Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-12-11
FRANCO.UALIAN CLASH
FEARED AS PACT RESULT
Treaty Between French and JugO-
slavians Held Likely to Arouse
Roman Resentment.

natural enemies of Rumania and Jugo.
slavia. At the same time, she has
labored to draw both Greece and
Austria into the italian orbit.
On the whole, one must recognize
that Italy has been checkmated by
France in Southea stern Europe. Even
Austria, partly influenced by resent
ment over the Italian treatment OF
German populations in the Upper
Adige, partly by tariff arrangements
with Little Entente states, has refused
Italian leadership and is now turning
once more to Berlin.
Too, Italy has found herself Just
as steadily blocked in all efforts TO
re-establish Roman control in North
Afri0l, by French possession of Tunis,
Algeria and Morocco. Overpopulated
herself, she sees France. thinly pop.
ulated at home, closing African doors
to Italian emigrants. who would re
tain their Italian nationality.
Italian Policies Wrecked.
Again. while all Italian aspirations
in Anatolia were wrecked and the res
toration of Turkey by Renal Pasha
bars what might have been another
Italian outlet. Italy sees France sue,
cessfully seated in Syria and thus the
DOSSSSSOI VI Sl1lI dHOluGI dOie
Mediterranean colony. By contrast.
Italy received for her war booty out
side of Europe only two desert regions,
the one i'm the Sahara, the other be-
yond the Red Sea.
Italy is at the present hour passing
through a great period of national
eXcitation. Mussolini has fired his
fellow countrymen with the promises
of new Italy. He has loosed national
ambitions and stimulated national
pride.
Finally, there is a political question.
France is republic in which the
radical and Socialist elements are in
the majority. But these roups are
just as hostile to Fascismo as the
British Tories to Bolshevism. Thus
the Italians not only see France as an
opponent in the foreign field, but they
charge that France is harboring the
italian opponents of Fascismo. who
have fled their native land and are
operating from French soil.
When one turns to the French side
of the quarrel the situation is ma
terially different. France has no other
purpose than to preserve a state of
things politically and territorially
which is emirently satisfactory to her.
She does not need to expand But she
uOCo " hGSD Will SIlC mas IN
North Africa and she does intend to
retain her influence in Europe.
With Italian aspirations tbs French
have no sympathy. On the contrary,
they are opposed to all undertakings
to destroy the status quo in Europe
to change the settlements of the Paris
conference. They recognize the open
hostility of Italy to the League, they
have in later days taken alarm at the
| constant revelation of Italian hostility
to themselves.
Possibility Of War.
While French diplomacy has made
many efforts to preserve and to inn
prove relations, at no point has there
been any indication of any readiness to
surrender colonies or to abandon
political activity in the Balkans, for
example. The possibility of a war be-
tween France and Italy is no longer
excluded from the calculations of
French craftsmanship, and as a conse-
quence French relations with Jugo-
slavia have been growing closer. Thus,
in case of war, Italy would find her.
self, like Germany in 1914, compelled
TO light on two fronts at once.
That Mussolini is preparing war
upon France. that he actually desires
SltSH t COIliilCl 10 not InIlk Is be-
lieyed by any intelligent observers.
The risks would be too great. The
danger which the Franco Italian stu.
alton contains does not grow out of
the possibility of a war prepared in
advance, but out of the steady ex.
acerbation of feelings on both sides of
the Alps.
Were some new incident in Albania
to bring Italy and Jugoslavia into
collision tomorrow, France could hard.
ly stand by and see Jugoslavia de-
strOyed, while any effort of Hungary
to help Italy would bring in both
Rumania and Czechoslovakia on the
anti-Italian side. Moreover any move
by Bulgaria into Macedonia could not
fail to rouse Greece to action. Thus a
Balkan quarrel might easily prove a
new Sera jevo.
Precisely as long as this Franco,
Italian tension lasts the prospect of
any real progress toward limitation of
ornaments in Europe is just about nil.
In word, while Europe talks of a
new Locarno, it is preparing another
Serajevo.
Copyright. 1927