Whittlesey Says Germany Can Continue Combat Indefinitely

"Unless something unforeseen happens, the present war will probably last for some time," said Derwent S. Whittlesey, associate professor of Geography, in an interview yesterday.

"Finland can not hope to hold out long against Russia, a nation of 180,000,000 people, but Germany's population is more than equal to the combined populations of France and England. Of course, the more people a nation has, the more work that nation can perform. This potential working capacity, then, is in favor of Germany.

Professor Whittlesey went on to show the great economic resources of Germany, and the large extent to which those resources are developed. Germany has the vast majority of coal beds of Europe, except for the unexploited region in central Russia, and these coal supplies should last Germany for some time. Her new acquisitions in Czechoslovakia and Poland in addition, should augment her resources considerably.

Have More Land Than Britain

Germany also has a greater proportion of arable and cultivated land than Great Britain. With a larger number of people to care for this land, Germany again holds the upper hand. England has been continually trying to bottle up Germany's system of waterways which introduces the greater portion of her imports, but England has so far been unable to prevent Germany, from obtaining goods via the Danube.

"Although Britain's blockade may finally wear down Germany's resistance," concluded Professor Whittlesey, "the Nazis will be able to remain self-sufficent for a long time to come. No one can conjecture how long that period will last.