Manawatu Evening Standard. FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 1942. SPRING IN EUROPE.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXII, Issue 100, 27 March 1942, Page 4

Manawatu Evening Standard. FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 1942. SPRING IN EUROPE.

With the coming of spring in liuropc evidence is accumulating of growing- German resistance to the Russian thrusts. The wiuIcr has been a bad time for Hit ler and his high officers. At no part of (he long line which stretches' from Leningrad to the Crimea were the German armies allowed to establish winter headquarters with any degree of security, while the Hindi Command rested their men and prepared their plans for a grand spring offensive. Skilfully designed attacks and thrusts were delivered all through the winter, with the primary objective, as a competent observer says, to deny the Germans the opportunity to recuperate rather than to occupy territory. But the Russians have achieved outstanding success in both directions, and though they have not succeeded in retaking cities whose loss would be a most severe blow to the Nazis they have hammered the enemy, forced him to use reserves badly needed for the spring offensive, and generally dislocated his plans. Now the Russian snows are melting and once the sodden terrain has dried out Hitler must launch the assaults expected. Will the Russians have to meet hammer blows comparable with those delivered last summer and autumn, and will the Russians be able to withstand them? That is a question that must be answered in the near future. Hitler wants more food and more men. He has been driving the enslaved peoples of Europe to increase the harvests and has combed them for more troops. Bulgaria faces a supreme crisis as she is being driven to open enmity with Russia, her traditional friend. In Germany every avenue has been explored to get more fighting men for the spring offensive. The next four months are the crucial time for Hitler, the Yorkshire Post says in publishing a comprehensive survey of Germany's intensified war preparations. She has been through three winters and "cannot stand another winter of this war." This is declared to be the opinion of the German army as a whole, of neutral observers in Germany, and of influential sections of'the Nazi Party. Meanwhile, there is keen speculation as to where Hitler will strike. He must drive against the Russians, especially in the south to reach the Caucasian oilfields. Oil is one of his greatest needs, and he must make a supreme effort to take possession of the rich areas east of the Black Sea. There are indications of offensives in other directions, the Middle East being mentioned freely. The recent, attack on Rhodes was a blow against preparations which are being made to strike against Turkey, Syria, Palestine, Iraqi, and Iran. While it is the Axis . Powers' strategy to confuse -their enemies, there is no doubt that the spring of 1942 will witness righting on a tremendous scale, which may well brine: the war to a dramatic climax. The United Nations must face an anxious time in the months that lie ahead.