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people rea lize where Hi tle r will take
the nation in the next twelve yea r .
Few know that the inte rregnum is
far from over: that it is destined lo
rear its ugly head again.
Ycar
1929:
The Lateran Trcaties
S igned by the Holy Scc. In Ita ly ,
events are a lso proceeding toward
the inevitable catastrophe. Musso–
lini is the dictator of Italy. Since the
early twenties he has worked on a
treaty to be ca ll ed the ' 'mos t
brillia nt succes of his career."
ll
i
the reconciliation between Italy and
the Vat ican. T he pope has bcen in
self-imposed ex ile since 1870. "a
prisoner of the Vatican."
Mussol in i has long proclaimed
the need for reconciliation between
s tatc a nd ehureh. By the end of 1928
the Italian king has appointed Mus–
soli ni to act as his delegate in the
negotiations. The final treaty is
signed at the Lateran o n February
11. 1929. seventy years after the firs t
insurrections began in the papa l
s tates.
ltaly recognizes the Holy See as a
sovercign power. A t the same time
the Ho ly See rccognizes the exi -
tence of the Kingdom of lta ly. The
pope receives his own "sta te," the
palace a nd grounds of the Vatican.
plus the Basí lica of St. Peter. T he
Lateran Treaty and the Concord at
(a sepa ra te pact) do not. however.
assurc harmony between the papacy
and ltaly.
Meanwhile. o n July 20. 1933 . the
Vatican concludcs a concordat wit h
the Nazi government of Germany.
The Vatican is the firs t foreign
"s tate"
to
conclude a treaty with the
Nazi regime. But th e Nazi threat to
the church is too visible. An ticleric–
ism. atheism and forms of neo–
pagan ism wh ich cha racte rize the
Nazi regime are so blatant the rela–
tion a re a t be. t trained .
Ycars
1936-1941:
The Empire of
the German Peoplc Is Forged by
Hitler. By 1936. event a re happen–
ing in q u ick succession on the cont i–
nent. In March. Hitler reoccupies
the R hineland. In October the Ber–
li n-Rome Axis is formed. A new re–
vived empi re of the German nation.
24
as in the days of Ot to the G reat, ties
its des tiny to an lta ly whose eph–
emeral empire bears the name " Ro–
man" by a decree of Mussolini . T he
ax is becomes worldwide when a
German-J apanese pact is signed on
Novembcr 25. 1936.
During the next yea r, the German
in vasio n a nd an nexa tion of Aust ri a
occurs. Over 6.000,000 German are
added to the new German empire.
In September of that year, the Sude–
ten regio n of Czechoslovakia is an–
n exed. Over 3,000.000 more
Germans become pan of the new
Reich .
The yea r 1938 is a lull year: but
1939 is his torie. Thc famous Ger–
man-Russian pact is s igned a t
Moscow. Germany is now brist ling
with act ion. Hitl er thinks of himself
as chosen by Providence for the
achievements he has made in Eu–
rope.
He is fo nd of compa ring himself
to Napo lcon. but assumes he wi ll
avoid the fa te that befell ' 'another
man" a hund red thirty yea rs ea rlier.
' 'We have been en trusted by our
Maker with an historical revision of
unique d imension wh ich we are
committed to carrying out." says
Hitler in a speech before the Ger–
man na tion.
On September 1, 1939. as pa rt of
that "historical rev ision.' ' Hitler at–
tacks Po land.
lt
is to be o ne of his
most fatefu l moves. Two days later.
Britain a nd France declare war o n
Germany. But for the moment the
new lcader o f Europe has thc upper
hand. Denma rk and Norway fall.
Then Holland, Belgium. Luxem–
bourg and France are dispatched
quickly. Hungary, Bulgaria and Ro–
manía join the Berlin-Rome-Tokyo
Ax is.
In 1940. Hitl er is the mas te r of
Europe from the North Cape to
Spain . With his ltalian ally. the
Mediterranean has for practica!
purposes become a fascist lake. By
mid- 1940, Albania. Yugoslavia and
Greece are in Ge rma n hands.
Not since the days when the Ro–
man Empire was at its height has
one man ru led such vast portions of
Europe and the Medi-
terranean. If a ny age +•l
has seen th e resurrec-
~
r"'!J
tion of t hc Roman Em-
~\
pire in te rms of its territo ri al
conquests and military might.
it
is
the Third Reich of Hit ler and his
satelli tes.
The entire cont inent is directly or
indirectly under German control.
Paradoxically. in the spring of 194 1.
whi le Bri tain is battling for its sur–
viva!. there is peace from the Atlan–
tic to the Pacific coast of Eu ra ia.
One his torian recounts how a Japa–
nese diplomat traveled comfortably in a
prívate railway car from China via
Moscow to Berlín and Rome.
But Hitl er makes anoth er fa tal
blunder on June 22. 194 1. He sends
German a rmies into Russia under
"Operation Barbarossa.'· They open
hos tilit ies o n a 2,000-mil e front,
from the White to the Black Sea.
German invaders with ltalian, Ro–
manían, Hungarian and Finnish a l–
líes are estima ted at 3,000,000 mcn.
The tide oon begins to turn. Hi t–
ler's mighty legions begin to sulfer
reverses. Mussolini 's Roman empire
eva porates. Less than four years
later. Germany is reduced to rubbl e
and boys a re fighting in the ranks.
On May 8. 1945, President Truman
and Prime Minis ter Churchi ll pro–
claim the end of th e war
in
Europe.
All is quiet o n the continent.
With the close of World War 11
we are in today's modero world. In–
credible and unusua l happenings
are the order of the day in Europe.
For the first time in Europe's his tory
such dive rse nat ions as Ita ly. Ger –
many. Britain. l reland. Belgium.
Holland, Luxembourg. France and
Denmark are part of one self-im–
posed union. Though the union is
only economic and tenuous. it does
give reason to think that Europe
may be on the verge of political
umon.
These even t . both encouraging
and ominous. are the subject of the
final ins ta ll ment in this series d is–
cussing the reviva ls and catas–
trophes of the Roman Empire and
Europe. O
PLAIN TRUTH
January
1975