THE WAR IN REVIEW
THE WAR IN REVIEW REFLECTING the effects of the far-reaching agreements reached at the Moscow conference and the spectacular gains of the Red Army in the Ukraine, the news from Europe this week...
...Speaking at the opening session of the French Consultative Assembly in Algiers, Gen...
...Although the Japanese were stepping up the tempo of the war in China, they tried again this week to open peace negotiations with the government of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek...
...While other governments were maneuvering to cut themselves away from the Axis, the government of Dictator Francisco Franco took steps to renew its friendship with the fascist alliance by congratulating the Japanese puppet government in the Philippines and entering into a trade agreement with the fascist government of Italy, established by Hitler through Mussolini...
...Reechoing many of the agreements reached in the conference, the Red leader confidently predicted final victory over the enemy and declared that Germany was now "on the verge of catastrophe...
...These losses, he said, had blasted all German hope for victory because the Nazis were unable to replace them while •he Red Army was growing in strength...
...Finland, as Stalin announced, was seeking a way out of the war...
...On the day following the President's announcement dispatches from Chungking told of new Japanese gains scored in the offensive in Central China...
...He assured them of final victory and then went on to acknowledge that he was asking "the apparent impossible" from the German armies...
...In a treaty signed with its puppet government in Nanking Tokyo pledged itself to withdraw all Japanese forces in China when "general peace between the two countries is restored and the state of war ceases to exist...
...In a speech delivered on the eve of the 26th anniversary of the Russian revolution, Stalin hailed the recently adjourned three-power conference as strengthening the friendship of the Allies and dashing German hopes for a split among them...
...The President announced that plans for a continental offensive have been completed at a conference in Chungking...
...In a series of contradictory exhortations he called on the Germans for "reckless" and "fanatical" continuation of fighting and then demanded "calm confidence...
...German morale itself, it was said, was undergoing severe strain as British and American forces pushed relentlessly northward in Italy and the Reich's industrial cities underwent another week of intensified air bombardment...
...The French Object It was apparent that Stalin's words were carefully calculated to give further impetus to the convulsive political activity sweeping Europe in the wake of the announcement of the Moscow agreements...
...Churchill's disclosure that British agents were operating in Albania coincided with hints that a Balkan invasion was being discussed between British and Turkish officials...
...He did not specify whether the plans called for an attack on Burma...
...The Committee issued a statement declaring that it would not be bound by any decisions made unless the French were allowed to participate...
...Most significant element of the address was the fact that he found it necessary to assure the German people, time and again, that he was able to lead them out of the present crisis and that he was not losing his nerve...
...This pledge, Tokyo said, "completely nullified Chungking's objective in the war against Japan...
...F.D.R...
...However, some observers noted that Swedish reports concerning successful German reconstruction were confirmed by the fact that British and American bombing missions this week were again raiding cities reported to have been "bombed out" in previous raids...
...Franco Greets Jap Puppet It was from Spain, however, that the most surprising reaction came...
...However, there was resentment at the decision of the conference to limit participation in the European Advisory Commission to Russia, United States, and Britain...
...Desperate enemy attempts to land reinforcements to meet this new challenge were beaten off in large scale naval engagements by units of the Pacific fleet under the command of Admiral William Halsey...
...With few exceptions, reports pictured political reaction as favoring the cause of the United Nations...
...His address followed shortly after he had announced to the world that Russian troops had reoccupied Kiev, the great capital city of the Ukraine...
...The Germans, it was reported, were having trouble in Austria, whose independence was guaranteed in the Moscow declarations...
...Charles de Gaulle, co-president of the French National Committee of Liberation, asserted that the Allied failure to grant the French representation was an injustice...
...Marines landing at Bougainville last week widened their bridgehead in a week of bloody fighting...
...Turning to the subject of post-war settlement, Stalin pledged his country to the maintenance of a just peace and reiterated the principal points contained in the Moscow declarations...
...Farther to the east, American and Australian forces pushed the campaign against the Japanese stronghold at Rabaul...
...The Czechoslovakian government in exile, headed by President Eduard Benes, would soon sign a 20 year mutual assistance treaty with Moscow...
...The Russian boss himself fired the first big propaganda broadside at Hitler's crumbling fortress...
...There was some speculation that Lord Louis Mountbatten's forces might surprise the enemy and strike at a totally unexpected place, thus avoiding the hard overland fight across Burma...
...Hungary, Rumania, and Bulgaria were said to be making desperate efforts to conclude separate treaties of peace...
...The invader was reported to have hurled a new army of 30,000 men into the drive, which was seen as an effort to forestall any Chinese thrusts at Hankow...
...THE WAR IN REVIEW REFLECTING the effects of the far-reaching agreements reached at the Moscow conference and the spectacular gains of the Red Army in the Ukraine, the news from Europe this week told of significant political developments on the war-battered continent...
...Further to the south, Red Army units had trapped German forces in the Crimea and were driving columns through the narrow Perekop Isthmus against enemy troops whose only hope of evacuation was by water...
...He promised the liberation of many of the Nazi-dominated countries and disclosed that Finland is on the point of abandoning Hitler...
...Promises Pacific Action As for the war in the Pacific, the nation heard this week from President Roosevelt that there was bad news in store for the Japanese...
...All through the week reports of serious and widespread disaffection among German satellite nations continued to multiply, affording the Allies a fine target in the war of nerves being waged against the Nazis...
...Stalin Cites Nazi Casualties In the last year of fighting, he asserted, the Germans have lost more than 4,000,000 men in Russia, 14,000 planes, 25,000 tanks, and 40,000 guns...
...A reliable barometer of conditions within the Reich was furnished by Hitler himself this week when he delivered a strange speech marking the 20th anniversary of his Munich beer hall putsch...
...Meanwhile, amid mounting signs of turmoil in the Balkans, Prime Minister Churchill this week pledged the restoration of Albania's independence...
...At mid-week the Russians were sweeping on from Kiev, slashing vital German supply lines and further imperiling the entire German position along the Dneiper barrier...
Vol. 7 • November 1943 • No. 46
