Nelson Evening Mail TUESDAY. SEPTEMBER 23, 1941 WHICH WAY WILL HITLER GO?

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 76, 23 September 1941, Page 4

Nelson Evening Mail TUESDAY. SEPTEMBER 23, 1941 WHICH WAY WILL HITLER GO?

IN a broadcast review the other day Mr Wickham Steed said he would : sooner be in the shoes of young King Peter of Yugoslavia or of King George of Greece than in the shoes (or boots) of King Boris of Bulgarin. Yet the first two are monarehs in exile while Boris still reigns. But Mr Steed was looking into the future. He meant that, though King Peter and King George had lost their thrones, they had retained their j honour and had not chosen to become a doormat for Hitler to walk on whenever it suited his designs. Fol- ; lowing Bulgaria's well-known policy of opportunism. Boris is further willing to be a tool of Hitler in the build- ! ing of the “new order” now that the | time has come for his country to i play a more active role. What that ! is to be has not been revealed. All the signs point to Bulgaria’s becom-1 J ing an active participant in the de- ! velopment of Nazi strategy along the j Black Sea littoral. The country is j I obviously being prepared for some big j move against Russia, a nation with i whom the' Bulgars have had in the ! past a strong affinity, and towards' | whom, as collaborators with Hitler,; ' they have not: so far been belligerent, j ' as have the Rumanians and HungarI ians. Already strong Axis land, sea; j and air forces are concentrated atj, Rumanian and Bulgarian ports. Any-; | thing that Germany likes to demand ; | there in the way of bases is at her | disposal. The next question is wheth- . er Boris will be told that he must ■ ! use his army against the Russians or i ’ whether, as a report today suggests, the Bulgars arc to be employed to ; police occupied France, freeing the ■ | Germans there for service elsewhere. ; ; Russia, however, may not wait for Bulgaria to go to war, and may take the initiative herself. She has no land communications with Bulgaria, but the Soviet Black Sea fleet could move against those bases on the Black Sea shores where Hitler has big forces concentrated ready to start a drive to the Caucasus, either by way of the Crimea or through Turkey. ; Before many days are over the ! world may know which route he has i decided to take towards Caucasian oil. Turkey and the Dardanelles come prominently into the picture at this stage. If Germany seized the Dardanelles then she would be well on the way towards controlling the Black Sea. Hitler is now pressing Turkey to allow Axis ships through the Straits under the Bulgarian flag. Control of (lie Dardanelles is vested in Turkey under the Montrcux Convention of J I 1936. This defines it as an internat-j : ional waterway and gives Turkey the | 1 ; power, if she considers herself men-j t aced by “an imminent danger of! i war,’’ to use her discretion as to! what ships she allows to pass through ! the Narrows. In June vessels car-h rying German troops were allowed j to go through. Now it appears that j Turkey is not likely to be so accom- j i modal ing and the signs; are that Ger- ! ! I many will have to light for any fur- [ 1 t her big concessions she wants. Ob- j . viously Turkey is in the situation | i visualised in the Convention—“im-i, ' !'*•:•.( F danger of wm’’- a,.cl if Hit- i . 1»t finds that tla- len is of the Con--1 volition are thwarting his plans then,; he will not hesitate to force the is-i 1 | sue. i With the occupation of the Aegean j ' j Islands, including those which fringe! 1 j most of the Turkish Mediterranean; I coastline, Germany is in a good po- . it ion to obtain control of the west- j i j ern approaches to the Dardanelles.!* ; But it is certain the Allies have! 1 i planned against such an eventuality.! ia would al- j ' low this strategic waterway to pass \ ( i under German domination without I - j lighting hard to prevent it. Hitler j i knows that, should he force Turkey - j i into war again-t hint, then Allied , sea and o r power would immediate- 1 | I v move to protect the Dardanelles ! unless he was successful the Straits i ! would he often for the anli-Axis na-j { val forces to pass to and from thcji Black Sea. What course he takes j : depends largely on whether Turkey j j is of more use to him as a non-bel- . ligerent than as an open ene- ! I

: my and whether the road leading from Bulgaria to Caucasus oil is a surer one than a drive through 1 Turkey. The Allied navies would iso < ■ the 1 Dardanelles.