May 3.
Summing up the situation after the evacuation of Greece, Reuter's military correspondent states that Hitler's next moves are likely to be, firstly, a drive to capture the Suez Canal, by reinforcing his troops in Libya and at the same time a heavy attack upon the Turks in Thrace; secondly, a simultaneous move through Spain to seize the British naval base in the western Mediterranean, involving not only the seizure of Gibraltar but the occupation of Tangier and Morocco, and thirdly, an attack upon the Ukraine in order to lay hands upon the wheat supplies there and open the road to the oilfields in the Caucasus. Ever since Hitler stationed substantial German forces in Rumania last year the threat to the Ukraine has been apparent, especially when Hitler's sentiments regarding that territory as expressed in "Mein Kampf" are borne in mind. The Russian Government took the necessary precautions against surprise and the German-Russian border has for some time past been stiff with troops.
Indeed it is reported that the massing Russian aeroplanes in western Russia has led to the Germans making enquiries as to what it meant, only to receive the somewhat amusing reply that the machines were there merely to be used in spraying the wheat-fields. But there are other indications in addition to the foregoing which suggest that an attack sooner or later upon Soviet Russia is being contemplated. There is the construction of immense fortifications in Poland a short distance from the German-Russian border, indicating that, in the event of hostilities, Hitler would be'on the defensive here, and seek to deal his stroke against the Ukraine out of Rumania and through Bessarabia, Even more significant was the May Day speech of the Russian commander-in-chief in Moscow's Red Square on the occasion of the army's annual parade. General Timoshenko declared that the Red Army was ready {o offer an annihilating rebuff to any imperialist encroachment upon the interests Jot Russia's socialist state. "The Re Arm; he said "must keep its powder dry and be a state of constant mobilization and preparedness so that no accident' and no tricks of their foreign enemies would catch them un-
The only country which constitutes a grave menace to Russia is obviously Germany, and the General's remarks are in fact a warning that the Russian Government is on the qui vive, and has been lulled into no sense false security by the Russo-German Non-Aggression Pact of 1939. Turkey, which is on terms of the closest: friendship with Rus-most certainly offers no_ threat, while signature of the Soviet-Japanese neutrality agreement should serve to remove any danger to Russia in the Far East. Neither Great Britain nor the United States have the desire, or the opportunity to interfere in any and all other countries, with the exception of Germany, can with like ease be eliminated from the list of the Sovit's potential attackers, and it follows quite clearly that General Timoshenko's remarks were levelled in Germany's direction.
Against the probability of a German attack jon Russia may be advanced Hitler's great dread of having to fight upon two fronts at! Jone and the same time. It is possible that his ideas upon that subject have undergone Jconsiderable modification since, the commencement of the war, while the campaign around the Mediterranean is not likely at Jany time to be such as to occupy a very large proportion of the forces at his disposal.
[With only a small fraction of the German, armies engaged, and by far the greatest portion remaining' idle, the temptation to grab the Ukrainian granary must indeed be great, not alone because of the richness of the prize but also because of the increasing.desporation of Germany's need for foodstuffs and oil. With the situation in the Balkans liquidated in Germany's favour, there would now be no danger to the German rear, should an invasion of the Ukraine be decided upon, and from that point of view Hitler is in a better position to proceed towards the satisfaction of this particular ambition than he has. been at any time since the commencement the war. Whether Russia is in a fit condition to resist with any real prospects of success is something which only time and the event will show, but of the Soviet's intention to protect its interests there cannot be the slightest doubt,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.