The New York herald. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1920-1924, 1920-10-31


Eastern Question. The great Russian EN-
pire, emerging from the Napoleonic struggle
almost as potent as the United States at the
close OF the world war, resumed It's glacier
like march toward the open waters beyond
the Dardanelles and the Bosporus. To meet
this thrust, first Britain and France. then
Britain and Austria finally Germany and
Austria united. War after war marked the
progress of the struggle, the race between
the German and the Slav, as II finally de-
veloped, for the road to the Near East and
the bridge to Asia Minor, which Is tho PENN
sul3, of Constantinople.
1t was this rivalry, this race, which really
precipitated the world war, although it was
complicated by Anglo German and Franco
German circumstances And looking for
ward to the future, the basis Of the new
adjustments, 1t must be perceived that there
is every chance that In the next hundred
years the effort of Russia to regain her
position on the Baltic and to achieve her
conquest OF Constantinople, to gain the prize
which was In her hands by Anglo French
consent during the world war will be re-
newed. Thus we may have at one time a
new Eastern question and new Baltic
question.
In the nineteenth century Germany (Prus-
sia first and then the German Empire) and
Russia were long friends and even allies
The separation between the two due TO the
German support of Austrian pretensions in
the Near East, was fatal to both dynasties
and to both empires. To-day nothing seems
at once more momentous and more probable
than a new association Of the German and
the Slav, which will inevitably challenge
almost every detail in the settlement Of
1920, certainly every circumstance save
In the west
Attempt to Disturb Western Frontiers
Would Mean Another War.
The world war reestablished the fact,
proven so completely in the wars Of Louis
w., that Great Britain will never consent.
sac after complete defeat. to the establish
ment of strong military power In the Low
Countries, in Belgium or in Holland. Ger
man failure to realize this fact led to the
loss of Alsace-Lorraine. A new German
effort to disturb the frontiers drawn in the
west would almost inevitably involve the
British again. Therefore, so far as the
Alsace- Lorraine question itself is concerned,
the settlement Of Versailles might seem
destined to endure.
But France has necessarily embarked upon
a continental policy in supporting Poland
she encounters Germany and perhaps Rus
STA; in giving aid to the Jugo-Slavs, like the
Poles essential elements in her anti German
edifice, she has come almost to blows with
Italy. In general. her support of the small
states created at versailles and Riga brings
her at once into collision with German and
italian, while before Warsaw her generals
were responsible for Russian disaster More
over, with this department Of French policy
Britain has neither concern nor sympathy.
Thus, Immediately, the problem for the
future Is stated: Can France, fnomentariy
the strongest military nation In the world,
permanently protect the small States liber-
ated by the world war or, at the least, cover
thnvr until fhAx, 1..xy .tx-A
stand alone? Can shc build out Of these
minor States, with Poland tine ohief detail,
an alliance sufficient 10 check Russia on the
Beresina, Germany along the lower vistula,
Italy along the AdIiatic, th1s insur1ny the
existence of Poland and 5Gso-serpiA? Or
will she be forced to abandon tho task, per-
haps having to pay for her efforr IN loss OF
territory?
Beyond all question Germany VIII again
seek to exclude the Poles from the Baltic
and regain Posen and West Prussia. Russia
will strike for the Baltic, Italy viii continue
to endeavor to establish her control Of the
Adriatic. All three of these problems are
born Of the new European settlement. Only
France Is vitality concerned In preserving the
edifce Of 1920; France and the little peo-
pies then liberated and by an ironio turn of
affairs France, alone championing the rights
of small States and seeking to perpefuate
those circumstances which make the las.
war truly war of liberation, finds herself
accused on all sides of imperialism"
Copyright 1920 bv the Mcclure Syndicate.