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THE TABLET A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER AND REVIEW ESTABLISHED 1840 PUBLISHED AS A NEWSPAPER VOL. 178 No. 5285 LONDON, AUGUST 23rd, 1941 SIXPENCE IN Tins ISSUE THE RELIGIOUS BASIS OF PAN-SLAVISM By Sir Paul Dukes A PRISONER IN ITALY A Personal Account. By David Walker THE GERMANS AND THE RESTORATION OF EUROPE The Importance of non-Political and Supra-national Activities in Europe Christopher Hollis on the Ideas o f Mr. Sidney Dark THE WORLD WEEK BY WEEK The Battle for the Ukraine Mr. Roosevelt has declared his confidence th a t the war on the Russian front will be continued through the winter. The Germans for their part, apparently convinced th a t they cannot secure a decision along the whole front before the winter comes, are devoting themselves to the Ukraine. But even there, their chances o f an early decision, in any real sense o f the word, are slender ; for a decision does not mean simply the capture o f Kiev and the establishment there o f a puppet Hetman like Skoropadski, who performed that function for them in 1918 ; it means the crossing of the Dnieper, the capture of Kharkov—which is as far beyond Kiev as Kiev is from Lwow—and the successful siege o f the great industrial region o f the Donetz basin. Moreover, it means the mastery o f the “ partisan s” -—the indomitable peasants whose guerilla warfare makes any sort o f stable occupation impossible. Between March and November, 1918, when the Germans were in occupation in the Ukraine, peasant resistance necessitated an uninterrupted state of siege, and culminated in the assassination of the German FieldMarshal von Eichorn. produces 54 per cent of the Soviet’s coal, 60 per cent of its pig-iron, and ten per cent o f its machinery. Since then, plans for ending this dependence on the Ukraine have been carried further, but it is still true that a German conquest o f the whole of the Ukraine, or even the serious dislocation o f its economic life, would be a major blow to Russia. To pretend th a t this is not so would be to judge subsequent operations unfairly if that blow should be struck. The French Fleet Whether or not it is because Darlan is a sailor, and so many of his chief collaborators are sailors too, it has been noticeable for some time that the Vichy Government is more successful in securing the release from Germany o f naval than of military prisoners of war. Pertinax reported to an American agency last week that negotiations are now in progress for the release of two more Admirals, many more naval officers, and several thousand ratings. Some comment in this country has foolishly pretended that the loss o f Nikolaiev and Odessa means nothing to the Russians, so long as Marshal Budyenny succeeds in escaping with his Armies intact. These naval cities are of first-class importance, for they are the chief bases of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. There is good reason to hope that the Russians may have succeeded in getting a large part of their Fleet away to Sebastopol, where it will be fairly safe, since their power in the Black Sea is not yet seriously challenged, and the Crimea can only be attacked from the sea, being connected only by a narrow isthmus with the mainland. In the Sea o f Azov also there are anchorages where the Black Sea Fleet should be safe for some time to come. But safety is not the same thing as striking efficiency. In these places there are not the means of maintaining supplies, nor the manifold facilities afforded by Nikolaiev or Odessa, which a fleet needs at its base. Nor should we serve the Russians well by belittling the economic importance of the Ukraine. The success of the whole Russian defence must depend to a large degree on this battle for the eastern Ukraine which (weather permitting) is about to begin. According to a German estimate made in 1938, the Kharkov region Now French soldiers have been released by the Germans chiefly because they are required to work on the land in France. But the same cannot be said of the sailors, who are for the most part men who have made their lives on the sea, and are unskilled in land work. The obvious inference is that the French are expecting to use their fleet. Mr. Raymond Gram Swing, broadcasting from Boston, believes this, and believes, moreover, that they are not expecting to use it to challenge the British Navy, but against the Russians, in the Black Sea, at the behest o f the Germans. The French did not attem pt to use their Fleet during the Syrian campaign, in which they brought only destroyers and minor naval units into action. If it could be used against Russia, it would be worth a thousand times more to the Germans than the motley crowd of adventurers who are being made into a “ French Legion’’ for the Eastern Front. But the terms o f the Montreux Convention make it impossible for the French Fleet— still technically belligerent, even if technically belligerent against Germany—to enter the Black Sea. The Montreux Convention equally protects the Russian Fleet against the Italians. The Turks seem, from the assurances which they gave in the case o f the Tarvisio, to be determined to fulfil their duty as guardians o f the Straits. The guarantee o f the Straits, and o f Anglo-Russian co-operation in their defence if necessary, which the

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THE TABLET A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER AND REVIEW

ESTABLISHED 1840 PUBLISHED AS A NEWSPAPER

VOL. 178 No. 5285

LONDON, AUGUST 23rd, 1941

SIXPENCE

IN Tins ISSUE

THE RELIGIOUS BASIS OF PAN-SLAVISM

By Sir Paul Dukes

A PRISONER IN ITALY

A Personal Account. By David Walker

THE GERMANS AND THE RESTORATION OF EUROPE

The Importance of non-Political and Supra-national Activities in Europe

Christopher Hollis on the Ideas o f Mr. Sidney Dark

THE WORLD WEEK BY WEEK The Battle for the Ukraine

Mr. Roosevelt has declared his confidence th a t the war on the Russian front will be continued through the winter. The Germans for their part, apparently convinced th a t they cannot secure a decision along the whole front before the winter comes, are devoting themselves to the Ukraine. But even there, their chances o f an early decision, in any real sense o f the word, are slender ; for a decision does not mean simply the capture o f Kiev and the establishment there o f a puppet Hetman like Skoropadski, who performed that function for them in 1918 ; it means the crossing of the Dnieper, the capture of Kharkov—which is as far beyond Kiev as Kiev is from Lwow—and the successful siege o f the great industrial region o f the Donetz basin. Moreover, it means the mastery o f the “ partisan s” -—the indomitable peasants whose guerilla warfare makes any sort o f stable occupation impossible. Between March and November, 1918, when the Germans were in occupation in the Ukraine, peasant resistance necessitated an uninterrupted state of siege, and culminated in the assassination of the German FieldMarshal von Eichorn.

produces 54 per cent of the Soviet’s coal, 60 per cent of its pig-iron, and ten per cent o f its machinery. Since then, plans for ending this dependence on the Ukraine have been carried further, but it is still true that a German conquest o f the whole of the Ukraine, or even the serious dislocation o f its economic life, would be a major blow to Russia. To pretend th a t this is not so would be to judge subsequent operations unfairly if that blow should be struck. The French Fleet

Whether or not it is because Darlan is a sailor, and so many of his chief collaborators are sailors too, it has been noticeable for some time that the Vichy Government is more successful in securing the release from Germany o f naval than of military prisoners of war. Pertinax reported to an American agency last week that negotiations are now in progress for the release of two more Admirals, many more naval officers, and several thousand ratings.

Some comment in this country has foolishly pretended that the loss o f Nikolaiev and Odessa means nothing to the Russians, so long as Marshal Budyenny succeeds in escaping with his Armies intact. These naval cities are of first-class importance, for they are the chief bases of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. There is good reason to hope that the Russians may have succeeded in getting a large part of their Fleet away to Sebastopol, where it will be fairly safe, since their power in the Black Sea is not yet seriously challenged, and the Crimea can only be attacked from the sea, being connected only by a narrow isthmus with the mainland. In the Sea o f Azov also there are anchorages where the Black Sea Fleet should be safe for some time to come. But safety is not the same thing as striking efficiency. In these places there are not the means of maintaining supplies, nor the manifold facilities afforded by Nikolaiev or Odessa, which a fleet needs at its base.

Nor should we serve the Russians well by belittling the economic importance of the Ukraine. The success of the whole Russian defence must depend to a large degree on this battle for the eastern Ukraine which (weather permitting) is about to begin. According to a German estimate made in 1938, the Kharkov region

Now French soldiers have been released by the Germans chiefly because they are required to work on the land in France. But the same cannot be said of the sailors, who are for the most part men who have made their lives on the sea, and are unskilled in land work. The obvious inference is that the French are expecting to use their fleet. Mr. Raymond Gram Swing, broadcasting from Boston, believes this, and believes, moreover, that they are not expecting to use it to challenge the British Navy, but against the Russians, in the Black Sea, at the behest o f the Germans. The French did not attem pt to use their Fleet during the Syrian campaign, in which they brought only destroyers and minor naval units into action. If it could be used against Russia, it would be worth a thousand times more to the Germans than the motley crowd of adventurers who are being made into a “ French Legion’’ for the Eastern Front. But the terms o f the Montreux Convention make it impossible for the French Fleet— still technically belligerent, even if technically belligerent against Germany—to enter the Black Sea. The Montreux Convention equally protects the Russian Fleet against the Italians. The Turks seem, from the assurances which they gave in the case o f the Tarvisio, to be determined to fulfil their duty as guardians o f the Straits.

The guarantee o f the Straits, and o f Anglo-Russian co-operation in their defence if necessary, which the

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