New-York tribune., 1920-10-10


European struggle, that between
France and Germany, growing on,
of the restoration OF Poland. All
German craftsmanship hencefortl
will be directed at the creation Of A.
alliance between Germany and ary
Russia - Red. White or Czarist -
which Will join with Germany in the
extinction Of Polish Independents
and the restoration TO Germany Of
Polish lands stolen century and
half ago.
Future Alliances
All French policy will be directed
at preserving and strengthening
Poland, the one sure and nccesssr
ally OF France. For the moment
perhaps for the next century, the
battle between the French and the
Germans has been transferred from
the banks Of the Rhine to those Of
the Vistula. Exactly as long Is
Poland stands, strong and independ.
ent, France is secure against Ger.
man aggression. Every province
added to Poland, every fortress,
every natural barrier against Rus
sian attack, is in reality new guar
anty for Metz ana Strassburg.
And the Germans on their side
have already revealed their thought
Hostility to Great Britain, to the
United States, all the old passionate
denunciatlon of the English as
responsible for the World War, has
died out. All the old hatred Of Rus
sia has disappeared. Germany is OBJ
viously-and not wholly unsuccess.
fully-seeking to regain something
Of her old position with both Anglo
Saxon countries and to achieve
new understanding with Russia,
such as that which was for so many
decades the foundation Of her for
eign policy.
At the same time, German hatred
Of France and Poland is stimulated
by every form OF propaganda and
revealed by every German gesture.
The outcome of the war has thrown
Germany and, above all, Prussia,
which dominates Germany, back a
century and a half. She stands IN
most respects now where she stood
when Frederick the Great began hls
Polish aggressions, so far as terri
tory is concerned. Having de-
stroyed Poland and elected France
from the Rhineland by the persist
ent efforts Of a century and half
Prussia has through her recent de-
feat lost all that she had gained
Importance of Riga Conference
But inevitably she must seek !o
rebuild her edifce. The pathway
of her policy is plain. The first
step, too, as before, must oe the ex'
tinction of Poland, and this IS TO be
achieved only in cooperation will
Russia. This is what gives TO the
conference of Riga its vital impor-
tance. This is what makes the POI
ish question as important TO-
France as that of the Rhine bar
rier. These are circumstances
which Americans, with their lgne
rance of European history and the"
enthusiasm for abstract prlnclpies'
wholly ignored at Paris and con
tinue to ignore now.
Thus it may be that the defeat
of the Bolshevist armies before
Warsaw has proven the death blow
TO Red invasion and saved the world
from the perils of the I.enine men
ace, but even if this prove the case
the gain for world peace IS oEly
relative, for with the passing Of the
immediate menace 10 world peace
there recurs that traditional danger
which is revealed in all the history
of Eastern Europe for at least
thousand years. Moreover, it Is ne'
merely in the East that the ques'
ton is posed, for French relations
to Germany make the Nistula JUS.
as much the frontier of France a.
German hostility TO Great Britain
before the last war made the Meuss
and the Moselle the true frontiers
of Britain.
(Copyright, 1880. McCl1rs Esps-
pdper Syndieate)