The New York herald. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1920-1924, 1920-12-19
ONLY CHAOS FOUND
ON THE BORDER OF
SOVIET RUSSIA
Break Up of. Great Empire
Like That Following the
Fall of Rome.
RACIAL GROUPS MIXED
Poles Heading for the Baltic
and Ukrainians for the
Black Sea.
EUROPE BACK 800 YEARS
Little Nations Ignore Outside
World and Russian Armies
Are Mere Rabblc.
EUROPE BACK 800 YEARS
nv CAPT. FRANCIS M'CULLAGH.

HERALD.
Copyright. 1920, by THE New York HERALD.
RIGA. Nov. 25.-The first thing that
leaps to the eye Of visitor to the new
states son the west and northwest of
Russia is the instability of the whole
situation. Everything is liquid, every
thing is in a state of fluX. and the
sketch Of them which l now propose
10 give will be like a snapshot of a
breaking wave. The foam which is
on the crest to-day may be in the
trough tomorrow, the water which
is now at the base of the billow may
in a moment be the froth on its sum-
NIT All sorts of permutations and
combinations will be gone through
before q settled state of things is ever
reached, and in my opinion, a really
settled state of things will not be
reached for ten years yet.
The key to the whole situation is
this: The breakup of the Russian
Empire will produce in eastern, south
eastern and northeastern Europe re-
suits similar to those brought about
in western Europe by the fall of the
Roman Empire. This parallel is not.
OF course, quite exact, for some of the
Great Powers still remain, but their
influence on the course of events will
he much less than people imagine.
for they will neutralize one another.
Germany, which still has tremendous
advantages on her side in this part of
the world. will be kept in check by
France and England, but neither
France nor England will ever send
armies into the Ukraine or White
Russia, and the only method they will
possess of making their, influence felt
will be by Withholding supplies. by
economic pressure and by blockade.
Everything points TO the fact that the
weapon of the blockade will have to
be used in the Baltic before the end
of another year.
The Baltic BaIknnizcd.
The Baltic has. in short. been Balkan
lied All the factors which made for
unrest in southeastern Europe during
the last fifty years are now to be found
in northeastern Europe. We have In
the first place that greatest curse OF
all. small groups of one nationality In
the territory of another nationally. We
have Germans in the Baltic States,
Poles i'm Lithuania and White Russia,
and Russians everywhere. The Drang
mach Osten that disturbed the peace of
Europe in Abdul Hands day has been
succeeded by two other Orange, the
Drang of the Poles toward tho Baltic
sea and the Drang OF the Ukrainians
toward Odessa. These are the two main
features of the situation but there are
besides a bewilderng number of other
schemes, ambitions and combinations
on the carpet.
Eastern Europe has in fact gone back
In some respects for n space of three
hundred years, but this does not mean
that things were essentially better IN
1914 than they are in l92O--quite the
contrary. Germany. which was not
afraid of the whole world six years ago,
is now as frightened by the Poles as she
was before the time OF Frederick the
Great and Russia, who. IN 1904. men
accd China. Japan. India and Turkey, Is
now measuring her diminished strength
against the Firms. Poles. Let's
Esthonians and Llthuanians She is in
n worse position than she was before
the days of Peter the Great
Two Great Empires Fallen.
II Is. i'm short. most dramatic set
back of two great empires. and after
listening to the whines of the Russians
about the Finnish jngoism and to the
pitlful complaints which Prussians made
to me at Danzig about Polish i'm
perialism. I could only exclaim: How
are the mighty fallen :" To compare
small things with great my feelings
are like those which l experienced once
on meeting among the reporters at a
co-oner's inquest in the East End OF
London couple of distinguished war
correspondents just home from n world
shaking war. But Russians and Prus-
slams have been thrown down to the
foot OF the ladder on which they had
climbed so high. and are now fumbling
with the first rung while tho Prussians
at least are at the same time casting
fearful glance upward at the high
place from which they fell.
All the schemes and combinations TO
which I have alluded above are being
carried out with little reference to for
eign Governments. SO completely are
outside nations ignored that one would
almost fancy that the little States |
have mentioned were the only nations in
the world. In shaping their policies
and planning their wars. they pay al
most as little attention TO Europe and
America. except when they ask them
y for help. as the belicose young Roman
republic paid TO Jerusalem or Pekin.
The coups of DAnnunzio and Zell-
gouski and the failure Of the League
OF Nations have left the peoples in this
part OF the world with as little respect
for the views OF Europe as Rob Roy
McGregor had for the DEGREES OF the
Holy Roman Empire. Outwardly they
profess reverence. but inwardly the
strong ones among them feel that they
must carve out their own destiny, as
the English people did when they set
themselves the task Of becoming the
predominant people in the British Isles
or as the French did when they rounded
or their kingdom with Burgundy and
Lorraine. They are determined to strike
while the iron Ia hot. and they feel
that we should be the last people in
the world to prevent them from doing
what we did ourselves when we were
young
on all the frontiers Of Russia one
drinks the bitter lees of that wine
which sparkled so brilliantly and
tasted 20 we'll In 1914. The military
leaders who are now fighting were
suhalterns or N. G.. Os IN the great
war and are most OF them unit to
command company, much less an
army.
semenov. Balakhovitch, Pavfenko
and Budenny are all OF this type, and