Late News WAR POLICY OF BRITAIN

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 228, 23 June 1941, Page 8

Late News WAR POLICY OF BRITAIN

Relentless Attacks On Germany NAZI AND SOVIET AIR ACTIVITY

LONDON, June 22. In London the news. of the invasion of Russia was not unexpected in view of the developments of the last' few weeks. It is pointed out that the careful preparations necessary must have been part of a well-designed plan in Hitler’s mind for some time, the ultimate object of which is the defeat of all the democracies. Britain will not relax but rather will intensify her attacks on the enemy. Towns bombed by the Germans this morning, mentioned by M. Molotov in his broadcast, were Kiev (Ukraine). Sebastopol (Crimea) and Kaunas (Lithuania). The latest official Italian news agency report claims that Rumanian troops had occupied a Bessarabian frontier town, and that three Soviet planes were shot down over Rumania. Germany claims that an attempted flight by Russian planes over East Prussia was repulsed, with German fighters shooting down numerous Soviet bombers. PAST DISCUSSION WITH MOLOTOV Hitler’s Allegations (Received June 23, 1.10 a.m.) LONDON, June 22. The proclamation issued by Herr Hitler as broadcast by the German radio [see page 7, column 4] continues :— “When Russia took over the Baltic countries she lyingly said she was protecting them, but the attempt to bring them and Finland under her yoke could only be directed against Germany. Then Russia penetrated Rumania, and the Greeks acted with Britain in threatening an extension of the area of war. Rumania said she would accede to Russian demands only under an Axis guarantee for the rest of her territory, and I gave this. “I invited Molotov to Berlin, and he asked m*e if the German guarantee to Rumania was directed against Russia. I replied, ‘Against Everyone.’ Molotov asked if Germany would undertake not to assist Finland who was again threatening Russia. I replied, ‘We have no political interest, in Finland, but we will not tolerate another attack on her.’

“He asked if Germany would agree to Russian guarantees to Bulgaria. I replied that Bulgaria was a sovereign State and did not need guarantees. Molotov said that Russia needed a passage through the Dardanelles, and he demanded bases- in the Bosphorus. “Russia later concluded a pact which invited the Serbs to take action against Germany and offered the Serbs war materials. “Frontier Incidents.”

“This was when 1 was advising the Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Matsuoka, to bring about a lessening of the Russo-Japanese tension. Serb officers went to Moscow where they were welcomed like allies. The moment arrived when I could no longer merely look on at these developments; waiting would have been a crime against Germany. “Bolshevism is opposed to Nazism in deadly enmity. Bolshevist Russia desires to stab Nazi Germany in the back while Germany is engaged iu a struggle for existence. “For’weeks Russia had massed hextroops on the frontier, and clashes had already been reported. One hundred and sixty divisions threaten us, and Russian planes were crossing our frontier repeatedly iu order to prove that they were the masters. On the nights of June 17 ami 18large Russian patrols entered Germany and were forced back only after lengthy exchanges of fire.

“We had no intention of remaining inactive in the face of this grave threat on the frontier, and I have therefore ordered the German forces to oppose this menace with all the might at their disposal. “The German concentrator, which is the greatest the world has ever known, has been completed. The German people are fully aware that they are called on not only to defend their native land but. also to save the entire civilized world from the deadly dangers of Bolshevism and clear the way for true social progress in Europe.”