The Northern Advocate Daily “NORTHLAND FIRST” Registered for transmission through the post as a Newspaper SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1940. The Middle East

Northern Advocate, 24 February 1940, Page 6

The Northern Advocate Daily “NORTHLAND FIRST” Registered for transmission through the post as a Newspaper SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1940. The Middle East

THE part which oil is playing in determining the course of the war is indicated today by a series of reports dealing with the Middle East. Though the Middle East, strictly speaking, consists of Palestine, Irak, Iran and Syria, the scope of the term has been generally enlarged to include the Balkans and the intervening territory. In Irak and Iran, at one time better known as Mesopotamia and Persia, are some of the greatest oilfields in the world. On the Caspian Sea and in Rumania, to mention only two other countries in the west of the Middle East, are oilfields which are figuring very prominently in the war news. Today there is much discussion of Rumania’s oil supplies, and there seems reason to believe that Rumanian oil will cause troubled waters in the Balkans in the not distant future. It is generally agreed that if Germany is denied access to the oil supplies of the Middle East she must very quickly be rendered incapable of continuing the war. For that reason she must make the utmost endeavour to secure control of sources of oil supply if the owners thereof refuse to supply the spirit in the ordinary course of business. On-the other hand, if the owners of oilfields are willing to continue the supply of petrol to Germany, it is the task of the Allies to see they are prevented from doing so. That is the position that has developed already. Rumania has declined to allow petrol for aeroplanes to be exported from that country, on the ground'that she requires the oil for her own defensive purposes. This decision has naturally caused alarm in Germany, which, it is stated, is sending its Minister of Economics, Dr. Karl Clodius, to Rumania, to discuss the situation with the Rumanian Government.! The object of the visit, it is believed, is to secure removal of the ban on the export of petrol for planes, Germany demanding the whole of Rumania’s exports. Neutral owners of wells, and companies under Allied control, have recently diverted shipments of oil to Germany. The embarrassment which Rumania is thus imposing on Germany may be readily understood, and! as a cable message today suggests, Hitler’s attitude towards the Balkans will depend upon the outcome of the discussions to be held next week between the Rumanian Government and the German Minister of Economics. It is in preparation for any attack which may be decided upon that the Allies have assembled a large army in the Middle East. Rumania, too, is not taking any chances, for we are told that some of the reserves which were to have joined the colours on March 1 have been called up already. On March 1, it is estimated Rumania will be in a state of general mobilisation with 1,600,000 men under arms.

This is a gratifying development from the Allies’ point of view, for it suggests that the Balkan Entente realises the advantages to be derived from co-operation with Britain and France in the event of the outbreak of hostilities in the Middle East. Bulgaria continues to maintain a non-commital attitude, but it is difficult to believe that the Bulgarians would range themselves with Germany and Russia should the Allies make an attempt to defeat Germany by way of the back door. Such an attempt would be facilitated if the Balkans as a whole openly threw in their lot with the Allies, for if they were involved in war the deadlock on the western front would become comparatively unimportant in the general scheme.