them disguised, and internal treachery, appear to have contributed in no unimportant degree. The full story of what happened, in the opening days of invasion, in the interior of Holland, far behind the recognised fighting lines, has yet to be told. The Dutch Minister to London, Count Stirum, has not. only denounced German treachery, instancing the shooting of Dutch soldiers by parachutists disguised as Sisters of Mercy, but has declared that the activities of the “Fifth Column” are an awful thing and that Dutch National Socialists have proved to be dastardly traitors. Treason had its considerable part in making possible such disasters as the enemy destruction of Rotterdam and others of a like kind.

The great underlying weakness disclosed in the collapse of the Dutch war effort is that Holland, like Belgium, Sweden, Norway and other neutral States, pinned its faith to a policy of isolation which has worked ont very badly in every instance in which it has been put to the test. Had Holland and Belgium been members of a confederation of States pledged and prepared to take united and concerted action against aggression, and mutually organised to that end, war might have been averted, and if after all it had broken out might have been expected to take a course very different from that it has meantime taken in Holland. The fate that has overtaken isolated neutrals and threatens others surely may be expected to point the way to great changes in national and international policy in a better ordered world in the future.

Meantime, however, the task imposed on the Allies is that of saving a substantial part of Belgium from invasion il. they can and of opening the way to an ultimate complete redemption of small nations overthrown by brute force in defiance of all law and justice. The Allies have poured forces into Flanders and a great battle is declared to be imminent in which these forces will endeavour, in the first instance, to drive the Germans back across the Albert Canal and the Meuse. Should that effort succeed and the Allies maintain their front further south intact, the first great step will have been taken in checking the Nazi invasion and prospects will appear of keeping a considerable part of Belgium out of the hands of the aggressor.