THE TABLET A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER AND REVIEW

VOL. 178 No. 5281

ESTABLISHED 1840 PUBLISHED AS A NEWSPAPER

LONDON, JULY 26th, 1941

SIXPENCE

IN THIS ISSUE

SPAIN, AMERICA AND EUROPE

A Commentary on a Recent Utterance of General Franco

THE DEEPER CAUSES OF THE FRENCH DEFEAT

The Diagnosis o f Henri Massis

CHURCH DECORATION IN ENGLAND

The Coming Opportunity. By John Rothenstein

THE WORLD WEEK BY WEEK The Russian Campaign

The Russian defence continues strongly. It is, however, a mistake to describe it in terms o f “ the Stalin L in e ,” as though th a t were the name of a chain of fortresses comparable to the Maginot Line, the piercing o f which would have an overwhelming effect on Russia. In America, wireless commentators have been forbidden to use the phrase ; and rightly, for there is no such thing as the Stalin Line. What there is, is a defensive system o f great depth, consisting of fortresses in key strategic positions which are often widely separated. I t is meaningless for the Germans to say th a t “ the Stalin Line has been pierced.” The defensive system has been deeply penetrated in several places ; but until the penetrating forces can unite laterally, they merely represent salients of peculiar vulnerability to counter-attack. The German technique of mechanized attack depends for its whole success on speed in making contact between advance units, so cutting off defensive points which a t first were only by-passed. I f this cannot be done, the advance units, the spear-head of attack, must themselves quickly be isolated.

The Germans have now proved themselves to be within air-raiding distance of Moscow ; although it is as we write still uncertain whether Smolensk, or Kiev, is in German or Russian hands. The most instructive news o f the state o f the war comes not in the communiques of either side, but in the newspaper articles which are increasingly being written in Berlin to warn the German people th a t they must expect a long campaign. “ In some sectors of the Russian f ro n t ,” writes the Frankfu rter Zeitung, very significantly, “ our victories were too hasty. . . . I t is still impossible to judge how long it will take before the Red Army is beaten. The hardships in these battles exceed anything in h isto ry .”

It is a mistake to think th a t the reinstatement in the Red Army of the Political Commissars—under a new title which omits the word “ political” —is a sign of breaking morale among the troops. The task o f these officers is primarily to detect the large numbers o f German agents who are known to have insinuated themselves into the Red Armies, wearing Russian uniforms, not as spies but as ostensible Trotskyites and disaffected Russians. Promotion for Britain

Virginio Gayda, writing in the Giornale d ’ltalia, has described the Anglo-Soviet Treaty as “ a Pact concluded between the Devil and Holy W a te r” ; and the phrase has been widely quoted in Italy as one of the best aphorisms of the war. Britain—not the Soviet—-is the Holy Water, and we are naturally gratified to find our country so unexpectedly cast in this responsible role. It is not clear whether Signor Gayda believes th a t the sanctifying influence of Great Britain will exorcise the spirit o f evil that besets the Russian regime, but th a t is the obvious inference.

We have been pleasantly surprised to detect in Italy since we became the Allies of the Soviet not an increased hostility, but rather the contrary—an increased sympathy. Last Saturday evening, for instance, the Rome wireless broadcast in English a talk beginning “ Italians have always admired the character, the courage, the tenacity and national pride of the British.” The burden of it was to plead for a negotiated peace now ; for if Britain persists in continuing the fight, “ even with a German victory over Russia, Communism would spring up again in the fertile soil o f a ruined continent, and nothing would be left o f civilization but ashes.” Specious talk of peace was to be expected, and the answer to it has already been given, by Mr. Eden and others ; it is th a t National-Socialism, no less than International Socialism, is reducing civilization “ to ashes.” Italian Catholics who are writing about the “ Crusade against Bolshevism” —the Archbishop o f Gorizia is the latest author o f a Pastoral Letter on the subject—would do well to reflect on the attitude of the Dutch and Belgian hierarchies, who make no distinction between National-Socialism and Communism, condemning both equally. The Continent Views Our New Alliance

But we must recognize an element o f tru th in this broadcast from Italy. After paying tribute to the “ national p rid e” of the British, the speaker continued : “ In Britain’s case national pride has led to a policy of splendid isolation. Before the advent o f aeroplanes and wireless, Britain was physically cut off from the Continent, and was thus incapable o f comprehending the continental mentality or of judging continental affairs except from her own outlook.” In La Liberté, o f Fribourg, Switzerland, we read recently a similar diagnosis. “ The British, by the very reason o f their insularity, do not know the continental peoples. In the Germans they see only Anglo-Saxons, debarred by a detestable regime from the charms o f a democratic existence à l ’Anglaise, As to the Latins, the Slavs