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Wairarapa Times-Age TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1940. FEROCITY & BLOWS THAT TELL.

]7AR as if is from being an isolated example of Nazi methods in the indiscriminate and murderous bombing of civilians, the night, attack in which much of the ancient and beautiful city of Coventry was laid waste has done a great deal to quicken in British minds an appreciation of the issues at stake in this war. It has helped also to set in more effective contrast than ever the vastly different standpoints from which Britain and Germany are prosecuting the war and the nature and outcome of their efforts to that end. The results in death and suffering and in other ways of the bombing of Coventry, like those of the long-continued bombing of-London. and of other parts of Britain, of courseware grimly and terribly tragic. With that fact in no way minimised or evaded, it remains true that a nation fighting, as the British nation is. for life and all that it holds dear, is fairly in a position to draw a great deal of encouragement from the adoption by its enemy of the tactics of crude and ineffective murder of which the bombing of Coventry is a conspicuous example. Taking account of the balance of fighting power in this war, as it exists and is altering, it is the simple truth that in deeds like the bombing of Coventry the Nazis are not only wasting their strength in vain, but are pursuing a course that will hasten their own destruction. While the Germans are revelling in their ability to murder hundreds —or, over a longer period, thousands —of British civilians, the Royal Air Force is persistently and progressively smashing the German war machine. The position at the stage that ,has been reached was summed up very well by Mr Arthur Greenwood in some observations reported yesterday. The past week (Mr Greenwood said) had been good for Britain and bad for Germany. He was not concerned with the killing of people in Germany, but he was concerned in killing their power to strike. The industrial damage which Britain had done to Germany had been fifty times as great as that which the Germans had inflicted on Britain. In comparison with the latest air bombardments of Hamburg and scores of similar attacks that have been and are being made continually on Germany and on the territories she has occupied—attacks scientifically planned and executed in such a fashion as to inflict the greatest possible damage—the indiscriminate and random bombing'by the Nazis of British cities is not more remarkable for its ferocity than for its feelile incapacity. The Nazi tactics are those of a furious but frustrated enemy incapable of making any fully effective reply to blows which, in Mr Greenwood’s phrase, are killing his power to strike.

RUSSIA AND THE NAZIS. How much importance and significance attaches to the renewed threats the Axis Powers are now making against both Greece and Turkey is not .at the moment clear. A great deal depends on whether, following on M. Molotov’s visit to Berlin, the Soviet Government has entered into any agreement to assist the Nazi dictatorship in its schemes of south-eastern aggression and conquest. The question is one that may be answered only by events, but that a great deal depends on the answer is sufficiently obvious. If Russia combined with Nazi Germany even in putting pressure on Turkey, the position in the Near and Middle East, would be made much more critical and difficult than if Turkey were left free, with Russia’s tacit support, to defend herself against aggression. One of Saturday’s cablegrams from London reported that Swedish correspondents in Germany, quoting Russian circles, Said that an agreement has apparently been reached whereby Russia will increase supplies to Germany. Collaboration between Britain and Russia is now unlikely. Russia will probably claim control of the European shores of the Dardanelles and Bosphorus, compensating Turkey at the expense of Irak and Syria. There arc no immediate means of testing the truth of this story, but it would be more convincing, and more alarming, if it came from correspondents in Moscow instead of in Germany. The possibility suggests itself meantime that this report represents rather what Germany would like Russia to agree to do than what Russia has agreed to do. If the Soviet actually laid claim to the European shores of the Bosphorus it would have to be concluded that it was acting as Germany’s agent and was conspiring to betray Turkey and to secure for the Axis armies a passage, unopposed if possible, into Asia Minor. As the Turkish newspaper “Aksam” has pointed out, however, German domination of the Balkans and the Dardanelles would be equivalent to throttling Russia. It must be hoped that the “Aksam” is right in. declaring that it is inconceivable “that Russia would deliver to the Axis a region which is a zone of security to her from all standpoints.” There is no doubt that Russian policy at present is influenced heavily by fear of Germany and in particular by nervous apprehensions of a possible German invasion of the Ukraine and attack on the Baku, oilfields, ft would be a queer distortion of vision, however, that would enable the Soviet to perceive in the betrayal of Turkey and the delivery of the Turkish Straits to Germany the establishment of any safeguard against these dangers. That collaboration between Britain and Russia is unlikely, at all events for the time being, may be true enough. Apart from the fact that the Soviet, is anxiously intent at the moment, on avoiding a damaging collision with the Axis, it evidently has no kindly feeling towards the democracies. From any standpoint of reason, it may be supposed, however, that Stalin, Molotov and their colleagues are well aware that they have nothing to fear from a British victory and everything to fear 11 om a German victory and that they will set limits accordingly to the concessions they are prepared to make to the Nazis for the sake of present peace.

Although the facts of the recent talks in Berlin and their outcome are held completely secret at the moment, if will not be surprising if the actual results of these talks prove in lhe event to be slight. From a standpoint of self-interest, lhe >?o\jet evidently has most excellent reasons for promising as little as possible Io llm Nazis and for performing as little as possible of what it promises.

Time and events conceivably may prove that the visit of 31. Molotov Io Berlin was less a diplomatic triumph for Germany than an example of astute delaying tactics practised by the Soviet. Some recent, reports have declared that the Soviet is not relying only on diplomatic exchanges as a means of avert in<>damaging attack by the Nazis. For instance, a recent cable" gram from London quoted neutral sources as slating that Germany had considerably strengthened her garrisons" along the Kussiau frontier, especially in Czechoslovakia, whereupon the Soviet reinforced its effectives in the former Baltic States, occii]>ied Poland and the Lkraiue. The same message added that if was believed that these Russian armies amounted to 150 fully equipped divisions.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WAITA19401119.2.17

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Wairarapa Times-Age, 19 November 1940, Page 4

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,195

Wairarapa Times-Age TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1940. FEROCITY & BLOWS THAT TELL. Wairarapa Times-Age, 19 November 1940, Page 4

Wairarapa Times-Age TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1940. FEROCITY & BLOWS THAT TELL. Wairarapa Times-Age, 19 November 1940, Page 4

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