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7 Dec.
45
French war policy. It consists of the
spreading of the war to other countries and of the misuse of their
peoples as auxiliary and mercenary troops for England and France.
"The last attempt of this sort was the plan to occupy
Scandinavia with the help of Norway, in order to set up a new front
against Germany in this region. It was only Germany's last minute
action which upset this project. Germany has furnished documentary
evidence of this before the eyes of the world.
"Immediately after the British-French action in Scandinavia
miscarried, England and France took up their policy of war expansion
in another direction. In this respect, while the retreat . . . from
Norway was still going on, the English Prime Minister announced that,
as a result of the altered situation in Scandinavia, England was once
more in a position to go ahead with the transfer of the full weight of
her Navy to the Mediterranean, and that English and French units were
already on the way to Alexandria. The Mediterranean now became the
center of English-French war propaganda. This was partly to gloss over
the Scandinavian defeat and the big loss of prestige before their own
people and before the world, and partly to make it appear that the
Balkans had been chosen for the next theater of war against Germany.
"In reality, however, this apparent shifting to the
Mediterranean of English-French war policy had quite another purpose.
It was nothing but a diversion maneuver in grand style to deceive
Germany as to the direction of the next EnglishFrench attack. For, as
the Reich Government have long been aware, the true aim of England and
France is the carefully prepared and now immediately imminent attack
on Germany in the West, so as to advance through Belgium and Holland
to the region of the Ruhr.
"Germany has recognized and respected the inviolability of
Belgium and Holland, it being, of course, understood that these two
countries in the event of a war of Germany against England and France
would maintain the strictest neutrality. "Belgium and the
Netherlands have not fulfilled this condition."
PRESIDENT: Mr. Roberts, do you think it is necessary to read this in
full?
MR. ROBERTS: No, I don't. I was going to summarize these charges. If
your Lordship would be good enough to look at the bottom of the first
page, you will see the so-called ultimatum complaining of the hostile
expressions in the Belgian and Netherlands
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