Four Phases of the War.
The second World War which started in September 1939, developed during the year 1940 in four successive phases. The first period covered the time from the beginning of 1940 to April 9. During that period active warfare was at a standstill. Germany had conquered Poland in September, 1939, had annexed two thirds of the Polish territory, and instituted there a régime which had no equal in its harshness and in its ruthless determination to exterminate the Polish intelligentsia and to keep the Polish masses in serfdom. At the same time the Soviet Union had occupied and incorporated the eastern parts of Poland, which were inhabited by Ukrainians and Byelo Russians, Slavonic populations different from the Poles and closely related to peoples living contiguously within the old borders of the Soviet Union. The annexed parts of Poland became officially part of the Ukrainian and Byelo Russian Soviet Socialist Republics, member states of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. A small part of Northeastern Poland around Vilna, the ancient capital of Lithuania, which the Poles had annexed in 1910, was occupied by the Soviet Union but given to Lithuania. Thus as a result of the events of the fall of 1939 the Polish state, resurrected in 1918, again disappeared.
The fourth partition of Poland repeated the tragedy of the end of the eighteenth century when through the three partitions of Poland from 1772 to 1796 the Kingdom of Poland which had existed since the ninth century had come to an end. The will of the Poles for an independent existence had reasserted itself in several revolutions in the nineteenth century, which were followed by liberal and democratic opinion throughout Europe and America with the greatest sympathy and active help. The first World War, which in so many ways had promoted the advance of democratic principles in the world and the right to live of small nations, had reestablished Poland, first in its ethnographic frontiers — but in the peace treaty of Riga with Soviet Russia on March 18, 1921, Poland had annexed beyond its ethnographic eastern border territories inhabited by Ukrainians and Byelo Russians, which now, in September 1939, returned to the Soviet Union. The Polish nation did not abandon hope for its resurrection. It began again its long suffering and struggle of the nineteenth century. A Polish government was reconstituted on a democratic basis in 1940, first in France, then in England, and cooperated with the Allies militarily and diplomatically in their struggle against Germany. (See also POLAND.)
But aside from Poland, Europe entered the year 1940 with unchanged frontiers, and in the same state of organization and administration in which it had found itself in 1939, the year in which Czechoslovakia had disappeared as an independent state. The year 1940 brought about fundamental changes, not only in the frontiers but also in the governmental and political structure of most European countries. Of these changes, however, nothing was to be foreseen during the first phase of the war in 1940.
First Phase.
Russo-Finnish Hostilities.
While the war in the West was then in a state of hibernation, war went on in Eastern Europe, where the Soviet Union had attacked Finland at the end of November 1939, because Finland had refused to cede to the Soviet Union certain strategic positions which the Soviet Union deemed necessary for its own security. Finland had appealed to the Scandinavian nations, especially to Sweden, for aid, but Sweden persevered in its attitude of strict neutrality, and thus Finland was abandoned to its fate. On Feb. 16, Sweden officially rejected the Finnish plea for aid, after the Soviet army had started a frontal assault on the famous fortified Mannerheim Line. On March 1 the Soviet troops entered Vipuri, the second largest Finnish city and the key position for the defense of Southern Finland, and on March 13 a peace treaty was signed between Finland and the Soviet Union. In this peace treaty the Soviet Union advanced only moderate demands which went no further than the annexation of certain strategic areas in Southern Finland, including the city of Vipuri and the whole Mannerheim Line, the lease of the strategic peninsula of Hangoc, controlling the entrance to the Finnish Gulf and thus to Leningrad and Kronstadt, and small territorial concessions in Eastern and Northern Finland. Finland, although tremendously impoverished, remained an independent state and retained fully its democratic constitution and its sovereignty.
Speed-up in German Arms Production.
This standstill of operations on the Western front was used by Germany for a speed-up in its armament production. The whole economic life of Germany, which had now for more than seven years been geared up to the needs of totalitarian preparations for war, was completely concentrated upon the one aim of making the German war machine on land, in the air and on the sea so efficient as to be able to deal to the enemy a quick knockout blow. At the same time German propaganda tried to undermine morale in France and Great Britain and to sow disunion in the ranks of its enemies. The means employed were various; an American newspaper correspondent, Edmond Taylor, in his book, Strategy of Terror, has analyzed them and has pointed out their importance for other countries besides France. The main instruments of German propaganda were the appeals to pacifism and to anti-Semitism among the populations which Germany intended to conquer. The peoples and governments of Great Britain and France in no way realized the seriousness of the situation; they continued to conduct 'business as usual' and refused to concentrate all their energies upon the one task of building up their defenses even at the cost of immense sacrifices in money and comforts. In Great Britain the government of Mr. Neville Chamberlain, though emphasizing its determination to carry on the war until Europe was liberated from the threat of Nazi domination, did as little as the French government under Edouard Daladier to make the peoples of the two countries understand the situation. In France Paul Reynaud succeeded Daladier as Prime Minister on March 21, but in spite of his efforts French mentality still remained faithful to its attitude of emphasis upon defense instead of upon attack and of seeking security behind the impregnable Maginot Line fortifications. It was only Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty, who tried to call the peoples of Europe and the world again and again to a realization of their true situation, especially in his address of Jan. 20, in which he told the neutral nations of Europe that their policy of neutrality and isolation could not keep them out of war and asked them, in their own interests, to join the Allies in their struggle against Nazi aggression. His warnings remained unheeded. The small European neutral nations preferred to go on in their isolation, minding their own business and relying upon Germany's assurances of respecting their neutrality. This attitude, viewed by many Americans with great sympathy, was soon proven by events to be fundamentally unsound. The second phase of the war in 1940, which was to start on April 9, shattered all the obsolete concepts of neutrality and isolation to which many countries were clinging, refusing to recognize the new reality created by National Socialist mentality and plans of world conquest. (See also MILITARY SCIENCE.)
Second Phase.
Invasion of Denmark and Norway.
On April 9 suddenly, in the early morning hours, German troops invaded Denmark and Norway. The Kingdom of Denmark, absolutely unarmed in view of its trust in Chancellor Hider's solemn nonaggression pact, did not offer any resistance. Danish territory was occupied by German troops, but the Danish government was allowed to go on under strict German supervision. Denmark became a part of the German military and economic systems; although formally independent, it saw its own economic life coordinated with and subordinated to that of Germany. The country, one of the most prosperous, satisfied and civilized in the world, of which the Irish-American writer Francis Hackett gave a colorful picture in I Chose Denmark, found itself reduced to misery and its ways of life disturbed and shattered by the invading army. Different was the attitude of the Kingdom of Norway. In spite of the fact that in certain high army and navy circles there was a small number of men who went over to the enemy and had helped prepare the destruction of their own country, the Norwegian people in an overwhelming majority showed a bitter will to resistance. Unfortunately Great Britain and France were in no way militarily prepared to come to the help of Norway with the necessary speed and power and, although British troops arrived on the Norwegian coast on April 16 and helped the Norwegians, the Germans were able to capture on April 30 Dombaas, the key rail town in Norway, and on May 2 the British and Norwegians abandoned the whole of Southern Norway and kept on fighting only in the extreme North around the port of Narvik, which they later succeeded in capturing but which they were obliged to evacuate on June 9. The story of Norway's resistance has been told by Carl J. Hambro, the leading elder statesman in Norway in his I Saw It Happen in Norway. Although the whole of Norway was now in Germany's hands, Norwegian resistance went on. The King and the legitimate government of Norway escaped to Great Britain and formed there a small Norwegian army and air force, fighting on Britain's side for the liberation of Norway, a country which had had its own tradition and personality for more than a thousand years, and which now found its democracy completely changed by German occupation. The Germans were helped in their task of crushing Norway and Norwegian democracy by a small group of Norwegian Fascists under the leadership of Major Vidkun Quisling, whose name became in democratic countries a byword for pro-Fascist appeasers and other elements who in America, in Great Britain and in France, tried to undermine the determination to fight against the Fascist powers. Major Quisling formed a Norwegian government at the end of September 1940, but he did not succeed in winning any considerable part of the population over to collaboration with Germany. The hearts of the Norwegian people remained faithful to King Haakon and to the lawful Norwegian government, who made an important contribution to the democratic cause by putting the larger part of the Norwegian fleet at the disposal of Great Britain. (See also DENMARK; NORWAY.)
Invasion of Low Countries.
Hardly had Danish and Norwegian neutrality crumbled before the onslaught of Germany than three other neutral countries which had done everything possible to maintain their strict neutrality found themselves destroyed and subjugated by a sudden German invasion on May 10. The small Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, which had no army, but which in spite of its smallness was one of the most prosperous and progressive European countries, was occupied within a few hours. The Netherlands and Belgium were invaded in the early morning hours. Immediately they applied for help to Great Britain and France, but in their blind reliance upon neutrality and isolation the governments and peoples of Belgium and the Netherlands had refused any previous staff talks and consultations with Great Britain and France, and this lack of foresight not only condemned their own countries to enslavement and destruction but threatened with a similar fate the British and French, who immediately came to the help of the invaded countries. On May 11 the Allies rushed aid to the Low Countries, and on the same day, after a memorable debate in the British House of Commons, Winston Churchill succeeded Neville Chamberlain as British Prime Minister. The Dutch were unable to resist the German attack. The Germans were helped partly by treason and 'fifth column' activities, partly by the ruthless use of air force and parachutists. On May 14, only four days after the German invasion, the Dutch armies ceased resistance, while Queen Wilhelmina and the Dutch government transferred their seat to England. From that day on the Netherlands have been under German occupation. Dr. Seyss-Inquart was named German Administrator of the Netherlands, but, as in the case of Norway, the Dutch people would not acquiesce to German rule and to the attempted fascization of their country and their life. As in the case of Norway, also, the legitimate government continued to function in London and the Netherlands fleet helped Great Britain to carry on the struggle for the liberation of the world and of the Netherlands from the threat and yoke of Nazi domination. The Dutch Foreign Minister Eelco Nicolaas van Kleffens has given a first-hand account of the invasion of Holland in his Juggernaut Over Holland. (See also BELGIUM; NETHERLANDS.)
Invasion and Collapse of France.
Meanwhile the French army which had advanced from its defensive position to the help of the invaded Low Countries had stripped one of its own most important defense positions of the necessary man power, and that made it possible for the Germans to break through on May 13 at Sedan, a place of fateful memory for France because it was there that on Sept. 2, 1870, the French army under Napoleon III had been encircled by the Prussians and forced to surrender. Now again the capture of Sedan gave to the Germans the possibility of putting their armored divisions of mechanized cars to full use, and on May 17 they had penetrated thirty-five miles into France and were threatening to outflank the Maginot Line. Two days later the French Commander-in-Chief Maurice Gamelin was replaced by Maxime Weygand, while the Germans, now only eighty miles from Paris, seemed to be headed straight for the French capital. Instead of that, the German war machine turned west towards the Channel ports and on May 21 reached the coast at Abbéville, thus cutting off the British-Belgian forces in Flanders. The next day the Parliament in Great Britain, realizing the seriousness of the situation, passed a bill which gave to the government the power during the emergency of conscripting every person and all property as far as necessary, to save the country from defeat and annihilation. A decisive blow was struck at the British and French power of resistance by the surrender of the Belgian army under the orders of King Leopold III, who had been mainly responsible for Belgium's abandonment of her alliance with France in 1936 and for the disastrous Belgian policy of neutrality and complete trust in Chancellor Hitler's promises of non-aggression, a policy which has brought Belgium to her present calamity. From that day on King Leopold remained in Belgium, officially the prisoner of the German government. While a large number of Belgians under the leadership of Henri de Man cooperated with the Germans, the legitimate government of Belgium under Prime Minister Hubert Pierlot, a member of the Catholic Party, and Foreign Minister Spaak, succeeded in carrying on, first in France and then in London, although in view of the position of the King the Belgian government and people are not in the same situation as the Norwegian and Dutch people. The immediate result of the Belgian surrender was that the British army, which had come to the help of the Belgians, was put into a most perilous position through the action of King Leopold. Only through the utmost heroism did most of the battered British Expeditionary Force succeed in reaching the English shores from Dunkerque. This unexpected exploit formed a turning point in the history of the British conduct of the war. (See also GREAT BRITAIN.)
While thus the Low Countries came under German occupation, the Germans turned towards Paris and found themselves on June 9 only thirty-five miles from the French capital, with the French armies in full retreat. The next day German troops crossed the Seine and the French government fled from Paris without the slightest effort at defense of the capital. In that moment, while France lay prostrate and while it seemed that a complete German victory was within easy reach, the Italian government declared war on Great Britain and France, hoping to be able, without any great military effort, to secure large parts of the spoils from a French and British defeat in the Mediterranean area, and so to achieve the ambitious dream of Signor Mussolini of creating a Roman Empire controlling the countries on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. At that moment it seemed as if his calculations were right. On June 13 the German troops occupied Paris. The French government, now in Bordeaux, was faced with a momentous decision; to abandon the French continental territory to the German invaders, but to carry on the fight from African soil jointly with Great Britain for the liberation of France and of the invaded countries, which seemed feasible in view of the fact that the French navy was entirely intact and that large and well-equipped armies were at the disposal of the French in the African colonies and in Syria; or to become faithless to her British allies, to give up the struggle and submit to Germany's demands, which meant not only the weakening of France's position but the abandonment of her democratic tradition and the achievements of the French Revolution.
The English government tried to influence the French by offering to merge the two empires into one common defensive and economic unity, in which Englishmen and Frenchmen would have common citizenship and would enjoy together the advantages of both countries. But at Bordeaux the defeatist attitude prevailed: Marshal Henri Philippe Pétain succeeded Reynaud as French Prime Minister, and on June 17 he asked for an Armistice. From that moment on France's fate was sealed. Germany occupied more than two thirds of the French territory. A new French government with Marshal Pétain as Chief of State and Pierre Laval as Vice Premier, established at Vichy, used the defeat of France and the ensuing chaos to abolish French democracy, to coordinate French life with Fascist ideals, and to proclaim France's readiness to cooperate with Germany. France ceased to be a republic; the liberty, equality and fraternity of its citizens, which had been the foundation of French life since the French Revolution, were abandoned and ridiculed; an authoritarian semi-Fascist government replaced government by the people. The French Parliament voted itself out of existence on July 10, and a totalitarian régime was instituted in what had once been the most democratic country on the European continent. But the majority of the French people remained attached to the liberty of France and to the democratic ideal; they set their hopes upon a British victory and upon American aid to regain their independence and their ways of life; a French general, de Gaulle, organized French resistance abroad at the side of Great Britain. But the anti-democratic and semi-Fascist group which had seized power on June 17 continued to form the French government at Vichy, and the ouster of Laval from that government and his replacement by Etienne Flandin made no difference in the orientation of the official French government. A large number of books have told the story of the fateful fall of France; among them two of the most important are probably Hamilton Fish Armstrong's Chronology of Failure and Heinz Pol's Suicide of Democracy. (See also FRANCE.)
Soviet Union Seizes Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Parts of Rumania.
While Germany invaded and smashed the democracies of Western Europe, the Soviet Union in the East seized the opportunity of strengthening her Western borders against Germany. The victory over Finland had given the Soviet Union a strong position in the Baltic Sea; she now sought to get a complete hold over the Baltic Sea and to improve her situation on the Black Sea. On June 15 Soviet troops marched into Lithuania, and two days later they moved into Latvia and Estonia, thus occupying the three Baltic republics, which had gained their independence in 1918. Under pressure of the Soviet armies the internal régime of these three republics was completely reorganized in accordance with the Soviet model, and on July 21 the three countries asked for incorporation into the Soviet Union, which request of course was granted. They now form Soviet Socialist Republics, member states of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Before that event, on June 28, the Soviet Union had demanded from Rumania the cession of Bessarabia, which had been part of the Russian Empire before 1917, and of Northern Bukovina, which was inhabited by Ukrainians and before 1918 had belonged to the Austrian monarchy. By the incorporation of these territories the Soviet Union reached out to the mouth of the Lower Danube, and completed, at least so far, the gains in territory and population which the second World War has brought to the Soviet Union from September 1939 to July 1940.
Thus the second phase of the war ended with considerable gains for Germany and the Soviet Union. Nine European states — France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Norway, Denmark, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia — have either disappeared as independent states or have their internal structure and their position in the world completely changed, always to their own and to democracy's undoing. It then seemed generally that the triumph of Fascism was complete in Europe, and that England would be invaded and conquered in a short time. Then Germany would have had the opportunity of organizing the immense resources of Europe and Africa and of the British and Dutch possessions in Asia into one highly efficient and well-ordered military and economic system which would enable her to realize her dream of world domination.
Third Phase.
Britain's War in the Air and at Sea.
The inability of Germany to conquer England, the stronghold of liberty at the Western end of the European continent, marked the third phase of the history of 1940. England found herself in a most perilous position. The excellent equipment of her small army had remained in Flanders and fell into the hands of the Germans. England was unprepared for the invasion; not only big guns, but even small weapons of all kinds were entirely lacking. The immense material and numerical superiority of the Italian navy, air force and army threatened the British position in the Mediterranean, especially in view of the fact that the defection of the French fleet and of the French colonial forces had created a situation in the Mediterranean never foreseen by the British High Command. As against these tremendous odds the British, endangered in their homeland, could not delegate more than a small part of the army, air force and navy, to protect their communications in the Mediterranean and the all-important link of the Suez Canal. It appeared very probable, in view of the fact that Italy under Fascist guidance had built up, during eighteen years, her fighting forces and her fighting spirit for this supreme hour, which seemed to bring the achievement of a new Roman Empire within easy reach, that within a short time the British would have to capitulate. The Italian government saw not only Corsica, Tunis, Nice and Savoy as part of its new empire, but also Malta, Egypt and Palestine. In that situation English democracy showed its whole strength and vitality. It had found a great leader in Winston Churchill, who, with the help of his colleagues in the Cabinet who were members of the British Labor party, mobilized the British people for a supreme effort to save themselves and to save liberty for the world. After the evacuation of Dunkerque, Churchill had declared:
'We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing ground, we shall fight on the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills, we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this island, or a large part of it, were subjugated and starving, then our empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British fleet, would carry on the struggle until in God's good time the new world, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.'
This spirit of defiance was reaffirmed on June 17, when Great Britain after the surrender of France declared that she would fight on alone. On July 1 Germany occupied British territory for the first time, the Channel Islands off the coast of Normandy. From the northern end of Norway to the Gulf of Biscay the whole European coast was now in German hands, and served as a base for German airplanes and ships to carry on the fight against Great Britain. In August the Italians scored their only success in 1940. Italian forces, well organized and prepared in Italian East Africa, invaded the practically unpopulated deserts of British Somaliland on Aug. 6, and occupied this British colony on Aug. 19. The German people expected the invasion of England in August, the conclusion of a victorious peace, and the convocation of the National Socialist Party convention in Nürnberg in the month of September to celebrate victory and the beginning of the 'new world order.' On Aug. 15, one thousand German planes appeared over England. From that moment on waves of German bombers visited England by daylight; on Sept. 4 Chancellor Hitler in a fierce speech in the Berlin Sportpalast threatened to raze Great Britain completely and on Sept. 7 the 'all-out' bombing of London began. On Sept. 11 Churchill warned the British that Hitler was massing ships and troops for the invasion of England, and on Sept. 14 a strong Italian army under Marshall Rodolfo Graziani invaded Egypt from Italian Libya with the intention of conquering the Suez Canal. The complete victory of the Fascist powers seemed within reach. But the air battles over London in the middle of September found the Royal Air Force, in spite of its vast numerical inferiority, superior in quality and in individual skill, so much so that the German High Command found the costs of continuous daylight attacks upon London much too high, and had to change its tactics. The first round in the defense of the island had been won by Great Britain. The third phase of the war of 1940 ended in the middle of September: England had been able to survive the crucial months of the summer, though London was badly battered, though the danger was in no way past and the Italian attack threatened to destroy the British position in Egypt. By the beginning of September the war had lasted for one year. Edgar McInnis has given in his The War: First Year a calm and objective appraisal of the tremendous changes brought about by the war in the life of all European nations. About 100,000,000 men had lost their independence and had become subservient to the rule of the German master race. They had lost the right to live their lives in their own way, they had had to abandon all their traditions of democracy and of self-determination. Germany seemed ready to draw upon the immense resources of the conquered countries and to place them at the disposal of its army for the fight against Great Britain. But British resistance forced Germany to look beyond Western Europe for help in her struggle for world domination.
Tripartite Treaty of Berlin. America Rearms.
On Sept. 27 a treaty was signed in Berlin by Germany, Italy and Japan, in which they pledged their mutual cooperation and fused their wars in Europe and in the Far East into one effort, to be pursued with similar methods and towards similar goals. This three-power accord was directed against the United States. With the fall of France the people of the United States had begun to realize the immense danger which a German victory in Europe would carry for the security of the United States and for the preservation of American democracy. Not out of any missionary zeal to help the victims of aggression or to restore liberty to enslaved nations, but out of consideration for self-preservation, the American people decided to build up a vast armament program. Many of them began to understand that the fall of Great Britain, as well as the conquest of China, would set free the immense military machine of a victorious Germany and Japan, backed by the organized resources of Europe, Africa and Asia, to try to impose their control upon the Americas, first of all upon the weak nations of Latin America, which were partly undeveloped with regard to population and natural resources. The defeat of Great Britain would possibly involve either the annihilation of the British fleet or its transfer to a German-controlled pro-Fascist British government, similar to the Pétain government in France. In that case, the Atlantic Ocean would be under German control, in view of the fact that the American fleet would be needed to protect the Pacific against the Japanese fleet, which was fast building additional more powerful units. In that situation a growing percentage of the American people, as revealed by the Gallup Polls, began to understand that neutrality and isolation were no protection even for the most peaceful people in a world of international lawlessness and aggression, and that the best insurance for America's safety and for the continuation of her political liberties and economic welfare would be to help Great Britain and China to resist successfully the aggressor nations. With the growing resolution of the American people to help Great Britain and China, Article III of the three-power accord gained in significance, where it said that Germany, Italy and Japan undertake to assist one another with all political, economic and military means when one of the three contracting powers is attacked by a power at present not involved in the European war or in the Chinese-Japanese conflict. Article V of this treaty, which was to be valid for ten years, declared that its terms do not affect the political status existing at present as between each of the three contracting parties and the Soviet Union. This latter clause was significant because Germany and Japan had repeatedly in the past asserted their hostility against the Soviet Union, and because Germany was now turning from Western Europe to Southeastern Europe, probably in the effort to deal the British position a decisive blow in the Eastern Mediterranean and to open up for herself the road to all-important oil fields of Mesopotamia and Southwestern Persia.
Fourth Phase.
The fourth phase of the war was characterized by German efforts to organize Southwestern and Southeastern Europe for the struggle against Great Britain and by great Greek and British victories in Albania and Africa.
German Domination of Rumania.
The first country over which Germany extended her control in Southeastern Europe was Rumania. The demands of the Soviet Union for the cession of Rumanian territory had started a process of dismemberment, in the course of which Rumania lost not only further territory to Hungary and to Bulgaria, but was occupied by German troops at the beginning of October, ostensibly to protect the Rumanian oil fields, which supplied to the German army machine the indispensable fuel. At the same time Rumania underwent a complete internal transformation. Its King, Carol I, was forced to abdicate on Sept. 6, and a Fascist government formed with General Ion Antonescu as dictator, supported by the Rumanian Iron Guard, tried to rule the country, but precipitated it into violent disorder and chaotic anarchy out of which it emerged at the beginning of December as a complete and helpless vassal of Germany.
German Diplomatic Maneuvers in Southeast and Southwest Europe.
Chancellor Hitler meanwhile pursued his diplomatic maneuvers to organize Southwestern and Southeastern Europe for the struggle against Great Britain and for the conquest of the Western and Eastern Mediterranean. For that purpose Chancellor Hitler had a new meeting with Signor Mussolini on Oct. 4 on the Brenner Pass, where they conferred on the steps to be taken. The Spanish Foreign Minister Seranno Suñer (the brother-in-law of the dictator of Spain, General Franco), himself the leader of the Spanish Fascist party, the Falange, visited Berlin and Rome for several weeks and carried on conversations with the German and Italian authorities about Spain's entrance into the war or about permission for the German troops to push on from the Franco-Spanish frontier, where they were massed, towards Gibraltar and Portugal, and thus not only to gain control of the Western Mediterranean but also to establish important bases to control the Central Atlantic. A majority of the Spanish people, many of whom continued to hate General Franco's dictatorship and remained loyal to the ideals of the Spanish republic, and all of whom were half starving and suffering from the economic destruction wrought in the country by the long civil war, were unsympathetic to the thought of turning Spain into a battlefield again. In the same way Portugal was most anxious to retain her independence, while most of her population was sympathetic towards Great Britain, with whom Portugal has been united for many centuries by ties of friendship and alliance which had helped to preserve the independence and the colonial empire of this small Atlantic state. On Oct. 22 Chancellor Hitler conferred in France with Pierre Laval, who seemed ready to promise to Germany the services of the French fleet and of the French colonial army in the struggle against Great Britain. The next day Chancellor Hitler met General Franco on the Franco-Spanish border and on Oct. 24 he met Marshal Pétain at a small wayside station in France. All these conversations were concerned with Spain's and France's active aid for the fight against Great Britain. They failed, however, in their purpose, because the claims of Chancellor Hitler's prospective allies were mutually exclusive. Italy demanded large parts of the French colonial empire, which France was not ready to surrender. Spain demanded also parts of the French empire, and both claimed even certain provinces of France adjacent to the Italian and Spanish borders. Spain demanded Gibraltar, above all; Italy insisted that she was the principal Mediterranean power, and must control the entrance and exit of the Mediterranean. She did not wish to see Gibraltar in English hands, but neither did she wish to see it in the hands of a future strong Spanish empire, which would rival Italy for the supremacy of the Latin and Mediterranean world. Thus the conflicting imperial claims and ambitions of the three Latin Fascist powers were too antagonistic to allow their smooth cooperation with Germany. Thanks to the British success, the French position in the face of Germany had somewhat improved. It was not because of the merit of France or of Marshal Pétain's government that France did not have to accept unreservedly all the humiliating demands put forward by Germany. On Sept. 6 the Vichy government had sent General Weygand to North Africa to keep the French army there and to protect Tunisia and Morocco against Italian or Spanish attempts to seize parts of French Africa. The threat that General Weygand and his army might join the British and thus make the British position in the Mediterranean impregnable against all German and Italian efforts was sufficient to moderate German demands beyond that point to which the Vichy government, with its eagerness to cooperate with Fascist Germany, was ready to go. Thus during the fourth phase of the war of 1940 Germany was unable to mobilize the active help of France and Spain for the battle against Great Britain, although the sympathies of the governments of these two countries were on the side of Germany and Fascism against the Anglo-Saxon countries and their democratic tradition.
Other German Diplomatic Maneuvers.
On Nov. 12 the Prime Minister and Foreign Commissar of the Soviet Union, Molotov, visited Berlin and conferred there for several hours with Chancellor Hitler and his aides. The results of these talks remained unknown at the end of the year. In any case, Germany started to organize Southeastern Europe. In the second half of November an attempt was made to implement the three-power accord of Japan, Germany and Italy by proving to the world that all countries were ready to join in the process of constructing the much-announced new world order. On Nov. 20 Hungary signed the accord in Vienna, and it was then generally accepted that in rapid succession all other European states would join, so that the new European order might become at least a facade with some appearance of reality. However, only Hungary and Slovakia signed with Rumania, — all three in no sense independent states, but German protectorates occupied militarily by Germany and necessarily subservient to all Germany's wishes. By Nov. 25 Germany announced that no further countries would sign the new order, for the time being. Thus it became clearly apparent that Germany's diplomatic offensive had failed in the Southeast as it had in the Southwest. The still independent European states — Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Portugal — in spite of the immense pressure exercised on them, refused to adhere to the 'new order' or to a Europe under German leadership, which would mean for all these nations economic subservience to Germany and loss of all liberties and of those foundations of civilization which are based upon respect for law, protection of the individual, and the tradition of Christian charity. (See also GERMANY.)
Victories of Greece over Italy.
The fourth phase of the war received its most prominent character, however, through the failure of Italy to achieve her aims. Italy had entered the war in June, 1940, in the definite expectation of reaping rich benefits without exposing herself to dangerous efforts which would strain her weak economic and governmental structure. She had expected to gain at least Tunisia, Corsica and Nice from the downfall of France, claims which had for many months been put forward by the Fascist press. Therein Italy found herself completely disappointed. The influence which she had exercised in the Balkans, especially in Hungary and Rumania, was lost in 1940, in favor of German influence. Under these circumstances Italy apparently decided to play her own role in helping to wrest the control of the Mediterranean from British hands. So far Italy had proved entirely unable, in spite of her great superiority, to do the slightest damage to the British position in Egypt, in Palestine or in Malta. The British fleet continued to control the Mediterranean, and the Italian fleet was mostly invisible. The much-heralded Italian offensive against Egypt had bogged down sixty miles east of the Egyptian-Libyan border at Sidi Barrani, an unimportant outpost in the desert. In this situation Italy presented on Oct. 28 at 3:00 in the morning a three-hour's ultimatum to Greece, demanding the surrender of all those localities which Italy deemed necessary to occupy; otherwise the Italian army would invade Greek territory. Greece, who had always emphasized her desire for complete neutrality, rejected Italy's ultimatum, and Italian troops, which had prepared for this attack against Greece for many months, crossed the Greek frontier in the early morning hours of Oct. 28, while Chancellor Hitler and Signor Mussolini conferred at Florence.
The Italians had expected a short and brilliant campaign which would carry the Italian armies as quickly through Greece as the German armies had crossed the Low Countries. But Greek resistance proved strong, and the Italians were not only unable to conquer Greece, but were driven back into Albania. Under the relentless pressure which the heroic Greek troops kept up in spite of their inferior equipment, Italian resistance and morale crumbled, and by the end of December the Greeks had occupied the important strategic bases of the Italian army in Albania and had inflicted the first great defeat on land upon the Axis armies in this war. (See also GREECE; ITALY.)
British Victories in Africa.
Great Britain had come immediately to the help of Greece, though of course she could spare only a very small part of her Mediterranean forces for that task. But the Italian offensive gave to the British the possibility of landing troops in the strategic island of Crete and of establishing air and naval bases in Greece, from which the British air force harassed Southern Italy and on Nov. 13 attacked successfully the Italian fleet which had taken refuge in the harbor of Taranto. And British armies were successful not only in Greece, but also in Egypt. While the central defense lines of the Italians in Albania crumpled and the Italian High Command was changed (Italy's most famous soldier Marshal Pietro Badoglio resigning as Italian Chief of Staff), the British and imperial army of the Nile, in which the Australian contingents played a great role, launched on Dec. 9 an offensive against the strongly fortified position of the Italians in Egypt. Two days later the cooperation of British armored land forces, of the British navy and of the British air force succeeded in reconquering Sidi Barrani, and a few days later the whole Egyptian territory was cleared of the Italian invading armies. The British captured about 40,000 Italian prisoners and rich war materials, and by the end of the year they had carried the fight into Italian Libya and continued their successes against the strong positions of the Italian army, capturing again many tens of thousands of Italian soldiers. This triumphant assertion of British control in the Eastern Mediterranean and the resounding defeats of the Italians at the hands of the small Greek nation increased throughout Europe the confidence in the possibility of a final victory of the liberty-loving nations in the struggle against oppression. This conviction was strengthened by the fact that Japan seemed unable to overcome the defense of the Chinese people in the Far East, and, in spite of repeated threats, by the end of 1940 had not yet moved into the Dutch East Indies, although she had occupied parts of helpless French Indo-China. Turkey declared her determination to come to the help of Greece should Germany try to come to the help of her ally, Italy, by sending German troops through Bulgaria into Eastern Greece. In her precarious situation Italy turned to Germany for help. The German air force, and probably also parts of the German army, went into Italy and prepared themselves to defend Italy and the Italian position against Greece and Great Britain. Germany threatened to occupy Bulgaria and Yugoslavia and to send her troops to the Adriatic and the Aegean Seas, but by the beginning of 1941 the Turkish stand had encouraged the Bulgarians to declare that they would defend the independence of their country and thus, at least for the time being, saved the two Balkan countries from German occupation.
Britain Redoubles Her Heroic Resistance.
This opposition of the small European nations to Germany and Italy was made possible by the continuous resistance of the British Isles throughout the fourth phase of the war in 1940. In spite of the three-power accord with which this fourth phase had begun, the British position on the English Channel, in the Mediterranean and in the Far East had not suffered by the beginning of 1941. Badly battered, facing the onslaught of the three great Fascist powers practically alone, England still held out as the guardian of her own and the world's liberty. British democracy showed itself at its best. In spite of the life-and-death struggle, the democratic process functioned in Great Britain. There was no unnecessary interference with the freedom of the press or with freedom of assembly; all opinions could be freely voiced in England, even those most critical of the British government, and Parliament continued to sit and to exercise its powers of control. On Nov. 21 the new session of Parliament was opened with an address by Winston Churchill in which he spoke with his usual forthrightness:
'We feel the inspiration of the old days, and we feel, too, the splendor of our political and moral inheritance. We are frequently asked to make a declaration about our war aims. Some may think that example is better than precept, that actions speak louder than words. Today in inaugurating this new session of Parliament we proclaim the faith and sincerity of our resolve to keep vital and active, even in the midst of our struggle for life, even under the fire of the enemy, those Parliamentary institutions which have served us so well and which the wisdom and civic virtue of our forebears shaped and founded, and which have proved themselves the most flexible instruments for securing amid unceasing change and progress that while they throw open the portals of the future they carry forward also the traditions and glories, which, in this solemn moment of world history, are at once our proudest assertion of British freedom and the expression of our unconquerable national will. Immense surrenders of our hard-won liberties have been made by the British people in order, in time of war, to serve better the cause of freedom and fair play, for which they will keep nothing back. Parliament stands as the custodian of those ancient liberties, and its most sacred duty will be to restore them in their fullness when victory has crowned our exertions and perseverance. We have a long road to go and I have never concealed from the nation or from the House the darker side of our dangers and burdens. But it is in adversity that the British qualities shine brightest. It is under these extraordinary tests that the character of our slowly wrought institutions reveals its latent and invincible strength. Up to the present this war has been waged between a fully armed Germany and a quarter or half armed British Empire. We have not done so badly. I look forward with confidence and hope to the time when we ourselves shall be as well armed as our antagonists, and beyond that, if need be, I look to the time when the arsenals, training grounds and science of the New World and the Empire will give us that material superiority which, added to the loyalty of constant hearts, will surely bring victory and deliverance to mankind.'
These words by Winston Churchill truly expressed British feeling and the British view of the European and world situation as 1940 drew to its close. The immediate dangers to Great Britain at that moment were twofold: the incessant air-raids during the nights which destroyed large parts not only of London but of all the important provincial cities and manufacturing centers, and the increased naval raids in which German submarines, surface raiders and airplanes cooperated in destroying British and allied shipping, thus threatening to cut off Great Britain from the world. Germany aimed to destroy the British morale by the indiscriminate bombing which inflicted unmeasurable hardships upon many millions of the civilian population and which laid in ruins whole cities, like Coventry. Even more important for Germany was her blockade of Great Britain, by which Germany hoped to cut off not only foodstuffs, in order to starve the British population, but also all the indispensable materials which British industry needed to produce armaments and airplanes. So far the English have survived the air menace as well as the naval menace. While Germany has at her disposal the conquered countries of Europe and all their foodstuffs and materials, and receives considerable supplies from the Soviet Union in increasing numbers, Great Britain is entirely dependent upon her sea-borne traffic to keep her population alive and her industries going. The British blockade of Germany cut off some important raw materials from German factories, but in view of the rich stores of Germany and the help from the conquered countries, there was not the slightest danger of any real scarcity of foodstuffs in Germany. On the other hand, the conquered countries were faced by a scarcity of food, because Germany had carried away all their wealth and resources and refused to accept responsibility for the feeding of the conquered populations. Much more serious, however, than the lack of foodstuffs for the time being, for the populations of the conquered countries was the prospect of a lasting enslavement by victorious Germany, and thus most people in Poland and Czechoslovakia, in Norway and the Low Countries, looked forward to a British victory as the only assurance of their ever regaining the blessings of a free and civilized life.
America Becomes the Arsenal of Democracy.
The European situation was, however, not only influenced by the British resistance and by the vitality of British democracy, which has been described by several eyewitness reports, among them The Wounded Don't Cry by Quentin Reynolds and Report on England by Ralph Ingersoll. A factor of as great importance was the growing determination of the people of the United States to give 'all-out' aid to Great Britain and to transform the United States into a vast arsenal for democracy. On Dec. 17 President Roosevelt, who had been reelected President of the United States for the third time on Nov. 5, proposed to lend armaments to Great Britain, and on Dec. 20 he named a four-man super defense board headed by William S. Knudsen, to speed up the defense program and aid to Britain. The speech with which the President inaugurated the Seventy-seventh Congress, the size of the budget submitted to the Congress, the reception given to both in the American press, and finally the 'lease-lend aid bill,' convinced the world that the United States was determined to face courageously the threat involved in the conquest of Europe and Asia by the totalitarian powers which are bent upon world control. (See also UNITED STATES.)
This new attitude on the part of the United States, coupled with the successful survival of Great Britain on the English Channel and the defeat of Italy in the Mediterranean, will have deep repercussions upon the war in Europe and upon the internal development and future of all European countries. With it the war entered a new and decisive stage. The year 1941 will be in all probability a crucial year in world history. Germany will concentrate all her forces upon dealing a knockout blow to Great Britain before American help in sufficient quantities can render the position of the British Isles impregnable. Should Germany succeed, at comparatively small cost, then unexhausted and flushed with victory, she will have the immense resources of four continents at her and at Japan's disposal, and will marshall these resources with ruthless efficiency for the great aim of world mastery. Should Germany fail in her attempt, however, then the prospect is good that she and Japan will be unable to win the war. The United States as the arsenal of democracy will, if it pursues a courageous and clear-sighted policy, be able to supply Great Britain and China with all the necessary materials, not only to resist successfully the attacks by aggressor nations, but to disorganize the military grip of Germany over the European continent and of Japan over the Far East. Then a new age of freedom may dawn for the continent of Europe and for the Far East. Under these conditions the United States may be able to remain at peace and to play a major part in the building of a just and orderly world. See also articles on the several nations involved, and on MILITARY SCIENCE; WORLD PEACE; and WORLD ECONOMICS.
