The Southland Times. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1939. Hitlerism on Two Fronts

Southland Times, Issue 23989, 2 December 1939, Page 4

The Southland Times. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1939. Hitlerism on Two Fronts

THE Russian invasion of Finland took place exactly three months after the Nazis marched into Poland. This fact will be noted unwillingly by speakers and writers who examine the progress of the war at monthly intervals, for it spoils a picture of events which otherwise favoured the Allied cause. It is true that in the past few weeks the German counter-blockade has been intensified through the use of small magnetic mines, laid indiscriminately in coastal waters, and that both Allied and neutral shipping has suffered fairly heavy losses. But this move by the Nazis has been comparatively successful only because it brought the momentum of surprise. Already the number of sinkings is smaller, and as defensive measures are devised the sea routes will once again be as safe as they can be while submarines elude the hunting patrols. Air operations continue to demonstrate the superiority of British and French machines; and on land the inaction of the German army seems to confer an advantage on the Allies, whose economic strength makes them far more equal than Germany to the strain of siege warfare. Britain’s stricter contraband control has had an unfavourable reception from the neutrals; but it is generally recognized that trade losses are preferable to the destruction of lives and property caused by the Nazi mine campaign, and world opinion remains substantially behind the Allies.

The Fire Spreads

Russia’s brutal attack on Finland introduces new and unwelcome factors. A further instance of wanton and unprovoked aggression means an extension of the methods against which the Allies are fighting and an extension also of the area which can be described as a potential war zone. While Britain and France are committed to the destruction of Nazism the Russians are taking over the policy and the technique of Hitler and are exploiting them in regions unprotected by political guarantees and alliances. This is placing the Allies in a moral dilemma, for the strength of their cause is in their defence of justice and freedom for the small, independent nations; and it is not impossible that if Germany continues to bear the brunt of the attack the centre of lawlessness will simply be transferred from Berlin to Moscow. There is a fire in Europe that appears to spring up in one place as it is stamped out in another. The immediate result of Russia’s sinister policy cannot be forecast; but it is quite possible that when Finland is under Soviet control the next campaign will be on the frontiers of Sweden and Norway. Russia’s new policy is of the dangerous kind that creates the need for a continuing expansion. Finland is to be deprived of national independence so that Leningrad can be made safe from attack—perhaps the most grotesque excuse for aggression in modern history. But when Finland has been dealt with there will be new frontiers and new imaginary dangers to a nation which apparently finds a sixth part of the earth’s surface inadequate as a defensive position. The process develops like a snowball, and may eventually become an avalanche.

Soviet-Nazi Policy

Once again it is necessary to face the question whether or not Russia and Germany are working in close co-operation. There is at least circumstantial evidence that they have reserved their separate zones of activity, and that while Russia extends her territory and influence in the north the Nazis will be given a free hand in the Balkans. It is also possible that Stalin is taking advantage of, the war to take what he wants without respecting the interests of either the Allies or the Nazis. But this leaves unexplained the wholesale surrender of German interests in the Baltic. It is difficult to believe that Hitler sanctioned the mass migration of German minorities and the abandonment of a traditional zone of influence in the north simply because Stalin wanted these favours as the condition of ambiguous moral support and an even more doubtful economic assistance. The Balkan States appear to understand the situation and are doing what they can to protect themselves from an approaching storm. Meanwhile it will not be surprising if events are allowed to encourage once again the illusion that things are not as bad as they seem. If Russia gains the concessions she wants in Finland she will probably announce that her aims are satisfied. Those who feel inclined to believe such protestations should remember the aptitude which Stalin has shown as a pupil of Hitler and ask themselves if the man who has so faithfully copied the methods of aggression will not use, with an equal facility, the tactics of faithless diplomacy which lulled Europe into a false sense of security after Hitler’s successive conquests.