NEUTRAL COUNTRIES’ PLIGHT

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20909, 14 September 1939, Page 6

NEUTRAL COUNTRIES’ PLIGHT

Many of the smaller States of Europe which have declared their neutrality ars experiencing the greatest difficulty in keeping out of the conflict. Some fear that they may eventually be forced to take an active part in the war, because defence of their neutrality is becoming almost as difficult and costly as actual warfare. The position is tragic for several of them. Holland has found that although she has mobilised an army of 500,000 men to protect her neutrality unemployment is increasing, trade is dwindling rapidly and there is constant fear of invasion of her territory.

Belgium and the Scandinavian countries are in a position almost as difficult. They have no direct quarrel with any of the combatants, and yet their national life is being subjected to the utmost strain. Their sympathies are almost wholly with the Allies, and no doubt they would be greatly relieved were the menace of the Nazi regime swept out of existence. Their position is just another of the tragedies that follow in the train of the aggression of Hitlerism. Despite their determination to remain outside the conflict they are pitilessly drawn in because their economic life is almost inextricably interwoven with that of the other Powers of Europe. It may be that they owe a duty to the principles upon which they stand to assist in banishing the Nazi terror. But whether they will it or not they unhappily cannot escape the backwash of this disastrous conflict. Their shipping is menaced on the high seas by minefields and an unscrupulous submarine campaign; their air services are disorganised and their foreign trade is subjected to all the difficulties of a continent at war. Representatives of these small nations have been driven together in conference in a desperate endeavour to save their national economy from chaos. They as well as the Allies actively engaged in the war have much to contend with that will cause them to regret the day when the Nazi cult became a force in Europe.