GEN. JOHNSON SPIKES DEFEATIST SPIRIT
Gen. Johnson Spikes Defeatist Spirit AN EDITORIAL THOSE who think that Hitler and his Nazi hordes have just about completed the subjugation of France and England and are well on the way toward...
...I think we are in for some still more terrible shocks and we have had enough in a month to do for a whole generation...
...It l» true that Hitler has moved with far more swiftness, distance and striking power than Napoleon ever dreamed...
...To gel that Is Hitler's real "Mein Kampf" anil, while he has made great progress, this is a large world and he Is still very far from his goal...
...It Is almost certain that he cannot do it and leave the undefeated French army in his rear— if the French are still capable of fighting and have the will to do It...
...The fog of war is denser than ever, but nothing looks good on the continent of Europe...
...If the Germans and Italians can go through Switzerland as the Germans went through the other neutrals, the war on the continent of Europe is over...
...He also controlled the channel ports...
...The front toward Germany is now in the North...
...Ft Is not known how many British and French escaped the P.elgfan fiasco, but il is almost certain that little of their equipment did...
...The British were not long on equipment...
...We don't know...
...That is possible, hut most unlikely...
...Does that mean that the war is over...
...Bui is il...
...For as long as that fleet floats ill its present supremacy, Hitler is as securely tied to Europe and his commerce is as certainly off the seas as was Napoleon's...
...This may be eleai out of the picture...
...Hugh Johnson, former NRA administrator, in his column in the New York World-Telegram...
...The bulk, if not all, of the British land force is out of France...
...But nothing has yet indicated that Hitler's blitzkrieg patent contraption cah destroy, the British navy...
...We have to expect further disasters iml the defeatist spirit that Is spreading here is ilimit the worst thing that could happen to us...
...Napoleon at one time controlled as much of Europe as does Hitler—more...
...She couldn't surrender Canada, for example...
...But the crossing of the English channel to find a lodgement there and transport the weight of metal and material necessary to meet the forces possible in defense will prove a tougher problem than Hitler has ever faced yet...
...The rhifl French reliance, the Maglnot line, is complete!- out-flanked, as a front east toward Germany its back door is open...
...But because he didn't command the sea he failed...
...of manufactured goods...
...Johnson presents a realistic picture of the war situation in Europe as a result of successive Allied setbacks at the hands of the Nazis, but he has a sharp rebuke for those in this country who are giving in to the defeatist spirit...
...As for ourselves...
...Large parts of the Swiss population are nl cither German or Kalian racial slock...
...England isn't the British empire...
...If liflb cclumns could woi k so well in Nordic—lull not Germanic—Denmark, Xiirnaj, Holland and Belglum, what is going U> happen in Switzerland...
...To that extent the Allies havr been separated...
...Those who think that the decisive blows have been struck and that the real fight in Europe is over should read the following article by Gen...
...The coun try is very difficult and while the Swiss have only abovit the same fnree as Belgium, it is supposed to be better equipped though less well trained...
...There Is no proof yet that they have not both...
...Germany can never prevail as a great industrial nation unless she is able to transport mountain...
...Johnson Spikes Defeatist Spirit AN EDITORIAL THOSE who think that Hitler and his Nazi hordes have just about completed the subjugation of France and England and are well on the way toward becoming the world's dominant power have been told to think twice by Gen...
...That is the worst nonsense yet...
...There is, of course, the sensational story that Hitler will hold London hostage to vast and repeated waves of bombers and force the surrender of the British fleet...
...It is true that there are now great differences in armament and the deadlines* of air attack...
...The remaining French forces would be caught behind their Maglnot line outflanked on both end* in the grip of the most deadly pinr-i rs wc have yet seen...
...Hugh Johnson: This isn't a nice column, but it tells some of the few known facts...
...w haven't even begun to prepare tn light and u r arc, potentially, the mightiest nation at arms Hi" world has ever seen...
Vol. 10 • June 1940 • No. 24
