THE RELIEF OF LENINGRAD

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 99, 22 January 1944, Page 4

THE RELIEF OF LENINGRAD

There is every indication that as the result of the heavy blows struck at the enemy by the Russians on the Baltic front the prolonged strain endured by the people of Leningrad has now been ended by the raising of the partial blockade of the city which has lasted since the late part of 1941. At one stage the city was completely invested under siege conditions, but by a successful Russian stroke a little over a year later a position was gained which enabled communication to be maintained with Moscow. The use of long-range heavy artillery, however, made it possible for the Germans to impose blockade, conditions effective enough to reduce the city to a state of siege, and the people have since experienced heavy strain and hardship, endured with admirable courage and fortitude. Whatever may be the military significance of this latest Russian success—it has every appearance of being one of the most important achievements of the war on the Eastern Front —the moral effect of this event must be tremendous, and possibly far-reaching. Leningrad, formerly St. Petersburg (and later Petrograd), is enshrined in the sentiment of the Russian people as their capital city for generations until by the revolution of 1917 the seat of government under the new Soviet regime was transferred to Moscow, the ancient capital. It is linked with the achievements of Peter the Great in the consolidation of the Russian Empire and the beginnings of his country’s commercial expansion. Peter acquired it from Sweden in furtherance of his ambition to establish a port on the Baltic, and a point of contact for intercourse, with civilized Europe. From its origin as a small village in the midst of swamps there was created in the face of immense difficulties a city which a century ago was described as possessing “the. united magnificence of all lhe cities of Europe.” With the location of the Russian capital since moved to Moscow, a certain amount of deterioration has taken place, but as .it is the chief Baltic port and the commercial centre of Western Russia, as well as one of its most important military bastions, its capture by the Germans would have been a major disaster. The determination of the Russians to hold Leningrad at all costs, and to endure prolonged hardships under siege conditions of great severity, may thus be well understood. National sentiment, no less than military necessity, has undoubtedly played its part in the successful blow that has been struck for the relief and the safety of the city, and which now appears to have stimulated the Red Army in the north to still greater efforts to strengthen the Russian hold on the Baltic by further penetrations in the direction of Esthonia. The fall of Novgorod, following so quickly upon the Russian break-through on this front, indicates that the operations in this area are of momentous importance, presaging possible further developments, as Novgorod, according to reports, was'a pivot of the German lines north of Lake Ilmen.