Sus—Mr. Cecil Gill refers to Miss Barbara Ward's " loose comparison of Hitler with Napoleon." There has been a good deal of this " loose comparison " Lately; but it is interesting to see how far they really resemble each other. In the France of Napoleon and the Germany of Hitler a similar sequence of events is observable: the suppression of hereditary monarchy, a republican interlude, then the establishment of autocracy, followed by striking military successes and determined opposition on the part of England. Both conquerors occupied the Low Countries and Napoleon's humiliation of Germany finds its parallel in Hitler's
defeat of France. Napoleon's annexation of the German coast between the Ems and the Elbe to isolate England from the Continent has its analogy in Hitler's occupation (though not annexation) of the maritime departments of France. But there are some notable differences between the two men. Perhaps the most important is that Hitler has preserved peaceful relations with Russia, Spain and Porttigal, States with which Napoleon quarrelled disastrously. Another interesting point is that whereas Napoleon sought to impose a French system of government on Italy, Hitler has established in Germany one which is largely of Italian inspiration.
HUMPHREY J. T. JOHNSON.