NEUTRAL STATES’ FEARS

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20952, 3 November 1939, Page 4

NEUTRAL STATES’ FEARS

Holland’s declaration of martial law in all the strategic areas of the country is an indication that the Dutch people take a serious view of the German menace. The action may be taken, however, rather as a precaution tnan as a step to meet an inevitable invasion. Germany has sworn that she will respect tne neutrality of both Holland and Belgium, but those two countries are well aware of the value of such undertakings by Germany, and of the fact that they stand in the road which Germany may desire to take in the war against France and Britain. A glance at tne map shows the strategic importance of the two small neutral countries in the campaign that Germany has undertaken. Whether Holland’s latest decision is due to any fresh information regarding Germany’s intentions is not Known. But both Holland and Belgium have been under a tremendous strain since, and even before, the outbreak of war. It is questionable whether Germany would accept the responsibility of adding the two countries to the list of her enemies in exchange for the advantage of outflanking the French defences. She would find both immeasurably better prepared than in 1914, and their combined armies could offer stout resistance to an invader. And millions of pounds have been expended on defence works, including facilities for flooding large areas of Holland. Germany could not expect to over-run Belgium and Holland as she did in the case of Belgium in the last war, though even that attempt in 1914 cost her dearly.

Germany must, attack or slowly lose all hope of winning the war. She does not relish the prospect of attempting to break through the Maginot Line—the strongest fixed fortification in the world. The only alternative routes are through Holland, Belgium or Switzerland, which are neutral and whose neutrality Germany has undertaken to respect. But Germany cannot wait indefinitely, and it is not surprising that the three countries mentioned are in a constant state of nervous tension. Each has increased its own strength and has sworn that it will resist any attempt to violate its neutrality. And Germany knows that invasion of the soil of any of them would cause a worldwide reaction as powerful as that which followed the invasion of Belgium in 1914. Will she dare to take the risk?