WesWorld

Jyllands-Posten
8th October 1922

“From the Editor’s desk…”

The following Press Release was received by this newspaper this afternoon, with implicit instructions that it should not be released for general consumption before this evening’s issue. In compliance with these instructions, we hereby print the following……

On behalf of His Majesty, King Christian X,
from The Offices of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, and,
The Offices of the Minister for Defence

His Majesty, King Christian X, takes great pleasure in announcing today,
the signing of a Tri-Partite Naval Co-Operation Treaty between
The Royal Danish Navy, The Royal Iberian Navy and The Royal Italian Navy.
It is purpose of this agreement to ensure the sovereignty of The Kingdom of Denmark, which pledges itself to the mutual defence of all signitories, and it is signed following the selfless acts of the navies of both nations during the Nordmark crisis of last year.
In return for basing rights at Denmark’s foreign naval stations, the governments of
Iberia and Italy offer to share their technologies and expertise with relation to military matters, and the use of their foreign naval stations.

God Save the King!

It is the earnest hope of this newspaper that this new agreement will bear fruit,
and we wish the Navy all the best in their new endeavours.

(From the Daily Edition, 9 October 1922...)

The Danish government's announcement of the Tripartite Naval Cooperation Treaty has raised the eyebrows and hackles of politicians across the nation. The accord raised the spectre of Iberian and Italian squadrons home-ported within easy sailing distance of the German coastline, a prospect that worries many.

"Now we are hemmed in by two military alliances", said a spokesman for the NSDAP, "One of which includes of our mortal enemies, the French, while the other includes the turncoat Italians. I can only hope that the two alliances turn on each other and tear themselves apart."

A spokesman for the KPD was somewhat less belligerent: "Considering that these foolish alliances were a major cause of the Great War - a war which was of great financial benefit to a powerful few - we should not be surprised that the capitalist states around us are preparing for another round of bloodshed."

The official government response was characteristically bland and to the point: "The Republic of Germany trusts that the Tripartite Naval Cooperation Treaty will be a tool for peaceful conflict resolution and not an alliance for aggression."