HITLER'S DILEMMA

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 1, 2 January 1937, Page 11

HITLER'S DILEMMA

HELP, IN SPAIN DANGER OF REBEL DEFEAT COMPARATIVE WEIGHT OF, FORCES (Received January 2, 11.50 a.m.) LONDON, January 1. The "Morning Post's" diplomatic correspondent says that Herr Hitler is in a serious dilemma in respect to Spain. If he sends no further support to General Franco there will be serious danger of General Franco's defeat. The insurgent troops are believed to number less than 30,000. The Foreign Legion has lost many officers, and the rest of General Franco's armies have taken little part in the fighting. Many are workers who sympathise with the Government, and who joined General Franco's forces as the safest place from reprisals. This probably explains the effective espionage which has caused many of General Franco's plans to fail. The German expeditionary force numbers from 6000 to 10,000, and the Italians who are helping are considerably less in number. General Franco's combined forces are probably outnumbered by the Government forces, supported by French and Russian volunteers. I

It is becoming clearer every day, says the correspondent, that the Powers are simply playing for position. For the great war which Germany believes to be inevitable Germany not only seeks to threaten France's Pyreneean frontier, but to establish submarine and other bases in Morocco and the Canary Islands. Such bases would threaten the French colonies in Africa. Germany also desires access to raw materials in Spain and North Africa.