Evening star., 1927-04-17
BY FRANK III. SIMONDS.

IN FRANZ III. SIM0NDS.
T% HE treaty Of friendship recently
signed between Italy and
Hungary during the visit of
4 the Hungarian prime minister
TO Rome is an admirable eX-
| ample of a form Of diplomatic ac-
tivity which is now going on all over
Europe 1t is in fact, a good specimen
of old-fashioned diplomacy seeking 10
carry out the traditions Of another
period in the face of the different If
possibly transcient methods of a new.
on the surface of the stu, tion, of
cofirse. nothing could be less ncces-
sary than any form OF treaty between
/ Hungary and Italy The countries are
not close neighbors. They have no
common frontiers, no natural seasons
| for association and not the smallest
cause for quarrel.
| At bottom, nevertheless Italy and
Hungary have certain things IN com
mon. Both are dissatisfied countries.
/ Hungary was partitioned by the peace
/ settlement and lost two-thirds Of it's
area and 10 per cent Of its population.
1t is now isolated, without natural
| frontiers and disarmed by the terms
| of the peace treaty itself. All Hun
| gar.an policy and purpose are con-
centrated upon recovering what was
/ lost to Rumania, Czechosloyakia and
/ JugOslavia.
Italy Is Disseminated.
| italy is discontented not because Of
any loss. but because Of the failure
/ of the war to give the Italian people
/ that position in the world for which
/ they have longed during many years.
| Mussolnis rise to power was in no
/ small measure produced by the conse-
| quences Of Italian postwar disap-
| pointments and his obvious purpose
/ has been to seek to add to Italian
| power and prestige in the world. But
! his purpose has been steadily coun-
/ tered by French influence. Holding
alt Of North Africa from Gabes to
! Melila. France blocks the road to
| Italian expansion in North Africa
| Associated with the little entente
| powers. Rumania, JugOslayia and
| c Czechoslovakia France has been the
/ dominating power in the center and
| east of Europe.
| Little by little, therefore, great
/ duel has developed between France
/ and Italy. Italian policy, too, has
| patiently aimed at breaking down
| French influence In the little entente
/ in this Mussollni has had material
/ success and today Rumania has more
/ or less changed from the French to
| the italian camp But, on the other
| hand Jugoslavia, after a brief truce
| with Italy. has openly opposed Italian
/ policy in the Balkans, and recently
| the clash over Albania has en-
/ phasized the hostility between Rome
and Belgrade.
Hungary Lest Land.
/ Hungary suffered at the hands Of
/ Jugoslavia after the war, and Croatia
| and even a portion of the Hungarian
plain were taken by the southern
| Slavs. Within limits, therefore,
! Hungary is natural enemy of the
Slavs. and it might be expected that
| the Hungarians would welcome any
/ clash between the Italians and the
| Slavs as an opportunity to regain
| their lost provinces. In point of fact
| however. Magyar hopes of regaining
| territory lost to the Serbs are rela-
| lively small.
| But it is easy to see what Mussolini
| is up to when close on the heels of
/ an acute crisis between Italy and
| Jugoslavia he makes a public bar
| gain with Hungary. Patiently the
| bargain suggests that, in case Jugo-
! slavia and Italy came to war, the
| SlaVs would be faced with an attack
| in the rear and from the Magyars.
! Hungary, on the other hand, gains
| measurably by the bargain, because
| it serves once more TO lift the Magyars
| from the complete isolation which has
/ been their lot since the close of the
/ war. Reduced territorially, coerced
/ by the common menace coming from
/ all the little entente states, all of
/ which have taken Hungarian terri
| tories. the Magyars have been helpless
and almost hopeless. But the present
| treaty with Italy raises them at once
| into European attention
Playing for Danube Area.
/ And it Is in this direction that one
must seek the main significance of
| this newest treaty. 1t does not mean
very much as a permanent detail in
the European situation, And in fact.
there is no really permanent situation
Italy and France are playing for
points in the Danube area. France.
| has based her policy upon the little
entente. Italy has broken the little
entente TO a degree. France has re-
sponded by encouraging Jugoslayia
and Italy has been temporarily en-
barrassed by an Albanian crisis which
Italy, in her turn. has played the
Hungarian card. and the Jugoslavs,
now forced to contemplate the possi-
bility of war on two fronts if an
Italian clash came, may he expected
To moderate their zeal a bit But it
is unlikely that the game win stop
| here. on the contrary, it is more
than likely that the Czechs, who are
| both Slays and allies of France, may
be moved TO show their hands.
And naturally, if incorrectly, Europe
would see in any move from Prague
the evidence of French inspiration
for Of all European capitals Prague
is closest to Paris politically, Again,
if Italy now has a new treaty with
Hungary, France has had a treaty of
alliance with CzechoslOvakia for sew
eral years. Nor is it. less certain that
French activity at Bucharest will be
revived, for Hungary is the chief
menace to Rumanian unity and
Italian encourag cement to Hungary
must alarm .Eumaniaus
Has Franc0-Itaiian Bearing.
In reality all the crisis which at
tends the passing of the old King and
the possible return of Carol has
F'rancO-TtaIian bearing If Carol. who