§ LORD ADDISONMy Lords, I should like to ask the noble Viscount, the Leader of the House, whether he has any statement to make on the war situation.
VISCOUNT CRANBORNEMy Lords, although my right honourable friend the Prime Minister has already spoken to-day in another place, I thought that this House might well expect some statement on the stirring events of the last two or three days in Italy. Those events, as your 761 Lordships know, were the culmination of a series of successes, continuous and cumulative, which are, I think, without precedent, at any rate on the Allied side, during the course of this war. First of all, there have been the final battles in Tunisia, which led to the complete annihiliation of the German and Italian Armies of many hundreds of thousands of men, the capture of vast quantities of material of war and the elimination of Axis power from North Africa. Then came the Allied invasion of Sicily, an amphibious operation unparalleled in its scale and character in the whole history of war. Already, within a fortnight, not only have great Armies been landed and fully supplied with food and munitions, but upwards of two-thirds of the island have fallen into Allied hands. The enemy are now penned up in the north-east corner of the island, where they will be battered and blasted with the full might of all the modern engines of war. At the same time, as your Lordships know, the British and United States Air Forces have been pounding the vital centres of military production and transportation throughout the whole length and breadth of the mainland of Italy.
This overwhelming attack has produced the result that might have been expected, though I think most of us did not expect it quite so soon. It is probable that the Italian people were never very enthusiastic about this war. They were hustled into it by the insatiate ambition of Mussolini and the Fascist Party, and they have now taken the fundamental step of ridding themselves of those to whom they owe these catastrophic disasters. Mussolini himself has been hurled from power, and with him, so it appears from accounts that we have up to now, the gang of unscrupulous ruffians with whom he surrounded himself. Such indications as we have at present in our possession—official information does not go very far at present —go to show that the Fascist régime may soon be at an end, if it has not come to an end already. What are the full implications of these events is not yet known— cannot yet be known. No doubt they mark the end of an era in Italian history. No doubt also, for us, they mark a milestone on the road to victory. They constitute the first deep crack in the showy façade of the Axis. One of the main pillars has fallen, and the others, in Germany, 762 Japan and the other satellite countries, may well be quaking under the shock. The fall of Mussolini can, I think, portend nothing but good to the Allied cause.
What the immediate results will be it is more difficult to say. As your Lordships know, Marshal Badoglio, the head of the new Government, has said that Italy will go on with the war. If that is the choice of the new Government and of the people of Italy we are ready to meet them and beat them on the field of battle. If I may echo the words of the Prime Minister in another place this morning, we shall continue to make war upon Italy from every quarter, from north and south, from the sea and from the air, and by amphibious descents, to bring the utmost rigour of war upon them. Orders to this effect, my right honourable friend said, have been given to all the Allied Commanders concerned. If then that is the decision of the new Italian Government, the fair land of Italy will be burnt and battered by the fires of war. That is not our wish, but we shall have no option, although it is not our desire, I repeat, so to act—and again I would recall the speech of my right honourable friend— "as to break down the whole structure and expression of the Italian State. We certainly do not seek to reduce Italian life to a condition of chaos and anarchy and find ourselves without any authorities with whom to deal. Such a course might well tnrn the sense of liberation which it soon may be in our power to bestow upon the Italian people into a sullen discontent against us and all our works."
Our aim is to come not as destroyers but as liberators. Our experiences in Sicily, and in particular in Palermo, seem to show that it is the wish of the Italian people themselves to be quit of their German taskmasters. That is our wish, too. But what we need, and what we must have, is all the facilities for waging war until the other Axis partners are utterly subdued, until the sun of freedom, which is to-day cheering the people of liberated Sicily, shines over the whole tortured continent of Europe. This inevitably involves the unconditional surrender of Italy, so that the Allied Armies may be provided with all the necessary facilities to defeat our greater and more formidable foes. Whether that surrender be piecemeal or wholesale is a matter for the Italian Government and 763 the Italian people. We should prefer it to be wholesale, for that would avert useless slaughter. In any case, up to now, we have received no peace approach from the new Government. Until we do no new decision is called for from us. In (the meantime all we can do, and we shall do, is to carry on the battle with all the force at our command. I am sure that the House will be glad to know that on all these questions of policy, whether with regard to the present or the future, His Majesty's Government are acting in the closest consultation and agreement with the Government of the United States, our equal partner in this great Mediterranean campaign. Our Russian friends also have been throughout kept regularly informed.
There is really nothing more that I can say at the moment. I would very strongly deprecate, if I may say so, wild speculation, in anticipation of events. I think that the Government may fairly claim that their recent strategy and policy have been vindicated by events, and that we are entitled, in the present extremely delicate situation, to the confidence of Parliament. I hope therefore that there will be no call, either in this House or in any other place, for any premature disclosure of our plans. That could do nothing but harm. We must not forget that the war is not yet over. We may be moving forward, but we have still a very long way to go. Germany has to be beaten, Japan has to be beaten. Those are tasks which are likely to extend our powers to the uttermost. Hitler has still under his control upwards of 300 divisions, three-quarters of them mobile divisions, and, as experience in Sicily has shown, these forces are still capable of very resolute resistance. All our action and all our policy, at the present stage of the war, must be governed by the paramount necessity of deploying our full force against his ruthless and wicked régime. Great German armies are now being hammered on the Russian front. German factories are now being blasted, daily and nightly, by British and United States bombers. Every week adds one more to those great centres of war production which are being reduced to flaming ruins. We must continue this process. Germany must be completely and utterly crushed. That is the one cardinal principle which, I suggest, must 764 inspire our policy. Everything else must be subordinated to it. The times are great. Let us be worthy of them, for by our success in our vital task we shall be judged by our children and our children's children.
§ LORD ADDISONMy Lords, I would not wish to make any long comment on the noble Viscount's statement. We thank him for it. It is as much as we could expect him to make, and on behalf of myself and my noble friends I can assure him we shall do nothing in Parliament which will lead him to think we have sought in any way to raise embarrassing issues or to precipitate too early discussion of events. This incident—it is only an incident, as he says—is, as he rightly claimed, the first dramatic result of that superb organization of army, naval, and air power which is being demonstrated in North Africa and Sicily —an organization which has inspired the confidence and evoked the admiration of us all, not only in this country but throughout the world, and has done a great deal to rally the weak-kneed and to put strength into those who previously were hesitant as to whether they would openly express their sympathy with us. But it is an incident, and we note that as part of that incident there appears to be removal of all the trappings of Fascism.
I am glad the noble Viscount does not forget those whom he described as the "gang of unscrupulous ruffians" who have been responsible for these miseries in Europe. I take it that that means that the pledges with regard to these ruffians will not be forgotten. So far as the present Italian Government are concerned, I am quite sure that the prosecution of the war with the utmost vigour is the right policy, and we shall judge that Government by their actions as they emerge. In the meantime I should like, on behalf of my colleagues, to thank the noble Viscount for what he has said, and for the impression which I have no doubt his statement, and that of the Prime Minister, will have on the people of Italy that it is our desire, so far as they are concerned, to come as liberators.
THE MARQUESS OF CREWEMy Lords, I merely desire to express in a very few words our complete concurrence in the attitude His Majesty's Government have taken up at this critical moment. 765 The noble Viscount who leads the House has shown a very wise reticence in not attempting to forecast in any way on behalf of the Government what may happen in the course of the next few days or weeks. None of us know, for instance, what the actual German reaction is to the remarkable events that have taken place in Italy, and it would be a mistake to attempt to forecast the effect which these events may have on the action of the German Government. We all take the view that His Majesty's Government have no choice whatever but to adhere absolutely to the demand for unconditional surrender as the prelude to any discussion of terms. Some people may have thought for a few moments that this change of Government might mean a possible mollification of that attitude but surely that would be a most dangerous and futile departure. What the result may be on the fate of the Italian people is altogether another matter. It is impossible to predict that without a great deal more knowledge than we possess at present. I am sure that at the present time it is wise for His Majesty's Government to go slow and, while carrying on the war itself without any relaxation of vigour or purpose, to await developments before deciding on further steps.
LORD STRABOLGIMy Lords, I do not rise to discuss this matter at all, and I fall in with the suggestion that it should not be debated at this stage, but the noble Viscount made a remark in the course of his very interesting survey which needs elucidation or it may lead to some misunderstanding. He said—what we all welcome—that there was close consultation between His Majesty's Government and the Government of the United States. I thought he was going to say "United Nations". He went on to say that the Russian Government were being kept informed. That might give the impression that there was no consultation with the Russian Government, which I am sure is not the case. I suggest that the noble Viscount, if he finds it convenient, might make that perfectly clear.
VISCOUNT CRANBORNEMy Lords, the reason I said there was close consultation between Britain and the United States is that they are the two Governments actually engaged in these operations. The Russian Government are not engaged in 766 these operations, but we are keeping them fully informed of everything that happens.