Show Wr adr Alternative Finland to Making Peace Now Today o ay Is to Invite Disaster by Remaining Nazi Ally By DeWitt Vitt Mackenzie 1 A Associated ocl ted Press War ar Analyst The Finnish press Thursday was taking a hostile view of ot Moscow's armistice terms and Finns In Stockholm expressed d the o opinion that their country wasn't likely to accept the red proposals mainly mainly main main- ly because she couldn't afford tor to withdraw her troops from their present positions as a preliminary ry to further talks However vever Helsinki presumably is sparring for position Finland's alternative to making peace now is to invite disaster by continuing as an ally of the America America America Amer Amer- ica giving friendly advice has I warned the Finns that they must quit or their blood will be on their own heads Its It's an anxious moment not only f for r harassed little Finland but for all the united nations since her submission her submission undoubtedly would woul 1 set in motion great events favorable favorable favor favor- able to the allied cause As the signs igns read capitulation by the Finns might impel Bulgaria alsoto alsoto also alsoto to desert the axis Realizing all this this- you get an added significance from Marshal Stalin's statement I Ito to President Roosevelt that he believes believes believes be be- 1 the final defeat of Hitler is near I Stalin's red armies have set the battle line linein in Russia rocking until even Its even f its extreme flanks are being shaken en Those flanks are Finland in the north and Bulgaria in the I south These Thes small co countries were sized seized Iz d upon pon as buttresses by Hitler when he attacked Russia Indeed Bulgaria joined the fhe axis more than three months b before fore the drang osten oaten began and German Gennan troops entered th the country the next day Bulgaria long h has been flirting with the idea of deserting the nazi master b but t fear has bas kept her in line Observers In m Washington feel feer U that t Bulgaria probably will willbe willbe willbe be governed by the results of ot the soviet soviet-F soviet Finnish miSh negotiations negotiation If the Finns get satisfactory terms term which are re c calculated to safeguard them from Hitler's wrath then Bulgaria may follow suit One of the greatest difficulties both Finland and Bulgaria face faceIn facein facein I in such a move lies lles in the fact I that they they are occupied by na nazi i I I troops troop The crash of German Gennan hobnailed hobnailed hob hob- ob- ob nailed military boots upon the pavements of Finnish and Bulgarian Bulgarian Bulgarian Bul Bul- garian cities has a most ominous soun You cant can't blame Helsinki and Sofia for trying to safeguard themselves against re re- re There Ther certainly Is a a. strong possibility possibility possibility pos pos- I that both countries would become temporary battle grounds until the Germans were cleared I out by force or were wee e eat threatened ned I with being cut of off and annihilated It would be too much to expect Hitler to abandon these positions voluntarily Getting Finland out of the war and clearing that country of Germans Germans Germans Ger Ger- mans would have an immediate and reaching far-reaching effect For one thing it would help to make the Baltic states untenable for the nazis and expedite the red advance i in this thi territory It would release the red navy into the Baltic sea It would relieve re relieve re- re lieve neve the German menace which long has hung over Russia's Russia great arctic port of ot and permit permit permit per per- mit a free flow of supplies into the soviet from the north It would in fn due course release large numbers of ot otred red troops from the Finnish war and permit of ot their use elsewhere Bulgaria's desertion of the axis would be to the Balkans what a I lighted match would be to a keg of gunpowder The whole peninsula peninsula peninsula penin penin- sula probably would blow up in Hitler's face for Rumania and Hungary couldn't long stand the strain And finally I beli believe ve the defection defection defection de de- de- de of both Finland and Bulgaria Bulgaria Bul Bul- garia would force Hitler to pull his ils eastern battle line back to a point clo close close to his own borders There he would begin his final defense of Europa his Europa-his his inner fortress Meantime the western vestern allies might already be beating against his western wall all |