THE TABLET A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER AND REVIEW

ESTABLISHED 1840

VOL. 177 No. 5261

PUBLISHED AS A NEWSPAPER

LONDON, MARCH 8th, 1941

SIXPENCE

IN T i n s ISSU E

THE RESISTANCE OF HOLLAND A Study o f German Methods and the Dutch Reply THE DEATH OF ALFONSO XIII

The Nature o f the Spanish Monarchy

NATIONAL EDUCATION AND NATIONAL RELIGION

The Centenary o f Tract XC. By Philip Hughes

THE WORLD WEEK BY WEEK The Prospects in the Near East

Despite H itle r’s reassuring message to the Turks, there are at present all the signs that a large-scale German offensive will shortly be launched in the Near East. The occupation of Bulgaria can hardly be an end in itself, but must be preliminary to the bid for a further advance. The Germans had already ¡put themselves in possession of Constantza and the Rumanian Black Sea ports, and by seizing Bulgaria they have not gained any additional advantages, except for air bases in southern Bulgaria from which hazardous long-range bombing expeditions might conceivably be made against Alexandria or the Suez Canal, but only the means to further advantages. They can bomb the Greeks also from Bulgaria, but they could have done that from Rumania without great difficulty. The usual plea that the invasion was necessary in order to forestall a British invasion was even more ludicrous in this case than in the previous cases. There is every reason to believe that the Germans crossed the northern frontier, which is the Danube, only in order to cross the southern frontier also.

It may be that it is their purpose only to attack the Greeks and attempt to reach Salonika. The strongest possible pressure is being put upon Yugoslavia, and further indications of the future policy of that country, almost completely encircled but still just in a position to make a formidable coalition with the Greeks and the Turks, may be expected almost at once. But familiarity with the German love of the spectacular in their plans, and with the fantastic grandiosity of their visions, makes it seem probable that an attack on Turkey^ is also contemplated, as the beginning of a grand drive into Asia Minor, with the Persian Gulf or the Suez Canal, or both, as its objectives. The Danger to Britain Remains

We have lately been opportunely warned, by General Pope-Hennessy and others, of the folly of talking at this stage of the war in the old clichés that were current in the Maginot Line days. In particular is it foolish to say, as some commentators are still saying, that the one thing which the Germans cannot possibly afford is a war on two fronts, and that therefore if they are going to engage themselves in a major campaign in the Balkans, they will avoid a simultaneous campaign against the British Isles. Since the capitulation of the French, talk of German fear of a war on two fronts has been meaningless. As events in the Balkans have gathered momentum, these last few weeks, there has been more and more inclination to believe that the danger of an attempt at the invasion of Britain has passed for the present. Men whose views carry weight, such as Lord Chatfield, have expressed their belief that no attempt will be made. It may not be made, but there is no more reason to think that it will not than there was two months ago. The danger to these islands remains real, and it is important that the scale of events elsewhere should not cause us to forget it. Russia Abandons the Straits

The preparations against Turkey and against Greece are this time undoubtedly something more than a feint ; yet it is well to remember that, a year ago, the German attack in the west was preceded by every kind of rumour of an imminent attack in south-eastern Europe. At the beginning of March 1940 it was a widely-held view, more in France than in this country, that the German objective in the awaited offensive would be the oil-fields of Iraq and Iran. The Germans later published a White Book on the subject of the steps that had been taken by Weygand’s Army in Syria to meet this contingency, and incidentally paved the way for their present operations by alienating Russia and Turkey, persuading the Soviets that the Turks had allowed their country to be used as a base for reconnaissance flights over the Batum region.

Molotov brought up this matter when he spoke on August 1st, using his unqualified acceptance of the German allegations as a reason by which he could explain to his countrymen the diplomatic abandonment of Turkey to the Germans. That the Russians have abandoned Turkey, and Bulgaria also, cannot now be doubted. The headlines of many of the newspapers in this country last Tuesday managed to convey the impression that the Soviet objected to the Bulgarian surrender, and might even be expected to take action to counter its effects. Much was made of the statement of the Tass agency that the surrender “ leads not to the consolidation of peace, but to an extension of the sphere of war and the involving of Bulgaria in war.” But the operative sentence in the Tass communiqué was this : “ The Soviet Government, true to its peace policy, is not in a position to render any support whatever to the Bulgarian Government.” The Black Sea Coasts

It is, in fact, both dangerous and absurd to regard this utterance of Tass as “ a warning to Germany.” It was nothing of the kind. It was what can be vulgarly but expressively described as “ a piece of face-saving,” designed to enable the large numbers of bewildered