BALKANS TURMOIL

Grey River Argus, 12 May 1944, Page 8

BALKANS TURMOIL

Call for Earlv West Front ! There’s no doubt about these Nazis propagandists —you’ve got to hand it to them! .Ever since the Hitlerite panzers were driven back from the gates of Moscow, the Germans in Russia have simply been withdrawing according to plan —in the military dictionary of Herr Goebbels, of course—or “shortening the lines.” But, surely, the description of Hitler’s latest swallowing act in the Balkans is the limit! Says the German spokesman: “There is no cause for sensational suppositions because of intensified collaboration between Germany and Hungary.” Intensified collaboration! Reminds me of the united front between the lady and the tiger—with the lady inside the sweet-tempered tiger! Hungary is “collaborating” all right . inside Hiterlite Germany’s stomach! HUNGARY’S CHICKENS COME HOME

Hungary’s fate was inevitable, once the ruling class of Hungary elected to play the role of jackal in relation to the predatory expeditions of the Nazi beast. The Hungarian Imperialists saw in the rise of fascism in Germany a means of achieving some of their ambitions. .They were dazzled by the prospect of making gains at moderate costs to themselves. They licked their “chops” when they were allowed to share in the carving-up of Czechoslovakia in 1938 and 1939, and their, appetite was further stimulated when they were presented with a slice of Transylvania in 1940. The Hungarian aggressors, too, proved good pupils of the Hiterlite bandits and in 1941 a few short months after signing a peace treaty with Yugoslavia they snatched a share in the dismemberment of that country. Now, the chickens are coming home to roost! The Hungarian connivance in Hitler’s banditry committed her to take part in Hitler’s wars. Hungary must follow wherever Hitler led. The path ran eastward, and in the Russian steppes were left 150,000 Hungarians. But still the Nazi master” demanded his price— a price that Hungary’s people refused to pay. And so, the master marched in and took complete possession.

The lady is inside the tiger, but there’s still a problem that remains. Can the beast digest the dainty morsel? ... not so dainty, either! Hungary’s people are war weary. They are anti-Nazi. They will find leaders . . . while the Admiral Horthys plead for mercy from the master they served so well but were eventually prevented by the opposition of the people from serving well enough.

Such is the inexorable fate facing the tools of Hitler in every one of the satellite States.

That fate already confronts the rulers of Rumania and Bulgaria.

BULGARIA, TOO! Did not King Boris, of Bulgaria, in his desperate attempt to serve-his Nazi master, begin by organising the massace of 30,000 anti-Fascist Bulgarian workers and peasants and find an ending in his own mysterious death, still apparently unex--plained? Even Boris himself once admitted that his people were proRussian, so much so indeed that while his army commanders were

admittedly pro-German, and the Bulgarian ruling class friends of Hitler, he could not take the step of following the Nazis into Russia. Instead he accepted the role of policeman of,, the .Balkans, freeing Nazi troops for service elsewhere while Bulgarian troops fought the courageous anti-fascist guerrillas of Jugoslavia.

Boris is gone, but his henchmen at court will reap the whirlwind.

And Rumania? Antonescu’s proNazi Government has long been losing control of a rapidly deteriorating internal position. No longer are the Rumanian people prepared to follow blindly their ruling class to disaster. They begin to resist. A Patriotic Front is set up, demanding withdrawal from the war, the expulsion of the Germans, the re-es-tablishment of democratic liberties, and the formation of a broadlybased National Government.

A tottering ruling class throughout the Balkans—rising people’s movements—satellite governments no longer able to deliver the goods—economic crisis and political disaffection. » RED ARMIES’ DRIVE And the Red Armies crossing the frontiers into Europe . . . No wonder when Hitler moves— no longer in triumphant aggression, as he did in 1938, but now in desperation, reflecting the internal stability of his European fortress and the external threats to its existence. The persj. pective opened by the Soviet advance is for the whole of northern Balkans to be thrown open to the Red Army, while Nazi divisions cut off far behind the front are an- ■■ nihilated at leisure. Hungary has been described as the cork to the Balkans bottle, with its network of railways, highways and important waterways. Bulgaria is the political ' hotbed of Central Europe. Ruman- ! ian oil is essential for the German ' war machine. Hitler takes the only i possible step in his desperate defensive war, but that very step hastens ' his downfall. Local governments nominally ruling their countries are essential for the Nazi New Order. When these Governments' so lose control that they are forced to make overtures for peace with the enemy, then the whole sham must be destroyed, and the Neyz Order crashes to the ground. That is what is happening now in the Balkans. The camouflage has been ruthlessly swept aside. The whole struggle has been clarified in its essential politics. It is increasingly clear that Hitlerite Germany is doomed, and that it will take to destruction with it not only the Horthys and the Antonescus, but the reactionary classes they represent. Meanwhile the clamour again grows - for the opening of a second front. It is not likely to be appeased by Churchill’s latest speech. The people grow tired of rhetoric, especially when they look across to Italy and read still, “Enemy Unbroken.” Does not the Soviet advance in Rumania and Hitler’s discomfiture provide yet another ready-made situation for striking the decisive blow in Western Europe? Military writers unanimous that it imposes a further drain on Hitler’s dwindling manpower—and that is surely evident. Is it not clear that Hitler must rush all possible reserves to the Balkans, by inevitable corollary leaving other points less effectively guarded?— E R “COMMON CAUSE.”