A NERVE CENTRE OF THE WAR

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23850, 28 December 1940, Page 7 (Supplement)

A NERVE CENTRE OF THE WAR

Mediterranean History

i By KOTARE CC s~\ 11! crM ST A XC'ES lmvc I caused (ho Mediterranean to play a greater part, in (he history of the world both in a commercial and a military point ol view, than an\ other sheet of water of the same size." That was the opinion of Admiral Mahan, the eminent, historian of sea-power. There is no need for his qualifying phrast* —'"of the same size." It can be said without, reservation that since human history began the Mediterranean lias been the most, important water area on the globe. Some two thousand miles ill length, not more than five hundred miles at its greatest breadth, and narrowing over most of its expanse to much less than that, it has seen the dawn of civilisation in the west, and around its shores have arisen the races that havo contributed most to the progress of mankind. Across its waters the religious gentiis of the Hebrews, the artistic genius of the Greeks, the practical genius of the Romans have found their I highways to the ends of the earth. For the greater part of human history the Mediterranean was the vital nerve centre. The discovery of America gave the central position to the Atlantic. In our own days it, has seemed that ultimately the Pacific may rival I the Atlantic, hut the time is not yet. I But the Mediterranean has never bo- ! come a mere backwater among the seas > of the globe. At all times the control of i it has been of supreme importance to j the great nations of Europe. And it i was never more vital and significant ; than it is to-day. The Ancient Days Crete, the forerunner of European civilisation, rose and flourished and ! faded upon its waters. Egypt, superbly situated for world conquest on two seas that gave it access everywhere, refused to become a maritime Power. It left : its sea traffic to outsiders, to the Phoenicians from Tyre and Sidon. to ; the \ igorous enterprising Greeks that | had thrust themselves from the north | into the Mediterranean littoral, bring- ; ing with them the olive which was to i change l the whole structure of life in the west. Egypt fell from its glory hecause it never became a sea-power, and because a rigid caste system strangled its life within. Greece had its golden hour and gave place to Rome. Rome was challenged by the Phoenician colony of Carthage and in the hour when all seemed lost and Hannibal held a large part of Italy, won through because she kept command of the sea and cut tin"" invader off from his bases in North Africa and Spain. Later Genoa and Venice commanded the seaways of the Mediterranean, picking up the produce of Asia on its eastern seaboard and distributing it through Europe and to Britain. The Turks, a Caucasian people of the same ultimate origin as ourselves, who had picked up on their wanderings from Central Asia the virile fighting faith of Mahomet, with their Semitic co-religionists challenged the Italian trade control till Don John of Austria stemmed the eastern tide at Lepanto. Spain in her hour of pride could have dominated the inland sea, hut she was bent on easy-won wealth- in her American empire, and could not work tip any enthusiasm for the ordinary hut much more important routine of trade. Britain Enters Britain became a factor in the history of the Mediterranean only when she became a great sea-power after the defeat of the Armada. I3y this time the route to and from the East had been diverted from the Mediterranean round the Cape of Good Hope. < But as her trade on the long sea-road to India developed it was necessary to have some protection from the predatory com-merce-raiding of Spain still powerful on the sea and admirably situated on the flank for the destruction of our merchant shipping. For this, among other reasons. Gibraltar was seized and became the chief nav'n! base of Britain outside the British Isles. But the command of the Western gate had another advantage that practically decided the issue of the long naval struggle between ourselves and the French and Spaniards. Gibraltar split in two the sea power of both our enemies. France had fleets based on Brest in the West and Toulon in the Mediterranean. Spain had her chief strongholds partly on the Atlantic and partly on the Mediterranean. These fleets could unite only by passing through the Straits of Gibraltar. Our naval strategy down to and beyond the days of Nelson consisted chiefly in using our hold on Gibraltar to keep the enemy fleets on the Atlantic from linking up with the enemy fleets in the Mediterranean. The loss of Gibraltar would have meant ruin to Britain and her Empire. It would mean ruin to-day. Malta fell to us in the Napoleonic wars. Nelson saw that our control of India depended on our command of the Mediterranean. Napoleon saw that, too. Hence the French invasion of Egypt. But Nelson ended Napoleon's hopes at the Battle of the Nile. After his victory he sent a special emissary overland to India to convey the good news at the earliest possible moment to the anxious Britons there. "I consider Malta," Nelson said, "as a most important outwork to India. I hope we shall never give it up. "That is still a vital element in British policy. Artery of Empire Malta is only a thousand miles from Gibraltar. With the cutting of the Suez (anal the Mediterranean became again the great highway to the East. It was not enough to hold the kev positions in the West and Centre. A thousand miles east of .Malta commanding the entrance to the Canal lay the island of Cyprus, which also controlled the important Gulf of Alexandretta in Syria. 'lbis strategic island came into our hands in 1878 and. was definitely annexed in l')l t on the outbreak of war with Turkey. Beyond the Red Sea we had held Aden from lM.'iß and in the 'eighties we acquired Socotra., It is customary to say that Britain always muddles along without any clear-cut policy. We have drifted into empire by the merest accident, say the historians. The latest American authority and he ranks very high. James l.ruslow Adams, insists in his ".Empire of the Seven Seas" that- the British Empire is a triumph of stupidity. The story ol our long-range, carefully coordinated policy in the Mediterranean should send that foolish libel where it belongs. The British Empire had its origin in something fundamental in the national character, something that drove men ol our race, to the ends of the earth partly for trade, but equally to establish homes for themselves. With the Empire in being every step necessary for its preservation and security was doggedly taken generation after generation. Mussolini in his upstart ambitions arising not from the genius of the Italian people, but from fantasticideas in his own mind, and using the modern technique of planning which makes a new world fiver-night, found himself against the granite wall of a nation that has slowly and on secure foundations built its plans through the centuries.