REASON FOR GERMANY’S COLONIAL CLAIMS

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 94, 14 January 1939, Page 4 (Supplement)

REASON FOR GERMANY’S COLONIAL CLAIMS

“Why should Great Britain surrender to a beaten foe the colonies which she captured, colonies which, under Nazi rule, would once again be a threat to the vital communications of the Umpire?” asked Sir Roger Keyes, M.P., speaking in the House of Commons. “It cannot be contended that they are needed or would be of economic value to Germany, that she needs them for the supply of raw materials or as a home for her surplus population. They are needed for nothing but as a strategic threat to the British Empire, which the Germany of Bernhardi’s day was determined to destroy. “With the lead we possess Germany cannot hope in our times to build a navy to challenge our sea supremacy, but she has reserved the right to build an unlimited number of submarines, and in the recent crisis her submarines were located as far away as the South Atlantic, ready to prey upon our trade routes. That was a serious menace but it would be much more serious if Germany possessed ports which she could use as submarine bases on the African coast. “I trust that the Government has taken -serious note of this warning, and of the strategic considerations which make it imperative to resist the demand for a return of the colonies. A peace by negotiation which is dependent upon the return of the colonies could not be a permanent peace, because they would always be a threat to the communications of our Empire.” » .