It took millions of years for the Continent of Europe to form from the cooling lava of the earth's surface, but it has taken only a year or two to transform it politically almost beyond recognition. The swift changes of recent months arising from Chancellor Hitler's expansionist programme have resulted in states disappearing overnight, and confounding not only the diplomat but the geographer, who vainly sought for the old boundaries obliterated by the new.
A new Europe is now taking shape and to enable readers to understand the changes the "North-China Daily News" publishes the accompanying map. Austria has disappeared entirely and is merely a province of the Greater Reich. Czechoslovakia has also gone, two of its provinces, Bohemia and Moravia, being now included within German frontiers, Slovakia is an autonomous state under German protection and Ruthenia is now part of Hungary. Albania has also lost its independence, having been occupied by Italy. Five countries which gained their independence after the war remain. They are: Estonia, Latvia, Finland, Lithuania and Poland.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.