Hitler in his speech at the inauguration of the German Winter-Help campaign has started to explain. That is an important sign. His time-table has gone astray. The short sharp victory which. he frequently promised his people has not eventuated, and Hitler is finding it necessary to tell his people -Why he has failed. He attributes. Britain's "escape from the defeat, which he had planned for her, to the exceptional speed of her withdrawal from the Continent and her for-
-tunate geographical position, though significantly enough he does go on to describe the evacuation of Dunkirk as "in our eyes.... their most contemptible failure." Possibly to his besotted listeners this farrago of nonsense sounded like the truth, but it is the truth\of Hitler's own fashioning. The fact is that despite the most desperate attempts of the enemy to cut the British off from the Coast British and French troops gallantly fighting a rearguard action com-"pletely foiled the plans of the German high command, and the British forces which he hoped to capture escaped with large numbers of their French Allies to continue the strug-
Amongst the usual fabric of lies Hitler is reported as saying that the Royal Air Force "bombed Germany at night because they were unable to fly over the Reich by day. The answer to that is to be found in the hundreds of photographs which have been issued right from the commencement of the war of various military objectives which have been Subjected to British bombing, not only by night but also by day. The fact of the matter is that the R.A.F. has outfawn, and out-fought the German fliers and has made up for numerical inferiority,—which is steadily disappearing,—by greater daring and better machines. The quality of Hitler's explanations is best estimated by taking*full account ~of these cheap jeers which he would dearly like to replace with stories of more substance. He endeavours to minimize the effect of the naval blockade despite the fact that he and his colleagues have been loud in condemnation of it, Obviously if it were ineffectual there would be nothing, to complain about, but the fact is that Hitler regards it with loathing and dismay as one of the factors which will bring about his ultimate defeat.
Referring to his appeal to reason some time ago, Hitler is again so delightfully naive, he remarks "I prefer to fight till a definite and final decision is reached." With-0 "boasting it may be said that he has no other alternative. He will have to fight on until, to quote his own words which naa fiat a li ware l decision will be that mongers is abolished and a state of affairs int ed in which it will be impossible "nation to tyrannize over the whole The prophetic Hitler could not better have described Britain's intention in continuing this struggle: it is to release Europe from the domination of the "pitiable urd dis honourable warmongers," led by Hitler himself. Then with regard to his boast "We are prepared for everything; we have the will and determination to act at any time,", it may be remarked that so are the British as scores of military objectives in Germany have discovered.
The impression conveyed by the speech, even by the German version, is that beneath -vall the vainglorious boasting, cheap humour,—for Hitler can be so funny!—and cheaper jeering there runs a current of uneasiness. The original German plans have been disrupted, and the British resistance is deprive ing the enemy of that early victory in the hope of which they so confidently entered into the war. It does not seem that there will be any necessity for any British Minister to make reply to this latest example of Hitlerian rodomontade.
Indeed if it is completely ignored it would be better, for there is really nothing in the speech which quires anything in the nature of an offic answer. Indeed it would be a waste of time to reply, for the whole address is so patently absurd that it answers itself. The one great point is that Hitler is commencing to explain why he has not achieved his objectives quickly as he promised his deluded people he would, and once dictators commence to explain their failures they betray the fact that they are commencing to read the handwriting on the, wall.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.