The Wanganui Chronicle FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1939. THE SCANDINAVIAN BLOC

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 290, 8 December 1939, Page 6

The Wanganui Chronicle FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1939. THE SCANDINAVIAN BLOC

r yHK military pressure which is being exerted upon Finland is bringing to the notice of the world the Scandinavian Bloc. This bloc comprises the countries of Norway, Sweden and Denmark, and the association arises out of ethnological and historical factors operating upon peoples which have retained the same psychological characteristics. The community of culture which constitutes the base of the present-day bloc, is the outstanding feature of these countries, 4 taken as a whole. The traveller may pass from one country to the other without feeling that one has crossed a border. The reactions of the visitor in this respect, however, are shared equally by the natives, for so close are they in mind that they arrange for changes in their respective laws to come into force on the same day in each of the three countries. For instance, the Bills of Exchange Act is the same in the three countries, and any change or alteration in the law is not made in one country until it has also been enacted in each of the other countries, and then the change is operative on the same day in all the countries. The uniformity of the law could not be effectuated were it not for the fact that the peoples of Ihe three countries tire similar in political outlook and in social reaction. Sweden is known as “Freedom’s Home on Earth,’’ and Swedes are said to be the, most individualistic people in the world. It is asserted by some that it is because of their highly individualistic reactions that the Scandinavians have not built up an empire for themselves. Something in the nature of social cement was required, and this was imported into the English character and gave io the English people that Cohesiveness which enabled them to go out and colonise new countries and yet io maintain the nexus with the Mother Country. The Scandinavians have ever been lovers of liberty, and it is the Scandinavian strain in the English peoples which has given them their, enterprise and adventurous spirit. In their individualism, therefore, the Scandinavians present a contrast io the Russian and the German peoples, each of which have a strong infusion of Asiatic blood which in turn gives to those two nations a large number of citizens who look to the State for their guidance and salvation. It is by no means surprising that Germany and Russia should each, in its own way, have arrived at an almost complete Communistic State, that is to say, a condition of society where the individual must serve the State arid not the State be organised with the preservation of the individual as its main purpose. The Scandinavian Bloc must, therefore, ever be conscious ol the pressure of the Communistic mass from the East, which might at any time sweep westward to the disadvantage of the bloc, and it is this consciousness which, as much as anything, keeps the Scandinavian Bloc in being, for it provides the external pressure. There is yet another external factor which must be considered, and that is the extent to which- the Scandinavian countries are economically tied to the United Kingdom. There are, or were before the setting up of the National-Socialists in Germany, strong financial ties between the Scandinavian countries and Berlin, for that city was the financial nerve-centre of Northern Europe. Finland is, strictly speaking, not within the Scandinavian I Hoc. but there are nevertheless strong ties between Finland and Sweden. Indeed, it has been said that the Finns who desire to assume social distinctiveness generally, desire to be thought to be of Swedish descent; in the same way, and with less reason, some Englishmen claim Norman descent. It is calculated that about ten pel’ eent. of the whole population—and that an important segment of the nation—speak the Swedish language. In some quarters, too, it is even hoped that once again lhe flag of •Sweden will fly over Finland. While there are’ strong ties between Finland and Sweden, no such bonds unite Norway and Finland, and still less is there any prospect of Denmark feeling more than sympathy with the Finns. They have no close associations of race, culture nor of trade. In some trade respects Finland and Denmark are actually competitors. Norway, however, has a common frontier with Finland, and the latter is a buffer State between Norway and Russia. Russian ambitions are natural enough, they being in the direction of securing an ice-free port, and the Atlantic coast, on the north of Norway, would constitute a great improvement on Russia’s present boundaries. It. can be expected, therefore, that Russia will move across the north of Finland to the border of Norway. It is this danger which causes so much uneasiness in Norway to-day. Sweden could not lightly look on while such an expansion of Russian territory was taking place, because, were Russia lo succeed in this area, Sweden’s famous iron ore deposits are in the Far North, and they would soon be coveted by her more powerful neighbour. Sweden would be powerless by herself to resist Russian pressure in the Far North. II is natural for Norway and Sweden, therefore, io consider whether they should go at once to the aid of Finland. Denmark is in a different position from the two countries nf the Northern Peninsula. She is small, undefended, and incapable of offering resistance great Power. She could not at the moment resist the demands of Germany and, consequently, while her heart will be with Norway and Sweden, she must look toward Berlin with anxious eyes before she can decide what shall be her policy in the present state of Northern Europe. Germany has evidently decided to take no steps which shall minimise the resistance of Finland, and in doing this she is doubtless serving her own ends. The more involved Russia becomes elsewTiere the less likely is Hitler to feel “the hug of the Bear,” consequently, the greater the resistance of Finland the greater freedom of action which is likely to be enjoyed by Germany. Germany’s dilemma at the moment lies in the knowledge that immediately she commits herself to a major offensive in the West she invites Russia to take whatever action she may have, in mind in the. East. Germany believes, and is acting accordingly, that such action by Russia would be detrimental to German interests. The prospective policy of the Scandinavian Bloc is, therefore, of considerable moment, in the present drama which is being enacted in Europe.