* One opinion is that if Signor Mussolini has gone to see Herr Hitler, it means that he sees the possibility of another mediation for peace. . . .There are others, however, who take the opposite view. They think that the Mussolini-Hitler meeting is connected with a far-reaching German-sponsored plan to create a powerful bloc, comprising Germany, Italy, Russia and Japan. The purpose of this bloc, they say, is to prevent the spreading of the war to fronts other than the West.
Compare this speculation of “diplomatic circles” with Shirer’s account of the meeting in the excerpt above.
** One British bomber dived 6,000
feet almost to the water level, be-
teen German planes carried out the
greatest raid of the war against
British soil last evening . . .
Something’s missing there. For once it isn’t Homer’s fault.
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1940/mar40/f18mar40.htm
Hitler meets Mussolini
Monday, March 18, 1940 www.onwar.com
In Occupied Austria... Hitler and Mussolini meet at the Brenner Pass in the Austro-Italian Alps in their first meeting since Munich, 1938. Mussolini says that he is ready to join Germany and its allies in the war against Britain and France “at the decisive hour.”
In London... A new organization is formed to liaise between British and French colonial authorities. Meanwhile, Walt Disney’s new film Pinocchio opens to a warm reception from the critics.