A SUMMARY OF THE SITUATION

Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 232, 26 June 1940, Page 10

A SUMMARY OF THE SITUATION

Her humiliation complete, France has signed an armistice with Italy and fighting has ceased. What concessions France has had to make to Italy on top of those already yielded to the Germans we have not yet been told, but there can be no reason for supposing that she will escape at all lightly. The terms of the two agreements aie shortly to be published in Germany, Italy and France. It is said that the French people have not yet been told the provisions of the armistice with the Germans. > There arc additional references to the French fleet, but still no definite news. General de Gaulle, who is organizing hrench resistance from England, said he had reason to believe that it would not surrender to the enemy and the French Consul-General in Sydney said he understood the fleet was under British orders and that French admirals would probably do as they were told. , It is difficult to imagine them having any desire to hand their ships over to the enemy. Possibly Mr. Churchill, in his promised speech in the House of Commons, will lift the veil of silence. As Frenchmen in England and overseas vie with one another in proclaiming their determination to continue the fight, evidence accumulates to show that treachery, inefficiency and graft in France contributed in no small measure to that unhappy country’s downfall. No doubt drawing a moral from such reports and the experience of other European countries, the “News Chronicle,” London, declares that German plans to invade Ireland are perfected to the last detail and urges that British forces should be on the scene to meet any such enemy attempt. Irishmen themselves arc also planning to meet such a contingency. Japan is reported to have made sweeping demands on Britain, no less than the right to station inspectors in Burma to the traffic of arms to China, the cessation of trade between Hong Kong and China and the withdrawal of British interests from the Shanghai International Settlement. A French yielding of interests in Shanghai has set an unfortunate precedent. It is also predicted that Japan may attempt to declare a protectorate over French and Dutch possessions in the East, fearing that otherwise Germany or Italy might try to gain possession. The most widespread German raids of the war have been made over England, but reports of their effect so far received do not indicate impressive results. An unconfirmed report asserts that there have been clashes between Russian and Rumanian troops on the frontier between those two countries.