The Press FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1939. Great Britain and Finland

Press, Volume LXXV, Issue 22894, 15 December 1939, Page 10

The Press FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1939. Great Britain and Finland

It is apparent that Finland’s appeal to the League of Nations has put the British and French Governments in a difficult and embarrassing position. Their countries are now at war because Poland was the victim of , unprovoked aggression and their principal war aim is the establishment of a European security system. It is therefore being asked, by the Finnish press and by the German propaganda organisation, why the Allies, if they are sincere in their claim to be the defenders of small nations against aggression, do not come to the assistance of Finland. Moreover, in both Great Britain and France there is much more popular sympathy for Finland than there was for Poland. In the brief period of her existence as an independent State, Finland has developed into a robust and stable democracy with a vigorous and original culture; while her foreign policy has been characterised by a scrupulous regard for treaty obligations and, notwithstanding the charges brought against her in Moscow and Berlin in the last few weeks, by a wise determination not to involve herself in power politics. Of all the new States created after the Great War, none has made better use of its independence. But the British and French Governments have taken the view that the deterioration of international morality in Europe, of- which Finland is the latest victim, is, primarily Germany’s responsibility and that nothing must divert them from the task of bringing Germany to reason. It is also plain from the tone of British propaganda that the British Government regards the rapproachement between Germany and Russia as unstable and is therefore unwilling to take any action which might force these two countries together in a “defensive military alliance. And finally, neither the Allies nor the League States generally can help Finland on any large scale unless Sweden and ■ Norway abandon their neutrality, which at present they are not disposed to do. Whether the Allies can continue to remain aloof from event: in northern Europe depends, however, on the future of Russo-German relations and of Russia’s policy towards Sweden and Norway. If Russia’s sole object in attacking Finland is to complete her European defence system and secure a warmwater port in the north-west, then the elimination of Finland will have no strategic bearing on the struggle between the Allies and Germany. If, however, the conquest of Finland is intended as the prelude to joint Russian and German pressure on Sweden and Norway, then the Allies will have no choice but to intervene. They cannot risk the establishment of German submarine bases in Norway’s Atlantic ports. What the possibilities of such a development are it is at present difficult to say. The British Government presumably has good grounds for its scepticism over the Russo-German rapproachement. On the other hand, the similarity of the recent attacks on Sweden by the Russian and German propaganda organisations suggests that the invasion of Finland is the prelude to an attempt to subjugate the whole Scandinavian bloc.