KEYS TO THE STRAITS

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 53, Issue 3813, 25 September 1936, Page 5

KEYS TO THE STRAITS

GIBRALTAR AND CEUTA. HISTORY RECALLED. Gibraltar and Ceuta form the two pillars—the keystones —of the Straits, and were they both in the hands of , the same power the command of the entrance to the Mediterranean would be complete, says a writer in the Melbourne Age. The possession of Ceuta to a certain extent compensates the Spaniards for the loss of Gibraltar. The two fortresses are kept up at all times on a war footing. Ceuta is almost equal in its natural capabilities of defence to compete with its rival on the opposite side of the Straits. It stood in imminent danger of being captured by the French, or possibly the Moors, through the incapacity and the neglect of the Spanish Junta during the time of the Peninsula War; but that was averted by the decision of Sir Colin Campbell, who, on his own responsibility against the wish of the Spaniards, sent over 500 men to defend it. Ceuta' is a very ancient place of Phoenician origin. On the decline of the Roman Empire it was occupied first by the Goths, and afterwards by the Moors, in whose hands it increased in wealth and refinement, until captured by John I of Portugal, at whose death it fell to the share of the Spaniards, who established military headquarters there. It was from this very place, more than 1100 years ago, the Moors, in the time of Roderic, the last Gothic King, crossed over to achieve the conquest of Spain. The feud between the Spaniards and the Moors continued without cessation for the next 800 years. 111-feel-ing, though suppressed, had never extinguished. There was an outbreak of hostilities in 1859. Ceuta is now once more in the public eye. A revolt against the Spanish Republic, in which troops, including the Foreign Legion, joined, has occurred in Spanish Morocco. It is reported that the rebels have seized and occupied military headquarters at Ceuta, and that the trouble has spread to the mainland, and Spain is at present engaged in civil war. Such is the situation today.

On July 24, 1704, during the war of succession, Gibraltar was captured by Sir George Rooke. Gibraltar was well known to the ancients, but was never inhabited, unless, indeed, by the ancestors of the “Town Major.” as the commander of the apes was called. There is a barrack-room tall story that many years ago one of these apes was captured young, and brought up in strict discipline; in fact, under

martial law. He wore the uniform, and performed the duties of a foot sentinal; more than this, he drew his pay and knew to a nicety what he had to receive. Further, he transacted all his marketing business himself, purchasing fruit and bread upon which he lived,’ and laying down the exact amount for his purchases. Where he banked his surplus cash has never been found! The monkeys of “Gib” were seldom visible to anyone except when severe gales caused them to go to the sheltered side of the Rock. The ancient history of the Rock is a dim cloud of legend, from the days of Hercules down to the Berber conqueror Tarik, who took it in A.D. 711. It was known to the Moors by the unabbreviated name of Gebel Tarik, or Tarik’s Mountain. In 1309 Guzman el Bueno took it from the Moors; but they regained it in 1333, owing to the avaricious and dishonest conduct of the then Governor, Vasco Perez de Meyra, who appropriated to private purposes moneys destined for ils defence. In 1462 another Guzman finally rediscovered it, and in 1502 it was incorporated with the Spanish Crown. The place was strengthened and fortified by Charles V in 1552. Cromwell well appreciated the value of such a possession, but, even after its capture by Rooke, George I would have given it up at the Peace of Utrecht, and the nation thought it an insignificant fort, and a useless charge. It was again offered to Spain, if she would refuse to sell Florida to Napoleon Bonaparte. The Spaniards never knew the value of this natural fortress until its loss. Napoleon tried to take it, but failed in his attempt. So much for the history of earlier days. What of the Mediterranean to-day?

Great Britain has maintained her position in the Mediterranean by her fleet. British sympathy and the support of her fleet did much to help Garabaldi and his friends in their struggle to form the Italian kingdom. British and Italian relationships have been friendly all through the nineteenth century. Italian policy has been friendship with the British peoples from that lime till the rise of Fascism to-day. Changes in international relationships occur from time to time. Great Britain, France, and Italy fought as allies in the Great War in 1914 against a common foe.

During the recent war in Abyssinia international relationships had to be studied with care, so as to avoid serious causes of dispute. The situation in the Mediterranean changed with dramatic suddenness in our day, for sea power has been lessened by powerin the air, and the world can never be as sure again as it has been in the past, because death and destruction can come to countries and peoples by air, as well as by land and sea.