1941-04-24 — Page 23

*

4

THE CHINA MAIL, APRIL 24, 1941.

CHINA MAIL

WINDSOR HOUSE

HITLER'S LAST THROW

Hitler is making a de- termined attempt to re- gain the initiative in this war. He held it until last autumn but lost it when his air attacks failed to clear the way for his in- vasion of Britain He tried to regain it by using Laval! to hand over to him the French fleet and French bases in North Africa This attempt also failedi when Marshal Petain dis missed Laval and refused to go beyond the terms of the Franco-German arm!

istice.

It is significant, there fore, that his operations in the Balkans should be accompanied by increas- ing pressure upon France! and Spain to cooperate more actively with the1 Axis. For it means that

his present preoccupa-

PETAIN

CABINET

MALELİJİLİZİ

Yatis

DOING THE DIRTY WORK

Historical Background

To The Crisis

tions in the South-East of Europe do not mean, in- evitably, plans for fur- ther aggression in an eas-

The met werld was created Holy Roman Empire under Ger-¡Otto's solemn and occasional visits terly direction. They may

three to Italy to Frederick II's perman-;

whereas very well mean that the and moulded within the busts of man leadership, which for

the ent residence in Sicily. (att years--froRY the Mediterranean Sea, which was hundred

Great in the middle of the 10th the Germans are already in Italy, beentury to Frederick 11 in the and you kilow well what it means | middle of the 13th century-suc. į when Germany begins to expand.

ceeded in

4/11 Imposing itself Europe. With it went two strong German elains, namely Germany's leadership

Fuehrer has not lost sighti at the same tune the cradle of

of the main sphere of strategy, the only sphere. de-! in which final and cisive victory can

be achieved.

as

our civilisation.

נו

Mussolini scheming

Rome and striking against Greece and Pgypt no doubt had in and the ¦ seizure of Greece by ancient Roine; in the second century BC., and· of Egypt in the time of Augus-

The phenunezia reappear al- though the circumstances change,!

The subjugation of Grevce an antiquated idea, for in the pre-

of

As yet the question re- mains unanswered whe- ther the Balkan cam- paign and the drive in Cyrenaica, now effective- ly halted, have been un- dertaken by Hitler merely sent-day world the principle

the freedom of nations and States! a diversion, under-

is a trading concept, and the Med taken for reasons of presiterranean Power with its foot in tige, or whether the move, North Africa is not Italy, who to- with its potential threat day is losing all that she had ac- to the Near East, through quired over several decades, Turkey, and Suez, thr-Great Britain, who for centuries ough Egypt, is intended to has been foremost in building up pin down British sea and a modern world Empire. air forces in Africa while

mediaeval In the

but

the

* Europe and her right to rule in Italy The Na- tional Socialism of Adolf Hitler has taken up both these claims.

Peculiar Legend

The insistence upon leadership in Europe and in world generally was incorporated in the bases of National Socialism.

Gazed Too Long

course of

Mussolini has gazed too long at the Classical period of Roman! history and has forgotten the les- sons of the mediaeval age. The ancient Roman Empire was the Nation work of the free Roman from century to century, just as the present-day British Empire is German the work, from century to cen

the tury, of the free British Nation. in the Empires are not created

rither activities by Brown shirts, nor by Black or

which are slavery and pillage, the distinguishing features of the two dictators' efforts to create Em- pires, but are created rather by free na- the spiritual force of a tion, bearing in itself the greatest at the elasticity of civilisation time. So Mussolini has not, after all resurrected the ancient Rom- an Empire, but has lived to see the

Germany mediaeval rule of Italy.

By

Stanislaw Stronski,

Polish Minister of Information

To this end the peculiar legend of

the the leading Nordic race and world he attempts to strike a creation of the State of Charle- nation of rulers has been work- ed up. This idea of the "Herren- decisive blow at Britain.

volk," ordained to govern other nations, is applied by Germany

the magne, which stretched from Atlantic to the Slavonic seille-

Napoleon's Lesson

in

The answer to this ques-ments, was an event of great im- to-day in the countries occupied A modern phenomenon of which

port.

by her invading hordes with in-one is reminded to-day is Napo- Europe from credible arrogance, compared with Ivon's conquest of

to the which the pride of the Holy Ro- Scandinavia to the Mediterrancan

Atlantic and from the man Emperors seems moderate.

bounds of Russia. In those days

In the Middle calls

Ages German of universal autocracy oppressing nutions. Napoleon brought Ger- leadership in Europe based Itself all

None the less, the on ruling in Haly and in Rome. with him an undoubted breath of There was in this, besides a supliberation.

tion may depend upon the degree in which Hitler

Adolf Hitler's National Socialism fears the increasing help has diligently fastened on to the of the Carolingian given by the United States memories

State, which it arbitarily to the British cause, and Germanic, and present-day his estimate of the time many revives these memories in likely to elapse before that Justification of her claim to rule all Europe, frum France to Po- aid can be put to forceful land. practical use.

He cannot wait indefin- itely; and he knows as well

In the time of Charlemagne was born the iden of the so-called

our reverses come

to

erflelal attachment to the Classic idea of the autocratic rule of one Age, also an understandable ten-nation over all others was allen dency to regard the Mediterran- and intolerable

basis of people, ean as the key to the

de- world dominion. So Otto I

But it must be remembered lighted in residence under Italian

unlike Napoleon, Hiller skies and Frederick II chose Sicily that,

C