As it was anticipated in this column yesterday the rape of Lithuania has been swiftly followed with regard to Esthonia and Latvia. Both those small nations have received ultimata from Soviet Russia demanding that it be permitted to station an unlimited number of troops in both countries. While the Russian demands apparently do not cell for the military occupation of the whole of both countries, but only the strategic cities, there is not the slightest room for doubting that the whole of the smal! Baltic state: e been brought under Soviet military domination, and they are just as completely occupied as if they had surrendered after military defeat. The world is thus receiving another proof that. under any regime of totalitarian states, small nations will cease to exist as such. What appears to be happening is that the Kremlin is strengthening its position against the possibility of a German onslaught which may be confidently expected in the event of an Axis victory. The ambitions of Herr Hitler with regard to eastern Europe have not been abandoned, and a Germany stretching as far as the Urals is still one of his fondest dreams, Indeed last year maps were published in Germany showing what were the German amditions, namely control of an area stretching from the Bay of Biscay to the Ural mountains, leaving, of course Italy out of the picture for the moment. But the fate of all the small nations which have succumbed to either Russia or Germany during the past two years should be sufficient to prove to the Italian leaders the suicidal folly of the policy which they have adopted. Should Herr Hitler succeed in fulfilling his ambitions Italy, compared with the very large Germany which would thus be carved out, would herself become a very small country, ready to be absorbed whenever the German leader considered the time ripe. The idea that Italy will ever rank as an equal partner with Germany is just as false now as it has been all along, for it is no part of Herr Hitler's scheme to tolerate two bulls on the same stamping ground,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.