And Now Russia

New Zealand Listener, Volume 5, Issue 106, 4 July 1941, Page 4

And Now Russia

HE sensation of Russia’s enforced entry into the war was not the treachery of | the German attack, since that is no longer a sensation, but the frank acceptance of the new situation by the free democracies. The democracies were certainly given a brilliant lead by Mr. Churchill, whose speech a few hours after the event was a masterpiece of good sense and honest opportunism. But it is a long way from Washington to Moscow; a long: way from Sydney, Capetown and Wellington; the longest way of all perhaps from Queen Wilhelmina’s temporary home in England. And yet from all these places the journey was made in a few hours. It was made openly, sensibly, and unblushingly. No democracy suddenly discovered a secret admiration for Communism. It was nowhere suggested officially or unofficially that Stalin was a democrat. More than one democratic leader went out of his way to reaffirm his dislike of the Russian system. But with little more than a moment’s pause the democracies ranged themselves on the side of the Russian Government and welcomed it as an ally in the fight against Germany. So well had Hitler succeeded in branding himself as an international outlaw. And now the battle is joined in the East as well as in the West. The most powerful army the world has ever seen is attacking the biggest army the modern world has seen and no one knows what the issue will be. No one can know. The hosts of Russia are untried, and it would be foolish to assume that they are fully equipped and trained. But they are fighting for their existence politically and economically against an enemy who has never known pity. They can lose battles and lose ground without losing their war, and if they hold out for three months they will find &@ powerful ally in the Russian winter. We must hope for them what we hope for our-selves-that, although they must have been caught unprepared, they will find the determination and the strength to fight on wherever the tide of battle carries them. And for ourselves the duty is plain. We are a democracy. We stand for liberty. We are fighting and dying for liberty. But our fight is with Germany, and every nation and every individual is an ally whose efforts make that fight easier.