The Southland Times. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1941. Italy's Chains

Southland Times, Issue 24369, 25 February 1941, Page 4

The Southland Times. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1941. Italy's Chains

MUSSOLINI’S latest speech is very different in tone from the speeches which did so much m t e pre-war years to foment the suite that has now overtaken Europe. He talked of victory in a distant futuie, but he seems to have spoken the word without confidence, and he no longer looks to it as the achievement of Italian arms. The best he can say is that, if victory comes, it will be through the efforts of Germany. His earlier boasts have come to nothing. “It was we who attacked in Libya,” he said on November 18. “The swift occupation of Sidi Barrani must not be considered a conclusion, but merely a prologue to acts of valour by Italian soldiers .on all fronts which will make the nation proud.” Since those words were spoken the fall of Sidi Barrani has been followed by other spectacular British victories and by the expulsion of the Italians from Eastern Libya. Similarly, in November the Duce announced that “in a case of necessity we could call up 8,000,000 men.” This maximum figure has now shrunk to 4,000,000. The real test, of course, is not the man power available (which in Italy s case is sufficiently ample), but the nations capacity to provide arms and equipment, and to sustain the abnormal demands of an expanding war effort. Even before the war there were reports that manoeuvres on a grand scale had broken down through a lack of military supplies. Since then Italy's best-equipped forces have lost huge quantities of weapons and munitions on the sands of Libya and in the highlands of Albania. The country's industrial system, handicapped in the first place by a shortage of essential raw materials, has been weakened by the blockade, which the Italian Navy is powerless to break.

Italy has been reduced to a humiliating dependence on Germany. All through Mussolini's speech can be found evidence that he is looking towards Hitler, that he is hoping to be saved by the efforts of his partner in aggression. The Duce is not a fool. He must understand now that when he speaks of an Axis victory he really means a Nazi triumph, and he must realize that Italy's position in a Europe dominated by Hitler would be one of enslavement. A nation which has revealed its military weakness so palpably could never be accepted on equal terms by the Prussian master-race. But the alternative is not a happy one for Mussolini. When a dictator admits defeat he admits also that his political future has become precarious. A separate peace could be arranged only after the Fascist Party had been removed from power. By remaining tied to Berlin, the Duce can hope to remain at the head of the State, although he must be ready to become a mere Quisling, at the beck and call of an imperious master. To stay in power, in any circumstances, he may have to rely increasingly on Nazi protection. These are the shifts and stratagems of dictators who place themselves above their countries, and will betray the people in the furtherance of mean ambitions. Mussolini should be reminded of a passage in the vainglorious speech with which he declared war on the Allies. "We are going to war.” he said, “in order to break the chains laid upon us.” He spoke then of imaginary bonds. Today the Italian people hear the rattle of real chains, and cannot be sure where the sound is most ominous—in the Mediterranean, patrolled by British warships, or in the passes of the Brenner, where German troops look down upon roads that have already been travelled by the agents of Himmler.