BALKANS' FUTURE

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20321, 9 August 1940, Page 5

BALKANS' FUTURE

OBSCURE PATTERN HITLER’S MEDDLING SUBJECTION TO NAZIS CONTROL OF POLICIES BRITISH EMPIRE CONTRAST (El«c. Tel. Copyright—United Press Assn.) (British Oflicinl Wireless.) Re-cd. 9 a.m. RUGBY, Aug. 7. The growing disillusionment in the countries immediately concerned in Herr Hitler’s plans for reorganising Europe is reflected in dispatches from newspaper correspondents in these and other neutral countries.

The Times says: “Herr Hitler’s ostentatious undertaking to square the Balkan circle so far has only made a more confused pattern of politics in that part of Europe and rendered less secure the position of his latest protege, King Carol. His own special disciples, the Iron Guard—the Nazis of Rumania —have issued a rousing manifesto, certainly not pro-German and actually introducing a pro-British note into its battle-cry.

“The Rumanian leaders who went to Berchtesgaden see their supporters slipping and hear their silenced critics once more raising their voices, while eminent Transylvanians, who had parted company, have united to oppose the concessions recommended by Herr Hitler.

“While ’Rumanian resistance is stiffening, the Hungarian demands are apparently rising. It seems, it any case, that Hungary expects very substantial territorial concessions to be made and Rumania is going to find it difficult to yield any territory at all in Transylvania. Return to Bulgaria “In regard to the Bulgarian claims in Dobruja, the way to settlement is clearer. There never was much justification for the seizure of this territory by Rumania and, according to our Balkans correspondent, the Bucharest Government has agreed in principle to return its southern portion to Bulgaria. Britain has already indicated that she considers a fair solution could be reached on these lines, and it may be confidently predicted that Britain is not in the least likely, when victory has been won, to wish to upset any settlements which have been amicably reached between Rumania and her neighbours in the south-east or north-west.

“It is believed in the Balkans capitals that the German view, impressed upon Rumanians, Hungarians, Yugoslavs and Bulgarians alike, is that the whole region is destined by nature and the will of the Fuehrer to become the purveyor of primary products, particularly food, oil and minerals, to the Reich. It must therefore, so the story goes, be economically recognised as German lebensraum. Control From Berlin ‘‘Since economic organisation could never be satisfactory unless directed from central headquarters, it follows that general political control must also emanate from Berlin. Consequently, the countries of south-eastern Europe are not expected to have independent foreign policies at all. These dependent States must, moreover, maintain a certain balance between themselves. None must dominate the others, for all alike must be dominated by the Reich.

“Of this German plan, it may be said at once that it is completely vitiated by the over-riding presumption that all is to be done for the benefit of Germany rather than the States immediately concerned.”

The Manchester Guardian says: “Herr Hitler is fond of emphasising his sense of responsibility to Europe and contrasting with it the selfishness of the western Powers. A leader of the people, it is represented, is to direct not only its own destinies but those of smaller peoples belonging to its living space. Economic Servitude “Europe is to be turned into a continent of colonial peoples—all made subservient to the interest of the responsible leader. France is to return to agriculture, the Balkans must grow and produce just what the Germans find convenient, all the economic life of the States that are subdued is to be crushed into the German system—feeding Germany’s industries and consuming Germany’s products.

“The German order for Europe is a plan under which different peoples would lose their liberty and obtain in exchange not a higher standard of economic life but distress and economic servitude.

“The spectacle presented by the British Commonwealth to-day is the most dramatic answer to Herr Hitler’s claim that his plan is generous, whereas our use of power has been entirely unscrupulous and selfish. The truth is that our experience gives us the qualification for leadership that the German lacks, for we learnt that to give freedom is to gain strength, whereas Germany still trusts to force as the secret of power.”