Wairarapa Times-Age SATURDAY, MARCH 29, 1941. A SITUATION REVERSED

Wairarapa Times-Age, 29 March 1941, Page 4

Wairarapa Times-Age SATURDAY, MARCH 29, 1941. A SITUATION REVERSED

v — WHILE the main features of (he bloodless revolution that has 'taken place in Yugoslavia are plainly defined, the present and probable effects of this remarkable event are meniitune a subject of keenlv interested speculation and eonjectme several parts of the world, not least m the .Principal Ax countries. Broadly speaking, no other conclusion seems ] ~ sible than that the decisive action taken in A ugos avia Ims altered profoundly the outlook in the Balkans, lor the he t ,i from the point of view of Britain and her nlHes and or worse from that of the Axis and its satellites ? n J. ' earliest news of the. revolution to go upon, the Butish I nine Minister, Mr Churchill, said: — Tbic natriotic movement arises from the wrath of a valiant of their country. All that has happened in a situation rapidly developing goes to justify and to fortify the hope thus expressed. An am has and is being given in action to the hectoring inquiries a Nazi Germany as to the effect of the revolution on Aligns ax foreign policy and to the assertions of the Nazis and then ,)<i(k.i allies: the IMlians, that Yugoslavia “will be obliged to fulfil irrevocably all her obligations under the Axis 1 act. The Ministers who sought to place their country in bondage to the Axis have been turned out of office and cast ini o P and in the action thus taken, the young King 1 etei 11 am 1 the representative Government constituted at his call are declaied Jo be supported by a nation united as it never has beeu before. It is true that King Peter, in his inaugural pioclamation, dared that he was taking, and inviting the country to take, “the surest way of preserving internal order and external peace under the present grave circumstances.’’ Y ugoslavta no don it desires to maintain her neutrality and independence m peace, but the stirring events of the coup d’etat would he meaningless if they did not imply also that she is prepared to resist Axis aggression with all her power and that she will never accept voluntarily the state of ignominious servitude that has been imposed on Rumania and Bulgaria. There is little enough doubt that Yugoslavia will be called upon to defend her independence and integrity—the Axis Powers are already seeking to class her as a vassal who has broken awav from servitude —and that her alternative to Ihe slavish submission she scorns is to be found m positive action in association with Britain and her allies. The "reat immediate question to be determined is whether Germanv°intends to proceed with her plans of aggression in the Balkans. If she means even to launch her threatened attack on Greece it is reasonably certain that she will make an oar y effort also to subdue and dominate Yugoslavia. It is unlikely that she would'venture to attack Greece through Bulgaria with an unsubdued Yugoslavia on her flank. All uncertainties as o the course that Yugoslavia is bound, in her own interests, to follow, are thus likely to be removed, and that speedily. In some most essential features, however, the position that exists and is developing in the Balkans remains to be dehnetl. It may be hoped that the Balkan countries still .1 ree—Jugoslavia,‘ Greece and Turkey—will unite in defending their liberties and integrity, with the support they are promised by Britain and the .material aid they are offered by the I mted States. In the magnificent example that Greece has given in her victorious campaign against the Italians, as well as in their own spirit of independence, Yugoslavia and Turkey may find full encouragement to take the bold course, lacing whatever ordeals may be entailed, rather than sink to the level of Rumania and Bulgaria. The immediate outlook, for A ugoslavia admittedly is sei ions. Iler fighting forces,/numerous, brave, and hardy as they are, can hardly hope to resist, the Germans on the nori hern plains around Belgrade. With the support they are promised, however, they are well placed to make a determined stand in their mountain territory. If Yugoslavia and Turkey decide to make common cause with Britain and Greece in withstanding a German offensive there should be good prospects of raising military barriers in the mountains, and in the vital passes, through which the Nazis will have poor prospects of breaking their way to the Aegean at. Salonika or anywhere else. The situation has other important possibilities, but. Ihe central and commanding fact is that if the three Balkan States still masters of their destinies agree to take common and united action, with British support and with the assurance of material aid from the United States, the outlook in the. Balkans will be in all respects reasonably promising—vastly more so, certainly, than at the very recent'date when it appeared that Yugoslavia, like Rumania and Bulgaria, was to be an open road for Axis military aggression.

help for hitler T?EW details have yet. been disclosed of the proposals under which I he Germans may release considerable stocks of grain and other foodstuffs in France. It. is sufficiently, indicated, however, that large stocks are available for release if the Nazi dictatorship cares to release them and that this action is, contingent upon the conclusion of what are described as “vast barter arrangements with the unoccupied zone.” The American Ambassador to France, Admiral Leahy, has been asked by,the State Department for a complete report on “the new food accord” and it may be hoped that valuable light will thus be cast on the whole position and incidentally upon Ihe merits of the movement sponsored by ex-Presidenl Hoover, in the United States, for the dispatch of foodstuffs to France and other occupied territories. In the extent to which if aims at relieving people who may be starving or in bitter need, this movement commands unX divided sympathy. It is established clearly, however, that anything done in this way almost certainly will amount. Io helping Hitler and his gang instead of the people it is desired Io relieve. The initial problem in France and oilier occupied countries does not arise from a dearth of supplies, but from the methodical plundering of stock's by the Nazis. Some evidence on this point is supplied in the cabled particulars ol stocks the Nazis are prepared to release if they can get the quid pro quo they desire under their proposed “vast barter arrangements. I his evidence, no doubt, will be amplified considerably in Admiral Leahy’s report. In any case it is clear that no dispatch ol lood to France or other occupied countries will solve the problem of Nazi plundering. In the absence ol saleguards which it would evidently be very difficult to devise, the admission ol cargoes of foodstuffs to the invaded territories would help Hitler instead of his victims. It would enlarge the resources of the invaders and oppressors and so injure their victims by postponing the day of their liberation.