ENVIOUS GERMANY

Greymouth Evening Star, 17 March 1937, Page 10

ENVIOUS GERMANY

EYES ON THE UKRAINE "If 1 had the Ukraine, with its tremendous wealth, Germany would swim in plenty.” —Herr Hitler in his speech at the Nuremburg Rally last. September. A month after Hitler, in the presence of 10,000 Nazis, delivered tin amazing speech against Russia, including the above-quoted sentence, the German-Japanese Pact was signed (says a writer in the Melbourne “Age”). But even before this the poli-tically-educated world had heard a great deal of Hitler’s designs on Russia. in his famous book, ‘Mein Kampf,’ he sttid: “When we are talking of the need (or more German room in Europe we can in the first place think only of Russia and the border States dependent upon her.” 4 i Hitler, according to several competent political observers, places his designs under the banner of a world anti-Socialist crusade; but the basic policy is by no means new. Before the Great War Germany and Austria were busy supporting a movement to detach the Ukraine from Russia, when the only Socialists Russia could boast of were in gaol. The policy of the old Imperial German Government is apparently being put into operation by Hitler with remarkable fidelity. There is the same desire to detach France from her alliance with Russia; to drive a wedge between Britain and France: to obtain a foothold in Moroc-j co. thus menacing Britain’s trade routes to Australia .and India: to establish submarine bases off the Spanish coast, and to ferment rebellion in | Spain, wiib the object of obtaining! certain minerals found there which I are necessary to German munition 1 factories.

'l’he. Ukraine is the nearest, and richest Russian province. In area ii is as large as Germany, and il contains: a population of over Jo.Oihi.OtlO. which is half that of Germany, equal to that of Poland, and nearly one-sixth of that of all Russia. 'Pile famous Donetz Basin produces 75 per cent, of Russia’s entire coal. Last year the Donbas mine alone produced 73.tiii0.000 tons of coal, and the Ukrainian metallurgical indus-i try turned out over 11.000.000 ions <>f| pig iron, and 7,000.000 tons of steel, which was in excess of the entire iron and steel production of Germany. 'Pliej Dnieperpetrovsk plant alone smelted I twice, as much pig iron A® the entire

metallurgical industry in Poland. These figures arc pertinent as Germany’s most frantic efforts are being devoted to obtaining iron ore in any part of the world possible. The Ukraine is first in the production of electricity, and at Dnieperstroi an aluminium plant produces more aluminium than the whole of France, while nearby are enormous manganese works, both these metals being essential for the. manufacture of- aeroplanes. The Ukraine is the greatest and most, fertile plain in the world. It is the principal granary in Russia; and when one considers that last year’s Russian harvest yielded the gigantic total of 5,320,000 bushels of grain (very I little of which is exported), or about [seventeen times ,as much as Austra-J jlia’s harvest, some idea may be gained [of the lure which the Ukraine has for Germany, especially as it is only a small part of Russia. Last year’s harvest in Hie Ukraine amounted to 850,000,000 bushels of wheal from 50,-1 000,000 acres, or seventeen bushels to! the acre, compared with only eight bushels to the acre in the time of the Tsar. RICHER THAN GERMANY [ In the combined wealth of its min-[ era! and agricultural sources the < Ukraine is tai’ richer than Germany. Its less important products include huge quantities of cotton, grapes, to-’ bacco, maize, salt, sugar, timber, fruit, 1 and cattle. It capital, Kiev, contains enormous factories which manufacture! almost anything one could think of in secondary industries, from typewriters, and tractors, to aeroplanes and loco-' motives. i

Ami beyond the Ukraine, is the Caucasus which, next to the United States, is the gnat(>st oil-producing region of the world; and beyond that again the various gold-producing centres of Russia which lasi year brought forth C70.(100,(1(1(1 of this yellow metal—still important Io all nations, but never more so I han in lime of war.

Many attempts have been made to subjugate the Ukraine in the past. Before the revolution a handful of Polish land owners possessed huge stretches of the best Ukrainian land, while the Tsar, in an endeavour to Russianise the Ukrainians, denied them autonomy and the right to speak, their own language, which is differenl from Russian. . During the war their towns and villages wore burned ami plundered by the Germans, and after the latter were driven out, the Ukraine became a battlefield of the

civil war. General Denikin, with his anti-Red army, occupied the country in February, 1919, with the- help of French troops. The old land owners were restored, in April a Socialist Rc- [ public was proclaimed. The French forces intervened, but most of the French troops mutinied, and refused to light the peasants, and in December the Red Army occupied Kiev, in 1920, however, Poland invaded the Ukraine, and occupied Kiev. . The Polish army was aided by General Wrangcl, who had succeeded General Denikin. The. Red Army, however, under Voroshilov (now commander of the entire Russian army) defeated the Poles, and drove them back to the very gates of Warsaw; Wrangcl was driven out of the Crimea, and at last the Ukraine was free of all foreign intervention.

, Under the Socialist regime during . .the last sixteen years the Ukraine ReJ public lias enjoyed- a large measure J of autonomy, and’ has developed its ijown culture. In 1928 1,796.000 children attended schools; the number is now [ 4,223,000, and in the last four years 2000 schools have been built in the collective farms. Over 8000 agricultural aboratories have been established, land 1250 maternity hospitals were orIganised in’th© collective farms of the [Ukraine in 1935. There are more stu- ■ dents in the Ukraine enjoying higher | education than there arc in the whole lot’ Germany. Last year 25,000 medical 'students passed out of the universities 'in the Ukraine, while over 50,000 .passed out of the agricultural colleges, 'and 98,000 applications were received ■ for training as air pilots. ; Although the Ukraine is to-day one of the most prosperous and contented I of the Republics of the Union, this [happy state of affairs has only been 'achieved as the result of considerable modification and Liberalisation of the Soviet doctrine. Many peas|ants are allowed to possess small holdHugs of their own, and-it* (he central [Government made a slight strategic] [retreat from its doctrine Tl was a retreat which brought victory. In the event of war the Ukrainians are more I formidable than they were when they (drove out Poles, Germans and others I at. (lie end of the lAst war. and at a [ time when they were weak. It should also be remembered that Germany and ] Russian have no common frontier. In the south Rumania, in the centre Poland. and in the north the border States of Lithuania. Latvia, and Estonia stand in the way. All of them al | present, are more favourable to Rus- i siA than Germany, as they realise that L

Russia, with hor 9,000,000 square miles of territory, desires no more; but Germany, by organising the Fascist Internationale, is making frantic efforts to effect changes of Governments in those countries which would be more favourable to German aims.