"THE LINE IS CLEAR"

Evening Star, Issue 22627, 20 April 1937, Page 16

"THE LINE IS CLEAR"

“ The line is clear; France and Eng land are to be made responsible tor hunger and poverty in the Third Reicn,” writes the editor of The Brown Book of the Hitler Terror, in his book, ‘ The Nazi Conspiracy in Spain.’ “The starvation of the German people is due, not to Nazi rearmament, which is consuming almost the whole income from the exports of the Third Reich, nor to the Nazi economic policy, nor to the Nazi war policy, which has thrown Europe into a state of extreme nervousness and unrest—it is due to the enemies of yesterday who are to be made the enemies of tomorrow. “The Spanish possessions in Africa have been chosen as the jumping-qff ground for the German colonial struggle. The Nazis have carried their colonial propaganda into the whole of Africa, from Spanish Morocco, Ifini, and Rio de Oro. Just as Spanish Morocco is the key to the Mediterranean, so the colonial possessions of Spain are the decisive outposts for stirring up unrest in Africa. “ The Spanish policy of the Third Reich has its basis also in the economic needs, the demand for raw materials, of the Nazi armament programme. Spain and its African possessions are rich in minerals and raw materials. Only a small part of these has been developed. There are unexploited copper mines in Spanish Morocco and in the neighbourhood of Saragossa. The mercury workings, of Almaden could be more highly exploited by the application of Nazi methods of work; Spanish Guinea is rich in rubber. Nazi economic experts state that increased quantities of tin could be mined in Spain. “ The Nazis turned their covetous eyes towards these resources. If their influence were to become dominant in Spain, they could secure for themselves the wealth of the country. With Franco victorious in the civil war, the Nazis would be able to pocket the lion’s share in the ‘ reconstructions of the ruined districts ’ and in the rearmament of Spain. The Nazis could send specialists and workers to Spain for the building of motor roads, barracks, aerodromes, harbours, and fortifications. A Fascist Spain would materially improve the export trade of Nazi Germany. Strategic, colonial, and economic considerations, therefore, led Nazis to become the allies of the Spanish rebels.’’ ’