Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-06-29
WITHDRAWAL FROM RHINE
ENDS FRENCH AMBITION
Hope of Restoring ''Natural Frontier
Between German and Latin World
Dies With Evacuation.

Rhine.
Little by little It has become clear,
however-clear even in Belgium and
France-that the great mass Of the
German people have accepted the re-
suit Of the World War as final demon
stration Of the futility of all pan-Ger-
man plans of recovering the frontiers
OF Charlemagne and Charles v. The
World War for both the German and
French peoples decided the question Of
the frontiers between Teuton and Latin,
which have been in debate for all the
centuries since Caesar built his bridge
on the Rhine, to the enduring sorrow
of many generations Of schoolboys.
Today there is hardly a trace left in
France Of the old sentiment for the
possession of the Rhine frontier. Nor
is there discoverable In Germany any
more considerable public opinion inSis-
tent upon a return to Metz and Stras-
bourg. The return of AlSace to France
has led after brief honeymoon to more
establishment than satisfaction. The
memory Of half century Of unwelcome
occupation serves today to cool German
patriotic imagination.
Change Since LOcarnO.
Since Locarno there has been q total
change in Franco German relations. On
the economic side cooperation has gone
far; on the cultural side progress has
been striking. All the passionate bit
terneSS which invasion and devastation
aroused in France have diminished; in
Germany the similar emotions provoked
by the Ruhr have died away. Even the
continuation of the occupation has
failed to provoke those incidents which
were SO familiar in the early years. Only
Symbolically will the final evacuation
have vital Significance
But what of the future? will the
long centuries Of history repeat them
selves after few brief years of truce?
Oddly enough. this question is giving
only the smallest measure of concern
IN France. Looking back. not 10 years
but barely S, 1t Is incredible that evacu-
alton should arouse so little fear, pro-
test or even comment. The return to
the frontier Of the treaty of Versailles,
which Is the frontier of 1915. and with
very slight notifications of IT'S, Is ac-
copied almost without q murmur.
Moreover, II only Franco-German is
sues divided the two great peoples. 1t is
clear to all observers that the chances
Of collision in the future would be
small. In neither country is there to-
day the smallest effective or influential
group advocating war to change the
boundaries. But, unhappily, in the
wider question of European affairs. the
division between the two nations en-
dures, and even threatens to become
acute as time passes.
For France stands forth the unmis-
taxable champion of the status quo not
only on the Rhine but on the Vistula,
the Danube and the Upper Elbe. She
Is the ally not only of Belgium but of
Poland Czechoslovakia, of the states
which have taken German territory
She opposes that union of Germany and
Austria, which Is one of the great pend
Ing issues Of contemporary Europe.
Founded Upon Experience.
This French policy, too, Is rooted in
French tradition and founded upon bit
not fear the Germany of today. but she
still views apprehensively the possibili-
ties which might follow the expansion
OF Germany by the inclusion of Austria
and the recovery Of the Polish Corridor;
she still fears the consequences of a
revival OF the old conception of Mittel-
europa, with its background Of CONT
mental hegemony.
Thus In an odd way. as Austria was
the protagonist of the settlement of
1915 and Metternich maintained the
system Of the Congress of Vienna until
l648 against a spirit of revolution
which had its real source of inspiration
IN France, the French Republic has
adopted the Austrian role. Germany.
moreover, has every reason and tempta-
ton to initiate the French course be-
tween 1915 and 1860 to destroy a sys-
tenn founded upon her defeat. as the
system OF Vienna was based upon
Waterloo.
Patiently Germany has not vet made
up her mind. She is struggling with
domestic problems Of all sorts, far too
absorbing and acute to permit the de-
veIopment OF a systematic foreign pol
icy. All her cabinets since 1919 have
lived from hand to mouth and from
day to day. The German Republic is
not yet IL years old, and 1t is worth
recalling that the Bourbons after their
restoration in 1915 lasted but Is years.
Nevertheless, the great question re-
mains, What will German policy be
when at last Germany Is herself again?
IL may accept the conception Of a
tTanco-German cooperation, political
as well as economic, insuring German
economic mastery of the Continent.
along with French political ascendancy.
or 1t may adopt an independent line
designed to upset the settlement of 1919
IN all the east and center of Europe.
ana IN the latter case new collision on
the Rhine is probable.
For the present, however, It is clear
that the evacuation of the Rhineland
ooes mean not merely the end of a re-
cent conflict, but the Termination of an
age-Iong struggle between the German
and French peoples on terms which
potn accept with no evident unwilling
ness or secret evasion.
(Copyright, 1900