A BACKGROUND OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 307, 25 September 1939, Page 8

A BACKGROUND OF THE WAR

Nazi General Killed HITLER’S ARMY PURGE RECALLED One of Germany's ablest military leaders, General Werner Freiherr von Fritsch, has been killed in action in the Warsaw offensive. He was a general of artillery and Chief of the German Army Command from 1934 to February 5, 1938, when he was "retired” in Herr Hitler’s purge of the army command and succeeded in the Commander-iu-Chiefship by General Walther von Brauschitsch. In those changes Hitler presented himself with the title of Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. The post of War Minister was abolished, FieldMarshal von Blomberg, who held it, retiring. General Goering was promoted to the rank of Field-Marshal, and Herr von Ribbentrop succeeded Baron von Neurath as Foreign Minister. Seven other generals of the army and six of the air force were retired. “Reasons Of Health.” The official version was that FieldMarshal von Blomberg and General von Fritsch had retired for “reasons of health,” and to them, as well as to Baron von Neurath, Hitler sent personal letters thanking .them for their “eminent merits in the service of the Fatherland.” The changes, however, had the effect of increasing the National Socialist Party’s control over the administrative organs of Government. The dispute took serious proportions through the deep-root-ed antagonism of the conservative army chiefs and the more extreme party leaders in matters of foreign policy. General von Fritsch was 59 years old. He entered the army as an ensign of artillery 40 years ago, became lieutenant in 1900, captain on the General Staff in 1913, colonel in 1927, majorgeneral and commander of the First Cavalry Division in 1930, lleutenanlgeneral and Commander-in-Chief of the Third (Berlin) Military District in 1932. In June last, by order of Herr Hitler, General von Fritsch was rehabilitated “ in recognition of his work in the reconstruction of the German Army,” and appointed to the command of an artillery regiment? The Galician Oilfields The military division of Poland between Russia and Germany is reported to have given Russia the whole of the Galician oilfields. Galicia is the name given to that portion of Poland, lying on the northern slopes of the Carpathians which constituted an Austrian kronland between 1772 and 1918. ■Some of the richest oilfields in Europe are spread in the region of the Carpathians, and are worked at Boryslaw, Schodnica, Bobrka, Potok and Sloboda-Rungurska. The population of Galicia is mainly Polish and Ukrainian. Poles predominate in the west and Ukrainians in the east, wth a fair sprinkling of Jews in the towns. A Stronger India The gigantic scale on which Great Britain is assisting in the defences of the Empire is reflected by the recent decision of the Imperial Government to make a grant of more than £25,000,000 ■toward the modernization of India’s defence forces. The strength of the British Army in India and Burma: in 1937 was 57,045, and of the Indian Army 159,200. In addition, there are units of the Royal Air Force, the Auxiliary and Territorial Forces, the Indian Army Reserve, the Indian State Forces and the Royal Indian Navy. Army, Navy, Air Force. The gradual Indianization of the army is shown by the provision for the training of 10 Indian nominees annually to the Royal Military College, Sandhurst to enable them to qualify for commissions in the Indian Army. In addition, the Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College at Dehra Dun was opened in 1934 as the Indian Sandhurst. Not the least of the services is the Royal Indian Navy, which is the oldest service in India, tracing its origin to tlie formation of a squadron by the East India Company in 1612. The Royal Air Force in India in 1937 consisted of eight squadrons with an establishment of 222 officers and 2424 other ranks. There were, in addition, two Indian flights with an establishment of 18 officers and 92 airmen. During 1937 progress was made with tlie introduction of mechanization, and tlie armoured car companies were converted into light tank companies. Last year further units of the Indian Army, as distinct from the British Army’in India, were modernized, the first of these being the cavalry regiments. The response made by India to the needs of the Empire in the Great War was testimony of her pride in the British connexion. In addition to substantial financial gifts to the British Government, it was estimated that India sent overseas 800,000 men. Russians In Vilna

Vilna has 'been occupied by the Russians, who appear to be intending to slay there. Vilna has always been a place of tierce national struggle. Before the Russian occupation of Poland there was strife between the Lithuanians and White Russians; later persecution of the Poles by the Russians, and since the war clashes between the Poles and the Lithuanians.

In tlie partition of Poland after the struggle between Russia, Poland and Sweden in the seventeenth century Vilna was retained by Russia. The inhabitants twice rose against the Russian rule, without success, and in 1915 it fell an easy prey to tlie Germans.

The question of the disposal of the city arose when Poland and Lithuania emerged ns separate States after the war. The Allies in Paris laid down a provisional boundary between Lithuania and Poland, which gave Vllna to Lithuania, though the Bolsheviks had captured it. During the lighting between Bolsheviks, Poles and Lithuanians in following mouths the city changed hands several times, it being finally occupied by the Poles in breach of an agreement with the Lithuanians a few days earlier. Since then the Lithuanians have continued to protest against the Polish occupation of their historic capital, and the alienation of nearly half their historic population. Numerous schemes for a solution of the problem were before the League of Nations. The population of the town is about 300.000. and the inhabitants of the district are about half Poles, a quarter White Russians, and the remainder Lithuanians, Jews, and people of other nationalities.