Hitler's Europe

In one laconic sentence the German Ambassador to Japan, Major General Eugen Ott, last week set a temporary limit to German war aims and gave Japanese jingoes an encouraging pinch in the backside. The German Government, General Ott told Foreign Minister Hachiro Arita, "is not interested in the problem of The Netherlands Indies."

This was far more than Japan had hoped for when she asked other powers if they would respect the status quo of the East Indies (TIME, May 20). The Nationalist "Southward Ho" Party's newspaper Kokumin promptly hailed it as a "blank power of attorney" for Japan in the Pacific, muttered that the transfer of the Dutch Government to England had already altered the status quo. Even slightly cockeyed, definitely popeyed, bulky, bluff Yakichiro Suma, who speaks with authority for the Foreign Office, told the country in a radio speech that Japan's policy of non-involvement in the war might soon become one of involvement "in the sense of preventing the spread of the European war to Asia," i.e., in the sense that Japan would grab the Indies and possibly Singapore and French Indo-China if & when they became weak enough to need "protection."

Whatever dreams of world empire Adolf Hitler may have, his Ambassador's declaration to Japan seemed to mean that they can wait. Adolf Hitler is a man who does one thing at a time. Last week he was preoccupied with trying to knock out his archenemies, Britain and France, and in the flush of that triumph to build his new Europe which Germany would dominate for 1,000 years. Although France and Britain were still on their feet, they were so groggy that spectators were busy speculating on what sort of Europe Adolf Hitler's Europe would be.

To Muenster. For three hundred years the history of our continent was substantially determined by England's effort, by roundabout means of balanced, mutually binding relations of power among the European States, to maintain and secure the necessary protection in the rear for big British aims in world politics. The traditional trend of British diplomacy . . . was deliberately aimed at preventing by all means the rise of any great European Power above the level of the general scale of magnitudes, and, if necessary, to crush it by military means.--Mein Kampf.

Last week Adolf Hitler's mind went back 300 years minus eight, to the Treaty of Westphalia signed in the old Hanseatic town of Muenster. By that treaty the Holy Roman Empire, devastated by the Thirty Years War, was broken into tiny pieces and the authority of the Emperor ended forever. The history of Germany since then has been the repeated efforts, under Prussia, to pick up the pieces of that Empire. Last week Adolf Hitler let it be known that the peace treaty ending World War II would be signed in Muenster.

Already Hitler has reincorporated many pieces of the Holy Roman Empire into his Greater Germany. Last week he officially annexed Eupen and Malmedy from Belgium. Other pieces still remain really or nominally outside: The Netherlands (including Belgium), Switzerland, Metz, Toul, Verdun and lower Alsace in France, northern Italy. What plan Hitler has for these territories is not yet clear, but two of his plans are clear: 1) Britain is to be eliminated as a continental power; 2) France is to be reduced to a second-or third-rate power, existing by the grace of the Reich. What may await France and Britain at Munster, if they lose, was forecast by the Deutsche Wehr: "Total victory entails the total destruction of the defeated state, its complete and final blotting out from the pages of history."

Separate Peace? The German people's irreconcilable mortal enemy is and remains France. It does not matter who ruled or will rule in France. . . . The final goal of her foreign-policy activity would always be an effort to hold the Rhine frontier and to guarantee this stream by means of a disintegrated and dismembered Germany.--Mein Kampf.

Remembering that a dismembered Germany has been France's No. 1 war aim, Frenchmen last week smiled wryly as a barrage of radiorations began arriving from Germany, all hinting at offers of a separate peace. French morale was still good. Nonetheless, there were indications that France might already have been offered peace terms. Low-flying planes dropped leaflets on Paris assuring Parisians they need not be afraid, that "Paris will be spared for the glory of Adolf Hitler."

And there were elements in France that might work for a separate peace. Last week Franc,ois Charles-Roux, French Ambassador to the Vatican and an intimate of the Pope, replaced anti-German, collective-securitist Alexis Leger as Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. There is in France a school of political thought, led by Pierre Etienne Flandin, which argues that with its stagnant population France had better submit to German hegemony, abandon its overseas empire, become self-contained, be let alone.

This week when the Belgian Army laid down its arms, not the least reason for their doing so was the fact that two million civilians trapped in Flanders were nearly all Belgians. Although Premier Reynaud told his countrymen that France would fight on, what if two million French civilians should become similarly endangered?

But few realists believed that even a magnanimous peace would be more than a Munich for France. In Hitler's Europe a mighty Germany must be surrounded by satellites. Said Adolf Hitler to Hermann Rauschning in 1934:

"In addition to the Greater Germany resting on Austria, Czecho-Slovakia and western Poland, there "will be an alliance of . . . vassal States with no Army, no separate policy, no separate economy. . . . I shall have a western union of Holland, Flanders and northern France and a northern union of Denmark, Sweden and Norway."

Northern Union. Last week Sweden was having an industrial boom under a rush of orders from Germany and Russia. But Germany was paying in 40-c--marks and Russia in overvalued rubles, and so Sweden's boom was only a stepping stone toward a lower standard of living. Trapped on three sides by Germany and with only weak, war-torn Finland on her other side, Sweden was already safely within the German orbit. Though she might turn in desperation to Russia, Russia did not have the strength to save her. In Hitler's Europe her destiny seemed to be that of straw boss of Scandinavia. As such Sweden would be a reasonably strong satellite which might be useful in holding Germany's left flank when the time came for the push to the east.

To the East. There will be an alliance of . . . Hungary, the Balkan States, the Ukraine, the Volga Basin, Georgia.--Hitler to Rauschning.

Last week Budapest denied that its Government had agreed to permit passage of German troops through Hungary in exchange for Slovakia, Transylvania and the Yugoslav part of the Banat. Nobody took the denial at face value. Germany is itching to double Rumanian grain production through mechanization, could offer Magyar noblemen their confiscated Transylvanian estates in exchange for the right to organize them. A strong--but not too strong--Hungary could rule much of the rowdy Balkans for Germany. With hegemony over the Danube Basin, Germany would have the southern hook of her pincers around the part of Russia she covets.

Rumania was on edge all week. Iron Guard Leader Horea Sima, armed to the teeth, was caught at the frontier returning from Berlin, but a dozen of his henchmen escaped. Three days later King Carol decided not to make a public appearance on the tenth anniversary of his return. Rumania was fully mobilized, waiting for war or a coup as soon as Germany could spare troops from the west. In Cernauti (pronounced Chair-nuh-oot'), on the frontier of what used to be Poland. Ukrainian nationalists, financed by Germany, again demanded separation from Russia. But the fact that Berlin brought pressure to bear on Slovakia to oust Magyar-hating Sano Mach as leader of the Hlinka Guard was a sign that Germany did not want trouble in the Balkans--yet.

Italy Ready. Italy's future must always lie in a development centered in the Mediterranean Basin.--Mein Kampf.

By last week bellicose Italian yelps had begun to sound like those of a hungry jackal that wants to feed but is kept from his prey by a wolf. All week long the tension mounted. Italian liners' sailings were canceled. Italian schools were ordered to close May 31, a month earlier than usual. Crown Prince Umberto went over to the belligerent side in a speech to his troops warning them to be ready. Benito Mussolini topped off a Sunday of checking up on military preparations by appearing before several hundred Fascist youths demonstrating for war. Italy's day was at hand. Even the plan of attack was outlined (possibly as a feint) by the Fascist review Conquiste d'Impero: "Since an Italian offensive against France would require tremendous effort, it would not be worthwhile. On the other hand, France could not send great forces against Italy, since she is engaged with Germany." Italy's war, said Conquiste d'Impero, would be beside Germany and Hungary against Turkey, Rumania, Yugoslavia and Greece, with the decisive battle against Egypt. Only the hour when Italy would strike was any longer in question. Flanders would decide that.

But no longer was there any doubt that Italy would play a weak second fiddle to Adolf Hitler's Germany. Though Italy might take Nice and Savoy, Algeria, Tunisia and Corsica from a tottering France, Egypt from a blitzkrieged Britain, and even part of Yugoslavia and Greece, Adolf Hitler would never let Mussolini play first fiddle in Europe above the shores of the Mediterranean. One day Italy will have to settle with Germany for a port on the Adriatic. Little but fear of Germany has kept Il Duce from grabbing Dalmatia already.

Frantic Allies. Desperately France and Britain worked to remedy their mistakes. To a reported offer by France of a free port at Djibouti, minority rights in Tunisia and a seat on the Suez Canal board. Il Duce replied coldly that the offer was "too late and too little." The British Government, angling for eventual help from Russia, rushed Socialist Sir Stafford Cripps to the Kremlin, where he is well liked. But was there time to get help from Russia? To smooth relations with Spain, His Majesty's Government sent Sir Samuel Hoare as Ambassador to Madrid. He got a chilly reception and exiled Loyalist Alvarez del Vayo cracked: "The mission of a failure." Women and children were already being evacuated from Gibraltar, whose garrison the German-planted guns in Algeciras may try to blow into the sea before long.

Enough Time? Adolf Hitler's greatest fear is that he may not have time to finish his work. Last week his Armies, his Air Force, his power politicians and his sycophants worked at top speed to create a new Europe for him. Until he realized his dream of Germany surrounded by European yes-nations, with Russia pushed beyond the Urals--and the game was still far from over--he would scarcely have the leisure to complete his second Volume, reportedly titled How I Did It.

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