MAJOR DECISIONS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 8 December 1943, Page 3

MAJOR DECISIONS

' CONFERENCE AT TEHERAN

EARLY ACTION LIKELY. SPECULATION ABOUT PLANS. (By Telegraph—Press Association— Copyright) LONDON, December 7. Three major decisions were taken at Teheran, according to reports received in Madrid from Berlin, says a British United Press correspondent. They were: (1) A formal ultimatum to Germany to capitulate; (2) an Allied offensive almost immediately in the Balkans; and (3), an invasion of western Europe next year when the weather improves. , The Teheran plans will probably be put fully into action in the first three months of 1944, says the “New York Times” correspondent, Drew Middleton.

During that period the aerial offensive against Germany will probably assume its maximum proportions. The Russian winter' offensive should have reached the Dniester River in the south and Poland in the north. The Anglo-American invasion from Britain will be ready to begin, and the Allies’ slow and painful advance in Italy may be augmented by a campaign in the Balkans. The latter may take ,one of three forms: First, a assault ,in {south-eastern Europe, as indicated by the Allied preoccupation with Turkey; secondly, an onslaught across the Adriatic Sea; thirdly, a series of combined operations against Crete, Rhodes and Scarpanto. A good start for the two last-mentioned moves may be one of the conditions under which Turkey’s entrance into the war is based. MAXIMUM PRESSURE. It is known that the Russians are satisfied with the Allied invasion plans from the west and understand the impossibility of transferring this effort to the east, the correspondent says. It is quite likely that Marshal Stalin asked Messrs Roosevelt and Churchill to advance the invasion date so as to bring the maximum pressure to bear on Germany at the climax of the Red Army’s offensive, which must slow down in April in the south because of the rains.

“If the conference achieved nothing more than bringing Marshal Stalin from the seclusion of the Kremlin to meet Messrs Roosevelt and Churchill it would have accomplished much, because on these three rests the supreme responsibility for the fate of the world,” says the. New York “Times” in an editorial. “The results of the meeting, however, far exceed its token value. It has produced a declaration which is sharp and emphatic concerning the war and which is reassuring concerning the peace. “It may be assumed that emphasis on the military aspects meets the wishes of Marshal Stalin, who _ has long pressed for a new front in Europe, aira also those of Messrs Roosevelt and Churchill, who have long been preparing for a mass invasion from the west. “The declaration reaffirms the Casa.blanca ultimatum, and it also promises that the peace will not be dictatorship of the big Powers. That is the one hope which the declaration holds out to Germans purged of their madman and their madness and willing to live in peace and amity with their neighbours and the world.”. ALLIED DEMANDS. Luis Lochner who was chief of the Berlin Bureau of the Associated Press of America till last year writes: “A most significant fact in the Teheran declaration is the absence of the words ‘unconditional surrender.’ It was wise to omit these words, because we on the Allied side know there is no intention to reduce Germany to slavery. Goebbels and his henchmen, however, have been declaring that the Allies’ demand for unconditional surrender is a means of creating a coolie colony in the heart of Europe. On the other hand, the great number of Germans who are fed up with Hitlerism have been listening in vain for some message from the Allies that would help them in the struggle for- freedom. There has been ground for fear that the words ‘unconditional surrender would weld Germany into a community of despair, thus greatly prolonging the war. No German democrats will take offence at the words: ‘The plans have been concerted for the destruction of the German forces.’ They knew that nothing but a crushing military defeat can end Hitlerism.” The "Daily Mail’s” correspondent,

Ward Price, commenting on the Teheran conference, says that the motive for making the meeting the occasion of a special declaration concerning Iran was to close a subterranean shaft of enemy propaganda which was intended to undermine Allied influence in the Middle EasJ by such scaremongering stories as’ “Russia intends to dominate Iran. The Bolsheviks will establish themselves on the Persian Gulf.” The Germans have been trying to sow suspicion among the Allies but all this sapping and mining of the Nazi Propaganda Ministry has been countermined and blown sky-high by the Allied declaration. DECLARATION WELCOMED. Reuter’s diplomatic correspondent says the Teheran declaration has been warmly welcomed by the Allied Governments in London, who have read with great satisfaction the statement that the three great Powers will “seek the co-operation and active participation of all nations, large and small,” in settling the problems of the future. “The Times” in a leading article says that the declaration that Germany will be smitten from the east, west and south should end all the controversies about a second or other fronts. The “Daily Express” in a leader says: “The conference has been recognised by all countries as an event which changes the whole character of the war. Its tremendous significance and power rest on a positive statement of facts. Never before has the Allied confidence in victory been expressed With the ring of certainty which is found in the conference declaration.” The American Secretary of State, Mr Cordell Hull, in a statement in Washington today, hailed the Roosevelt-Churchill-Stalin joint declaration of Allied aims as a signal for concerted action against Germany. These concerted plans would undoubtedly result in making effective to a full extent die fighting strength of all the United Nations, he stated. -