MOMENTOUS YEAR

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22617, 4 January 1937, Page 6

MOMENTOUS YEAR

EISE OF FASCISM WORLD REARMAMENT THE BRITISH MONARCHY The past year has hern one of great manges full of ominous meaning for the world s future. Probably 1936 nill go down to history a~ a period in whieh militant nationalism under totalitarian form? of government made further advances, and in which all the great Powers- and by consequence many lesser States, resumed the creation of armaments on a greater scale ' and with a wider scope than had ever been known in times of so-called peace The first months of the year saw Italy pursuing her campaign of conquest in Abyssinia. Intense poison ga« bombing routed the ill-armed native forces, and at the beginning of May the Emperor Flaile Selassie fled from his capital, which Italian troops occupied four day« later. Conveyed to Palestine in a British warship, the Emperor eventually reached England. Early in July after sanctions against Italy had been abandoned, he addressed the Assembly of the League of Nations, delivering a sorrowful rebuke which was in effect an indictment of modern Western civilisation. Rhintdand Reoccupied Not unexpectedly. Germany on March 7 denounced the Locarno Pact and reoccupied the demilitarised zone of the Rhineland. later announcing: that the period of conscription and the strength of her army were to be doubled, while the navy was to be strengthened by the building of three large battleships and other craft. As a corollary. Belgium made it known that she could no longer rely upon the protection of the other Powers, and the French Government in November intimated that it intended to spend 500.000.000 francs on the extension of the Maginot Line of fortifications from the Rhineland to Switzerland and the strengthening of the existing defences along the Belgian frontier. British rearmament was marked by the adoption of most comprehensive plans for strengthening every branch of the fighting forces, the organisation of industry for the manufacture of ■war material and supplies, and the development of measures to protect the civilian population against air attack. The Navy, Army and Air Estimates were increased by £27,000,000, to a total of £158,000,000. Civil War ia Spain Overshadowing all other events in the latter half of the year was the Spanish ciriJ war. a sequel to the victory of the Left Front in the Februaryelection's. On July 18 the garrisons in Spanish Morocco revolted against the Republic, under the leadership of General Francesco Franco. Large numbers of Moorish and other troops were landed in Spain, and the insurgents, after months of bitter fighting, occupied more than twothirds of the country, established a government at Burgos and commenced a long and fiercelv-resisted attack upon Madrid. . . The conflict has grave implications in the international field as one essentially between Fascism and Communism. Both sides have been receiving "much assistance in money, men and materials from other European countries, notwithstanding formal disavowals and the earnest efforts of Britain and France to obtain effective measures against intervention. The prospect of either a ''black*' or a "red'" 'regime in Spain is regarded by all democratic States as a further menace to world peace. King JBdward's Abdication For all British peoples, 1936 will remain unique as a year in which three successive sovereigns ruled over the Empire. After an illness of only a few davs, King George V. passed peacefullv to his rest at Sandringham on January 20. He was buried at Windsor on January 28. amid demonstrations of sorrow over the loss of one who had combined true nobility of character with the highest devotion to his Empire through 25 most difficult years. King Edward VIII. ascended the Throne endowed with the regard and affection of all his subjects, but photographs of him on every public occasion showed the cares of high office written heavily upon bis face. As the year went on. the press of America and of some Dominions became filled with disturbing comments on his friendship with '.Mrs. Ernest Simpson, an American divorcee. This lady obtained a decree nisi in England on October 27 against her second husband. No Morganatic Marriage On December 3 the whole matter was brought out into the open. The King had consulted the Prime Minister, Mr. Stanley Baldwin, who, after communicating with the Go\ernments of the Dominions, informed him that there was no possibility of legislation under which Mrs. Simpson might become his wife without the status of Queen. The King, in a message to Parliament on December 10. announced his irrevocable determination to abdicate in favour of his brother, the Duke of York. The following night, in a broadcast from Windsor to i:he whole Empire, he said: " You must believe me when I tell you that I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as King, as 1 would wish to do, without the help and support of the woman I love." A few hours later, as Duke of Windtor, he left England for Austria, after the shortest reign but one in British history since the Norman Conquest. The Duke of York was proclaimed a« King George VI. the following ingOther World Events The'whole unhappy occurrence was best summed up by the London Times, which stated: "The real clash was between the thoughtlessness of exotic society and the hard core of the British family tradition." British people everywhere found consolation in knowing, when the atmosphere had cleared that the Throne as an institution stood unshaken as ever. Among other events of importance in the year must be mentioned: —The assassination of two Japanese Ministers by junior army officers in .January; the London Naval Conference. which secured a qualitative limitation of ship construction by Britain. Prance and the Uliited States: the successful negotiation of a convention for restoring to Turkey the military and naval control of the Dardanelles; the devaluation of the French franc; the trial and execution at Moscow on treason charges of a number of leading figures in the original Russian revolution; Mr. F. D. Roosevelt's return in November by an overwhelming majority for a second term of four years as President of the United States; and the announcement in" the same month of a new constitution for Soviet Russia on democratic lines, with freedom of speech and worship.