Word: basely
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1930-1939
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Poorly defended, underpopulated rich land such as Alaska is "a standing temptation" to overpopulated, resource-hungry militarized nations. Alaska is 54 miles by mainland from Siberia, eight miles away by the closest islands. The westmost end of the Aleutians is only 660 miles from Japan's eastmost naval base, Horomushiro, while Yokohama is 3,400 miles from fortified Honolulu...
...There lay small Lake Tashaul, nearly dry, with a narrow channel leading through sand dunes to the sea. There was no town near by; the country beyond the lake was devoted to sheep raising. This, said the British Admiral, was the place to build Rumania's great Naval base, home of the dreamed-of Rumanian Black Sea Fleet. It was also a convenient spot for refueling, since it was close to Rumanian oil fields, if the British Navy ever needed...
...project lagged; King Carol loafed in exile with his girl friend Magda Lupescu; British suspicion of Russia, which perhaps prompted the thought of a Black Sea base in the first place, gave way to fear of a rearmed Germany; Balkan politics remained Balkan politics, and neither the base nor the Rumanian Navy amounted to much...
Last week two events dramatically demonstrated how greatly Axis pressure in the Balkans had changed, not only Rumania, but King Carol. Rumania celebrated her Navy Day, dedicated her Tashaul Base. On the destroyer Regina Maria the King warned a select audience of plans for carving rich Rumania: "The determination to defend our frontiers must exist in the soul of every Rumanian. . . . Whatever is Rumanian cannot be given away, whatever is Rumanian will be defended. . . . If anyone loves peace, he must realize that the frontiers as now marked out cannot be changed without the danger of a worldwide disaster. . . . My affection...
...Canton area, so near Hong Kong as to be a perfect base for attack, the Japanese are estimated to have 40,000 troops-as compared to an estimated 10,000 which Britain has based at Hong Kong. The odds are so long against them that the British command has already decided to abandon the Crown Colony in the event of a showdown. British commercial interests-such as the $50,000,000 Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp.-and the private property of the 16,000-odd British residents of Hong Kong are not deemed to be worth fighting losing battles...