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The DAILY NEBRASKAN
Sunday, October 15. 1939
Background Digest
Dr. Van Royen describes European battle fronts
Geographer avers Maginot line,
German west wall well adapted
to French, Rhineland territories
BY W. VAN ROYEN.
(AMlnUuit pi-ofmnor of (roitraphy.)
An advantageous position on the
terrain, the possession of certain
'dominating heights," used to be
considered as important prerequi
sites to victory in a battle, and a
good general had to have a sharp
eye for the physical geography of
the land.
Modern guns are often hidden in
valleys and ravines and fire with
astounding accuracy upon objects
the gunners never see, mechanized
divisions move with a speed and
a certainty greater than that of
the best cavalry, modern recon
naissance planes and bombers are
entirely Independent of all surface
features. What then is left of
the military significance formerly
attached to hills and valleys, gate
ways and river barriers?
Notwithstanding all new types
of armament, the first world war
proved conclusively that land form
plays as great a role as ever. Pres
ent mechanical equipment does not
differ in essentials from that used
in the years 1914-1918, with the
exception that airplanes play a
relatively greater role. However,
provided there is approximate par
ity in the air, in any new war the
role of the physical geography of
the land will be as important as
ever.
Germans had advantage.
While in the recent Polish cam
paign the Germans had the ad
vantage of complete mobilization,
where the Poles, probably on ad
vice of the Allies, had postponed
full mobilization in order not to
"provoke" the Germans, while
they formerly had absolute mas
tery of the air, and a great supe
riority in modern mechanized
equipment, the main factor which
made their campaign so eminently
successful was the flat, featureless
Polish plain. For hundreds of
Lincoln Journal and Star.
ASST. PROF. W. VAN ROYEN.
miles there is not a range of hills
of any importance which stands in
the way of an invasion from the
west and north. In fact, broad
west-cast glacial valleys facilitate
movements from the west. Pos
session of Slovakia gave the Ger
mans mastery of the Bcskldes
mountains to the Bouth and all
their forces had to do there was to
move down the slopes to the plain.
The first defensible line is that
formed by the Narew, Vistula,
and San rivers in the heart of Po
land. As seems probable now, a
fatal mistake of one of the Polish
commanders made this line of riv
ers untenable, and the interven
tion of Russia only sealed the
doom of the Polish defense.
Western conditions different.
In the west conditions are radi
cally different. On the basis of all
information available, there is now
approximate parity in the air.
There is no great featureless plain
between Germany and France. On
the contrary, the French Maginot
line seems to be not only very
strong, but eminently adapted to
the physical geography of the
land. Behind this line lie the series
of east-facing escarpments which
played such an important role in
the last war. If the French should
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be forced back from the Rhine,
they would still have the line of
the Vosges, which is easy to de
fend because of a gentle ascent
from the west and a steep drop to
the east. The narrow Gate of Bel
fort between the Vosges and the
Jura was never forced during the
last war.
Also the Siegfried line evidently
makes good use of the terrain. To
the north of the Saar region lie
the high Hunsruuck and the eifel
which are difficult to invade. The
valley of the Moselle is deeply en
trenched and meandering, thus
fairly easy to defend. Besides, it
leads into the deeply-cut, narrow
portion of the Rhine valley be
tween Bingen and Bonn, is for all
practical purposes a dead eid
street. Opposite the Vosges, lies
the Black Forest, and farther
north the Odenwald. Both of these
rise steeply above the flat middle
Rhine Valley, and have a gentle
east slope. Thus they are easy to
defend against attacks from the
west. Access to southern Germany
would have to be through the
somewhat lower, but still very dif
ficult Neckar Hills of the Kraich
gau between Karlsruhe and Heidel
berg. Unfortunately, this gap is
flanked by difficult terrain and
dominated to the last by the lower
ramparts of the German Jura. The
only avenue to the northeast leads
by Frankfort am Main, but back
of this 'city again there lies the
maze of hills and mountains of
Hessen.
Factors favor stalemate.
Thus all geographic factors ap
pear to be in favor of a stalemate
on the western front as it exists
at present. Quick success may be
expected to come from flanking
movements only.
There are two possibilities: Tn
the south and in the north. The
route through Switzerland is dif
ficult, but an invasion here misrht
necessitate a complete reorganiza
tion or Frencn positions. An ad
vance over the ancient northern
route, perhaps coupled with an at
tempt at a minor tnrust through
Switzerland, still appears to be
the most logical.
The trap through which the
Germans invaded Belgium in 1914
between the Dutch horder nnrl tho
higher portions of the Ardennes
soutn or spa is now probably con
siderably better fortified. Besides,
the element of surprise is lacking.
ine lieigian position is weaker
along the Albert Canal between
the Dutch citv of Maastricht nnd
Antwerp. While some of the land
near Antwerp can be flooded, the
largest part of the area is too high
for that. At the same time these
dry, sandy lands are sufficiently
level for rapid and large scale
movement of mechanized forces.
The same holds true for the ad
jacent Dutch provinces of South
Limbure and North Brahnnt
where there are also good east-
wesi railroads.
Dutch weakness.
The Dutch system of defense is
very weak alonir the entire IJm-
burg boundary with Germany. The
main fortifications of the Nether
lands, aided by flooding of the
low polder lands, lie to the north
of the Waal, the principal delta
branch of the Rhine river. This
leaves a gap, approximately 70
miles wide, throuc-h which car
man troops could advance rapidly
upon tne weakest portion of the
Albert Canal line in Belgium.
The portion of the Netherlands
behind the so-called "water line,"
is the most densely populated
part of the country. Here lie the
great cities of Amsterdam, The
Hague, Rotterdam, and Utrecht.
Long distance bombardment by
guns established in the drv. sandv
hills to the east and a ferocious
air bombardment would immobilize
the Dutch mid would prevent any
threats to the advancing German
ritrht flank. Economically, the nn-
sition -may prove untenable for
any lengtn of time because of the
very large civilian population, the
impossibility of constructing un
derground shelters in most Dlaces.
and the fact that food supplies
can ne Drought in easily only in
two places: nt IJmuiden. the nort
of Amsterdam, and at Hook of
Defensive -Z'
Position L
What of international law
among belligerent states?
Hill observes violations, predicts activities
most objectionable to codes of warfare
BY N. L. HILL.
(Profemtor of I'ullltral Srlrnf.)
The regulation of war by law
seems, at first glance, an anomoly,
for war is not a procedure at law
but an apepal to force for the
settlement of a dispute. The law
of war finds ample justification,
however, in its humanitarian ob
jects of preventing unnecessary
suffering and in the need of some
definition of the rights and duties
of neutrals. It has always been
under strain and frequently vio
lated, either because of the des
peration of a belligerent or be
cause of the invention of some
new instrument of war, such as
the submarine. The World war of
1914-1918 saw many violations of
the law by both sides.
Hostilities mild to far.
It is, of course, much too early
to write comprehensively about
violations of law during the pres
ent war. Hostilities, thus far, have
Holland. The port of IJmuiden,
being largely artifical, with a
canal and locks, can be put out
of comission from the air.
Conquest of the Netherlands
and the early possession of the
northern provinces, which are In
defensible, would give the Ger
mans air bases considerably closer
to England for the large-scale
bombing raids which can be ex
pected if war really starts. Thus
the future for the small neutrals,
the Netherlands, Belgium, and
even bwitzeriana, appears ex
tremely dark, as complete ruth
lessness may be expected from the
Germans to whom time means so
much more than it does to the
Allies,
been mild. Both sides have been
cautious, more so than diirinp the
last war, perhaps because the
spectre of defeat has not yet
frightened either side, perhaps to
avoid shocking neutral opinion.
beveral observations may, how
ever, be made even at this earlv
date. It is clear that Great Britain
will, as usual, rely on the socalled
oiocKacie as ner main weapon.
This is not. in realitv. a blockade.
There has been no blockade pro
claimed, following the practice of
1914-1918, Great Britain is
stopping goods en route to Ger
many under the rules of contra-
Dana. as berore, Bhe has defined
contraband broadly so as to be
able to impoverish her enemy as
much as possible. She is captur
ing goods going to neutral pirts
to be transhipped to Germany and
is assuming to judge the legiti
mate necus or neutrals. The
United States protested in 1914
1917, as a neutral, against Ri-itish
contraband warfare as in violation
or international law, but when we
became a belligerent. Wf nc.
quiesced. Consequently, we are no
longer in a position to question
the British practice.
Prediction possible.
At this earlv date, it la nnssihio
to predict with some confidence
the belligerent activities which will
prove most objectionable, both as
violations of the law of war and as
barbarous inhumanities.
As in 1914-1918, undefended cit
ies probably will be bombed. There
is no law requiring that bombard
ment be limited to military objec
tives, but a recommendati n to
this effect was made by an r.ter
national commission shortly after
the last war. The war against
Poland showed the impossibility of
; distinguishing between military
LEGEND FOR MAP ACCOM
PANYING GEOGRAPHIC
ARTICLE.
CITIES.
A. Aachen.
B. Bonn.
Bl. Bingen.
H. Heidelberg.
Fr. Frankfort am Main.
M. Mannheim.
REGIONS.
I. Ardennes and Eifel.
2. Hunsrueck.
3. Westerwald.
The cross hatchet marks on
the map are the highest re
gions. Map drawn by W. Van Royen.
objectives and Innocent civilians or
property.
It seems probable that the sub
marine will not visit and search
before sinking merchantmen as
international law requires. This
law has been affirmed twice since
the World war. The sinking of the
Athenia suggests the probable
ruthlessness of future submarine
warfare.
All i" all, we may expect that
the present war will be marked by
many violations of the laws of
warfare. Neutrals will feel the
pinch at many points. Their first
major protective measure in this
hemisphere for a 300 mile rone In
the high seas is without precedent
in International law, and will
doubtless be controlled.
Recent visitors inspect
MU geography department
Recent visitors at the depart
ment of geography were Prof.
Guy R. Buzzard, chairman of the
department of state teachers col
lege, Emporia, Kas.; Prof. Durfee
Larson of Kearney state teachers
college; Richard Buzzard of the
federal conservation service, Boise,
Ida.; Herbert Kollmorgen of the
federal conservation service, re
cently of Fort Worth, Tex.; and
Philip M. Johnston, Instructor In
geography at McCook junior col-