The day that Berlin fell marked the day
~, that the German Fascist armies literally
«fell apart. The Nazi regime was destroyed.

2

1939.

Poland. Within three weeks the
Nghtning campaign was over.
'2oland lay prostrate under the
‘ascist heel, victim not only of
he overwhelming power of the
serman army, but of its own
"2 ro-fascist goyernment’s cow-
‘rdice and ineptitude. Only the
'tubborn, heroic defense of War-
"aw by the Polish people saved
he nation from the disgrace of
bject capitulation and laid the
| asis for the incredibly gallant
“nderground struggle which
jas to rage until the country
" vas liberated by the Red Army
@en 1944. -

"| But if the war in Europe of-
‘icially opened on that first day
/f September of 1939, its roots
“rent back to 1931 when Japan
avaded Manchuria and -the
eague of Nations, following
‘he lead of Gréat Britain, re-
“used to take action against
his first act of aggression. And
| he unofficial declaration of war
ame in 1938 in the German
ity of Munich. To that city, on
| day of infamous memory, went
‘ritish Prime Minister Neville
'hamberlain and French Prem-
= 2: Edouard Daladier to hand
'ver to Adolf Hitler a slice of

>» -zechoslovakia. That moye was
' upposed to “‘keep peace in our

» ime.” What it did was to make
)var inevitable by providing Ger-
lany with the political and ec-
‘omic means for waging war.

The year 1939 had opened in
1 atmosphere of tension. Poli-
) ical reaction held sway through-
"ut Europe. Spain had been
» 1anded to the butcher Franco by
'he foree of German and Ital-
fan arms while Chamberlain
™ ‘ran interference” for Hitler
© md Mussolimi with his non-in-
) ervention policy. The domina-
10m of Hitler’s Reich had ex-
ended over the whole of cen-
»ral Europe. France was sink-
ng into political, economic and
noral chaos, its democratic
770ice drowned by the shrill
sereechings of the Cagoulards,
ts trade unions and other or-
tans of democracy increasingly
suppressed by the clown Dal-
idier.. And at No. 10 .Downing
st. the pious Neville Chamber-
ain held open house for the
Sliveden Set, plotting the war
which he hoped could be turned
'tgainst the Soviet Union.

Collective Security:
“QO major developments pre-
: ceded the actual outbreak of
"var. Development number one
ould have prevented the con-
Viict had there been the same
) jesire for. peace among leaders
»f the British and French gov-
smmments as there was among
“hose who led the USSR. Early
in 1989 the Soviet Union ap-
Proached the British and French

The blitzkrieg that started triumphantly
-six years ago — defeated by Allied unity.

By AL PARKIN

HE guns of World War II began firing on September 1,
That was the day that Hitler’s Webrmacht,
forimed for six years with the fascist theories of race and
(-ebensraum, grown arrogant over the bloodless “‘victories”’
m Austria and Czechoslovakia, poured over the borders of

governments with the proposal
for a Three-Power Pact against
aggression. Chamberlain stalled
for several weeks but finally
yielded and opened discussions
in Moscow, through a British
delegation. This was followed by
the sending of a joint British-
French military delegation to
the Soviet Capital for staff talks
with Red Army leaders.

But the tipoff on the British

“prime ministers’? real intentions

came when the composition of
the delegation was revealed.
None of Britain’s or France’s
top military or naval men were
included, and as discussions got
under way, it became clear that
none of the delegation had au-
thority to make committments.
The negotiations dragged on
throughout the spring and early
summer, with every Soviet pro-
posal rejected, and finally end-
ed with the withdrawal of the
delegations. It was ‘clear that
Chamberlain and Daladier want-
ed no Three-Power Pact that
would commit their countries
to any action against Germany
or Italy. And it was then that
Joseph Stalin warned that the
USSR was not going to play
the role of “pulling other coun-
tries’ chestnuts out of the fire.”

Had the world paid more at-
tention to this significant state-
ment, it would haye been better
prepared for development num-
ber two of those tense pre-war
months—the signing of a non-
aggression pact between the So-
viet Union and Germany.

What had happened was this
—the three-power talks were
stalled, and the only offer made
by Britain and France would
have committed the USSR to ac-
tion against an agressor with-
out receiving reciprocal support
from her reluctant partners.
They would, in the words of the
then Soviet Premier, V. M.
Molotov, be able to “wriggle out
of their obligations.” Poland,
which was then the target of
Hitler’s threats, refused to per-
mit the Red Army to cross its
territory In event of war with
Germany. Chamberlain refused
to prevail upon the reactionary
Polish government to reverse its
stand. Under the Chamberlain-
Daladier proposals, war with
Germany would have found the

USSR holding the bag. And as.

if to add point to the intended
sellout, Soviet leaders learned
that even then British officials
were in Berlin negotiating an-
other loan to the Hitler regime.

War by this time was inevit-
able. Hence, the Soviet decision
when approached by Germany,
to sign the non-aggression pact,
knowing it could not avert the
conflict but playing for time
to prepare its own defenses. For

_ The Rise and Fall of

FEDERATED PRESS

as later events were to prove,
the Red Army of the USSR was
the only force capable of sav-
ing Hurope from fascism. And
the two years of peace gained
by the Soviet-German pact were
to prove decisive.

Phoney War Period

ERMANY invaded Poland on
September 1. Britain declared
war on September 3 and Can-
ada came into the conflict of-
ficially on September 10. The
Wehrmacht would have over-
run the whole of Poland’s ter-
ritory but on September 17 the
Red Army went into Poland
from the east and took up posi-

tions along the Bug River. Hit- -

ler secretly raged, but feared to
take any counter action. Ger-
many needed time to assimilate
its newest conquest and prepare
new adventures.

The next fascist aggression
Was six months in coming. The
intervening time became’ popu-
larly known as the period -of
the “phoney war.” British and
French forces huddled behind
the Maginot Line. The Wehr-
macht strutted behind the West-
wall. Allied bombing planes oc-
casionally came over Germany
and dropped—leaflets. The big:
guns were silent.

What went on behind the
scenes of this period, what se-
eret negotiations may have been
carried on between Chamber-

-lain’s Cliveden Set and the en-

emy, may never be known. Cer-

tain it is that one of Chamber- —

requested that

May 12, 1945 — Page 11

lain’s anti-Soviet plans was al-
most realized when in Novem-
ber Finland, obviously guided
by outside advice, began provok-
ing a series of border incidents
with Soviet Russia. The Man-
nerheim ine, built by foreign
capital, was within big gun
range of Leningrad. Moscow
Finland cede
some of the Mannerheim [ine
territory in return for a bigger
slice of Soviet land. The Finnish
pro-fascists, assured of outside
support, refused. On Npvember
30 the Soviet-Finnish war broke
out, lasting through the winter
until March 12. Finland lost not
only the Mannerheim Line but
the fortress of Hangoe, though
Soviet peace terms were easier

than perhaps later events justi-
fied.

Chamberlain’s hand in this
War was revealed when it be-
came known that hundreds of
British tanks, guns and planes
were withdrawn from France
early in 1940 for shipment to
Finland. Earlier, on December
14, British and French pressure
had resulted in the USSR’s ex-
pulsion from the League of Na-
tions. But the early hysteria
which had accompanied the war
against “poor little Finland”
soon subsided. It became ap-
parent to most observers in the
democracies that the USSR’s
Stand was more than justified,
and that Finland had been the
yictim of its own reactionary

Hiei

government and the anti-Soviet
plans of the men of Munich.

Blitzkrieg
a April of 1940, the appease-
ment policy kicked back in

the faces of its protagonists. On
the ninth day of that month the
German army struck again—not
eastward as Chamberlain and
the Cliveden gang had hoped—
but against Norway and Den-
mark. Aided by a well-oiled
fifth column, the conquest of
these two countries was accom-
plished in a matter of days ex-
cept for mopping, up operations.

Within a few days the fascist
Wehrmacht struck again, this
time against Holland and Bel-
gium. Neither country could of-
fer Serious resistance against
the overwhelming might thrown
against them. The lightning war
— fascist Germany’s vaunted
blitzkrieg—swept through the
Lowlands into France, outflank-
ing the Maginot line. General
Gamelin, Allied supreme com-
mander, was replaced by Gen-
eral Weygand. The French and
British armies were split, be-
gan falling back and apart in
disorder.

On May 10 the Lowlands cam-
paign was ended. And on that
day also the gaunt, vulture-like
old man whose policies had
brought European democracy to
the very edge of ruin, was forced
out of the British government
by an outraged people. Cham-
berlain resigned to give way to