NAZIS’ POSITION

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 260, 31 July 1944, Page 5

NAZIS’ POSITION

Gravely Weakened By Revolt BRITISH PRESS VIEW (By Telegraph.—Press Assn. —Copyright.) (Special Correspondent.) (Received. July 30, 8.15 p.m.) LONDON, July 29. The situation in Germany which has developed since the attempt on Hitler’s life is generally regarded by commentators as critical. Captain Cyril Falls, in the “London Illustrated News” says he is convinced it was a plot of considerable scope, and that it gave the Nazis a very severe scare. He refers to the wildest rumours, many coming from Stockholm, * where correspondents are having the time ot their lives, though cut off from communication with Germany,’ and adds. “Yet there are certain things of which we may be positive. It is certain that no officer in the German Army, Navy, or Air Force henceforth will be sate it Hitler and Himmler crush this revolt unless he is a good Nazi. If he is not he will either 'be executed or removed from his post or, at best, left with a pistol pointing at his back. That is a situation in which few men give of their best. There will be feelings of nervousness and uneasiness. , “Men wifi say to themselves that there are Germans, perhaps many Germans, including men who have fought well tor Germany, who consider Hitler to be. a crazy tyrant rather than a god-like creature. It is inconceivable that this incident, even if it goes no further, should not lead to a deterioration in the fighting spirit of large numbers of the troops. The “Spectator” says it is clear that tlie motives of Hitler’s assailants sprang from a conviction that the war was already lost, thanks to the politicians interference in strategy; that to fight the Russians in the east and the British and Americans in the west and south, and Hitler’s intuitions into the bargain, was beyond any human powers. As hardheaded calculators they preferred to accept the inevitable now, no doubt with a view to immediate preparation for a suecessful war a decade or two hence, and to save whatever it might prove possible to save of the State, which Hitler and his fanatics must end by destroying utterly. “Fifty Generals Killed.” . The article notes the “proved incapacity of the Gestapo to protect its 1 uehrer,” and that 50 German generals are said to have been executed. . The “Spectator” continues: A fundamental fact in Hitler’s latest moves is that generals who presumably held their appointments on the ground of technical efficiency are being replaced by. commanders whose chief qualification is loyalty to the party. For instance, Dietrich, whose active military experience never took him above the rank of sergeant, has replaced von. Schweppenberg, commander of panzer divisions in I rance, who is a singularly competent technician. The more such changes Hitler effects the more the war is likely to be shortened. “A rottenness too deep-seated to eradicate has revealed itself iu the state ot Germany. It will inevitably prove fatal. The “Economist," commenting on the assassination attempt, says; ‘ B hat does seem certain is that the effect of the news on sections of the German Army was far greater than the Nazis feared. Some units were in revolt. Many hours after the attack, Hitler, Goering and Doenitz had to come to the microphone and appeal for loyalty, and forbid the Germans to obey a rival Government which the insurgents presumably had set up. The subsequent changes show clearly that the army was the storm centre ot the crisis, and that, the Nazis are now in the desperate position of being able to trust least the instrument they neeu most. . ~ , Allied Policy Queried.

“Thus the first rift has appeared in the Nazis’ •monolithic’ State. Himmler may still be able to hold the State together, but the sentence of the.watchers has gone out on Hitler’s empire. The crisis will recur.” ... The “Economist” expresses the opinion that the most effective assistance the Allies can bring to the would-be peacemakers is to give them some idea of the conditions awaiting Germany in, the event of surrender and the benefits, it any. they might gain by overturning the Nazi regime. It points out that the Allies’ one definite policy at present, is unconditional surrender —‘ a policy vacuum which Goebbels has not chastened his imagination to fill in.” The article asks for some more definite policy than unconditional surrender, expressing the opinion that the Allies could gain the political initiative in Germany simply by stating the things they do not intend to do. . In view of the recent events considerable interest is being taken in Britain in the review of the war situation which Mr. Churchill is to make in the House of Commons on Thursday.