Will Germany Collapse? Opinion Sharply Divided

Northern Advocate, 18 December 1942, Page 3

Will Germany Collapse? Opinion Sharply Divided

(Spec.) LONDON, December 17. “Will Germany collapse?" asked a headline in a popular national newspaper today. This recurring question of the war still continues to be debated. In the (words of the “Financial News," opinions are “sharply divided" about the effect of the prolonged stress on Germany's war economy. Some quarters are of the opinion that the strain is beginning to tell on arms production and the general economic system. Others are maintaining that Germany is able to carry on for years from an economic viewpoint. Second Front Repercussions

The “Financial News” expresses the opinion that there is no doubt that the development of a second front in North Africa, and the menace of an invasion of the continent from the Mediterranean have changed Germany's economic position considerably for the worse, for Hitler cannot now release millions of soldiers throughout the winter for arms industries requirements. The extent to which his efforts will be successful to obtain workmen in Germany from occupied countries, and the flow of war material from occupied countries are bound to decline at exactly the moment when Allied war industries are coming into their stride.

A Warning Note

A warning is given that it would be idle to attach undue hopes to shortages of various war materials, nor should the food position, though far from satisfactory, give rise to sanguine hopes. There is actually a surfeit of bread, and as it is compulsory to buy the whole bread ration, but impossible to consume it, and an offence to waste foods, the result is that the woods around Berlin and other cities are littered with loaves that nobody wants. Most Surprising Feature

It is remarked that the apparent inadequacy of the aircraft industry is easily the most surprising feature of the arms industry, and recently there has been growing evidence that it is unable to cope with the increased requirements, while the transport system is easily the weakest spot of Germany’s war economy.

“There are many other weak spots, but none suggests lhat Germany is seriously likely to crack in the near future. Her internal economic position is stronger than during the fourth winter of the last war because it is better organised, and Germany has almost the whole of Europe on which to draw."

Keep Up Pressure

The review concludes: "We ought to rely on our increasing strength, and not the enemy’s declining resources.

"The Economist." in a series of articles, stated that despite the remaining reserves, German economy in farm and factory is running down. Even before the Russian attack, life in Germany was drab, but in contrast today things then were going very well.

A Different Scene

Now the scene is very different. It is plainer that the Nazis have ravaged their own country in addition to other lands. Its young people, brought up in the Nazi creed, are fighting a campaign far from Germany which is invaded by foreigners to fill the place of its sons. One out of 10 of the population, and one out of four of the woi’kers, are aliens, immigrants or prisoners. It is clear that iwithout foreign labour the German war effort would break down. Everyone is toiling, but the labour supply is still insufficient, and Germans work CO to 80 hours weekly, side by side with half-starved aliens, while hundreds of thousands of men and women are working far from their homes. Conditions of Hardship Everyone’s preoccupation is food, clothing and shelter. There is practically no food available that is not rationed. The clothing ration is about half that of 1939. and shelter is scarcer than food and clothing—in Munich over 2000 people are flat-hunting—-while almost everything in Germany is bartered. People crave for a diversion, and very long queues are outside cinemas, theatres, music halls and restaurants. People’s Eyes Opening Among relatives and friends the highest favours can be bought for cinema and theatre tickets. Slowly but surely German home life begins to resemble 1917-18, and the strain undoubtedly is growing. “The people are bound and gagged by the most monstrous bureaucracy that has ever been. Soldiers at the front and people at home are slowly being split into two diffei’ent nations. Young Nazis at the front may still be convinced of their ultimate superiority, but the people at home can see how the scales are being weighed against them.