The Waikato Times TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1939 ITALY’S ATTITUDE TO WAR

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20991, 19 December 1939, Page 6

The Waikato Times TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1939 ITALY’S ATTITUDE TO WAR

Though Count Ciano's latest statement in the Italian Chamber of Fascists was perhaps more remarkable for what he left unsaid than tor what he did say, he nevertheless threw some light on the official Italian attitude towards the war. He disclosed that Germany’s statement that she had not thought it necessary to ask Italy for assistance was due to Italy’s prior notification to Germany alwie that the Italians would not fight. When Herr von Ribbentrop informed Count Ciano that Germany was about to sign a pact with Russia, “Italy did not fail to take precautions for her national safety.” Italy had been the first to fight the Bolsheviks, Count Ciano affirmed. Therefore it can be assumed that Germany’s alliance with Russia came as a severe blow to the Italians.

The purpose of Germany’s agreement with the Soviet, the Italian Foreign Minister said, was to ensure that Russia would not become another link in the “encirclement of Germany” and would remain neutral. Italy believes that this “encirclement” and not Danzig or the Polish Corridor was the cause of the war. If, however, Germany believed that by her cunning pact at Moscow she secured the Soviet’s neutrality for the duration of the war, Hitler must be a sadly disappointed man. Events have proved that his alliance with Stalin has resulted in a more complete and dangerous encirclement of Germany than ever previously existed, even in Hitler’s fertile imagination. Far from rendering Russia neutral, Germany has galvanised the Russians into greater military activity than they ever before contemplated. And the irony of it is that Russia is gaining ground rapidly under Germany’s own smokescreens. Count Ciano’s speech betrayed that some bitterness towards the Allies still rankles in the official Italian mind, even if it is not well founded, and in the circumstances some disappointment can be understood in a nation which has been basely deserted and placed in an invidious position by its former “axis” partner. Hitler’s oftrepeated assertions that Germans would march into a glorious future shoulder to shoulder with the Italians now fall incongruously on the sensitive Italian ear, since they came from an ally who has joined Italy’s enemies, the Communists. Count Ciano still declares that Britain and France had designs on the Mediterranean which conflicted with Italian interests. Therefore, apparently, he reaffirmed Italy’s “solidarity with the Rome-Berlin axis.” Italy’s desire for friendship and peace in the Balkans, “but not through a bloc,” indicates that the reported action of Signor Mussolini in organising a Balkan front with Italian leadership has not progressed as far as it was thought possible. Nevertheless any attempt by Russia to extend its dominion in the Balkans will be strongly resented in Rome. It is reported that the new Russian Ambassador to Italy, M. Gorelkin, has had a dispute over the manner of the presentation of his credentials and has returned to Moscow in high dudgeon, alleging that Italy has snubbed him. It is clearly evident, although Count Ciano’s speech was very discreet on the point, that Germany’s new ally has severely upset the balance of the “axis.”