OCR Text |
Show Governments of Many Nations Changed As Liberating Armies Advanced in 1944 Common People Get Chance to Establish Democratic States Governmental changes that shared world importance with the war news marked the year 1944. Iceland became a republic; repub-lic; five Soviet Socialist republics repub-lics again took their places in the U. S. S. R.; four Nazi-shackled Nazi-shackled countries were liberated; liber-ated; and three Axis satellites deserted. A year-end bulletin from the National Geographic society reviews these momentous momen-tous events. On June 17 Iceland became a modern republic. On that day the ,,-, ff ,v, , - - - -----i . A U 1 . ' " 1 f I uTk - s ' ! I f fl'"' ' ' ' - f L inning an 11-centuries-old legislative legisla-tive body sometimes called the Grandmother of Parliaments"-elected Parliaments"-elected the nation's former regent Sveinn Bjornsson, president. In a national election held in May the people had voted to dissolve their union with Denmark. First settled in 874 and organized as a republic 56 years later, Iceland was independent until 1263 when it Joined with Norway. Both Iceland end Norway came under Danish rule in 1381. Norway was separated sepa-rated from Denmark by cession to Sweden in 1814, and the two coun- fc tries formed a union which lasted until 1905 when the union was end- B ed by mutual agreement. Iceland- is ers had long agitated for independence, independ-ence, but it was not realized until 1918. Iceland was then recognized Sl as a separate kingdom with unlim. bi Ihc president of the newly established Icelandic republic, Sveinn Bjornsson, addresses the nation by radio on June 17, 1944, the day the island dissolved its union with Denmark. tion of his powers was conditioned on popular will. Late in the year, Netherlander saw the beginning of the Allied attempt at-tempt to smash the western anchor of the German defense system, pre- lude to liberation. From the south- west Pacific came more good news for the first time in more than t four years the nation's flag flew over , Hollandia in Netherlands New t Guinea. , ed Jefferson Caffery, former United States ambassador to Brazil, as ambassador am-bassador to the French government now established in Paris. On Armistice Ar-mistice day France was formally invited in-vited to become a full-fledged member mem-ber of the European advisory commission com-mission meeting in London. Belgium's Regent. Belgium, whose national liberation released its own governing agencies, immediately took steps to restore its prewar standing. In the ab- ited sovereignty. Germany tried in prewar years to get control of this strategic North Atlantic island by establishing commercial com-mercial routes. British forces were stationed on the island shortly after the beginning of World War II They were replaced in 1941 by American units. Re-enter U.S.S.R. Five other republics, 1,500 miles or more to the east, resumed their prewar status. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, freed from Nazi occupation, occupa-tion, again became a part of the Soviet Union as Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian Soviet Sociaust Republics. Re-publics. All three had first entered the Union in 1940. The Karelo-Finnish Republic, farther far-ther to the north, was the fourth to be added to the Soviet family It also had first entered the" Union in 19-JO. .Its . border city of Viipuri guards the western approach to the i- Axis-satellites Finland, Romania and Bulgaria broke their ties with the Nazi government, and moved toward agreements with the Allied j powers. j Shifts in Italy King Victor Emanuel III stepped aside in favor of his 39-year-old son Umberto, designated "Prince Lieu-? Lieu-? tenant General of the Realm." Pre-J Pre-J mier Ivanoe Bonomi and his Italian cabinet contributed a novelty when they took office in June. They did not take the customary oath to the crown; instead they pledged themselves them-selves to fulfill their duties according accord-ing to the constitution. The United States resumed diplomatic relations with Italy in October when Alexander Alexan-der G. Kirk was named ambassador. ambassa-dor. On November 10 the presidency presiden-cy of the Allied Commission for Italy It-aly was transferred from military to civilian direction. v . -. ....... .j L E - s 1 f 1 ' k Yi "-"y or Leningrad. Russia's new Arctic port of Pecheng (Petsamo) acquired from Finland in September, Septem-ber, extended Russian boundaries westward to Norway. State restored to Russia In 1914 is the Moldavian Soviet So-ciahst So-ciahst Republic, a slice of territory ying between the Ukrainian Repub-bc Repub-bc and Romania. Once known as Bessarabia, this area has expert-enced expert-enced a round of governmental changes. Before World War I it was Russian ground; from 1918 n iQdn ii:::iacjQMiViafrIaaffl Crown Prince Umberto was named Prince Lieutenant General of the Realm of Italy by his father, King Victor Emanuel, who abdicated when Allied troops entered the capital capi-tal in June, 1944. sence of King Leopold III, held in Germany, 41 - year - old Prince Charles, brother of the king became be-came "Regent of the Realm," to act until the king returns. In September, the tiny Duchy of Luxembourg, neighbor of France Belgium and Germany, celebrated its freedom from four years of Nazi tyranny. Allied fighting men landing in Greece in October helped Greek pa-triots pa-triots to oust the Germans. Internal political problems had divided the people into factions, some opposing the return of the monarchy. The ine fledgling republic of Syria ?1fatejLJiom ae viyFrench in 1941, added to its territory the m. dependent mountain-kingdom of Je-bel Je-bel Druz. Its people, dwellers in southern Syria, voted to yield their administrative and financial indZ Pendence, and merge the manage-ment manage-ment of their affairs with Se gov-ernment gov-ernment of Syria. President RoosI-velt RoosI-velt appointed George Wadsworth minister to the republics of Syria and Lebanon. yna Closer bonds between the United States and its African protege lT bena were assured by the Decern ber. 1943. treaty, the provisions 7t 3twertderucono 11' r, , treaty stiP"lates that all naval, military and air instaUa Uons will be supervised by the U s" ,o!gnifi?uant hanges t0k place in i It belong to Romania. It was turned back to Russia in 1940 and r set up as a republic of the Union only to be reoccupied by Romania the next year. , To four German dominated nations-France, Belgium, Luxem-; Luxem-; bourg and Greece freedom came toward the close of the year France, whose liberation was heralded her-alded by Allied landings on the Normandy Nor-mandy coast, June 6, was almost completely free by the middle of September. General Charles de Gaulle's Committee Com-mittee of National Liberation was recognized on October 23 by the U S. state department as the de facto government of Franco fin sm, ber 21 President Roosevelt appoint- caoinet decided to inform King I George II, in London, that resump- ft i - i- V " h TT? I l ; '.?lf",!i !,,., ji i v ' c , ' . , .1 s s ' ' ' I women were eiven ,h history privUeges as men ' S3me VOli Philippines to Be Free Philippines ofrteseider Terg'" g S 'T0' Gen- Doug,arMat sumption of authoritv 1 k he re" jorit wasundersCd'tnaUrnd80')1 fairs will continue to bl ad teredfrom Washington. m",1S, The future status of the Phu-Pines Phu-Pines was defined in h,Ilp-tions h,Ilp-tions adopted by the U S reS1U' and signed by President C' on June 30. These resltin V6" independence to th istT the Japs are elec ed , n vide for defense by thi n d Pro" of United States mVitUnCUn bases. and naval Fran: S?'? -t ston Churchill and Anthony S o, Grea't Britain f"' flanked "y Win" invited to become a member of th. f Kr"al- France was formally the British statesmen the EuroPean Advisory committee by |