Evening star., 1930-12-07
ITALIAN WEDDING STTRS
BALKAN SPECULATONS
Italy, Representing Dictatorship, Lining
Up Allies Against French Democracy.
Nationalism Again in Saddle.

ance the French, q system which 10 IA
includes only the losing powers a. the
World War. And at the same ttYne "a
all these losing countries, save RuleAriA.
the extreme nationalistic princinlee 0R
Italian Fascism are gaining ground.
Thus in an odd fashion Italy and
France are not merely rivals politically,
but are the protagonists Of two flnda-
mentally different conceptions Of roy-
ernment France remains the champion
OF democracy, Italy the missionary Of
dictatorship. France is defending the
political and territorial status quo, Italy
is seeking to modify both. And, Of
! course, Soviet Russia Ii seeking to e.
tablish third form Of government,
which Is Communism.
Germany True Battle Ground.
Moreover, the true battle ground IN
Germany. If FaSciSm wins the day In
the Reich and produces q dictator,
either Hitler or a soldier like Gen. Won
Seeckt, then the chances are very strong
that there will be a political alliance
between Germany and Italy, and the
campaign for the revision Of the treatias
Will take on new and graver aspect.
Then Europe is likely to divide into
two great coalitions, as 1t did in the
years preceding the World War-France,
Belgium, Poland, CZechoslovakia, Ru-
mania and Jugoslavia in one camp:
Italy, Germany, Hungary, Austria and
! Bulgaria in the other, with Russia In
clining to the German orientation, but
actually working for the ruin of both
democratic and Fascist systems and
the triumph of Communism.
| This unmistakable tendency repre-
Sents the obvious peril to all conceptions
OF cooperation and association. In O
word, it Is the antithesis of the princi-
pie and spirit Of Locarno. It is q push
away from the internationalism Of the
| years since the war, and particularly
since 1925; an abandonment Of the
League of Nations, and q frank and
unrestrained pursuit Of national aims
Beyond all else, 1t is q direct turning
away from the ideal Of q new Europe
to the forms Of the old.
Economic Factor Is Check.
Only one factor favors International
ism, and that is the economic. While
p, dtical interests divide Rumania and
Hungary, France and Germany, Bull
| garta and Jugoslavia, economic con-
siderations cut right across political
Thus, while the politicians are busy
playing the national game in each Of
these countries, the financial, business
and agricultural groups are working all
the time for cartelS, common or pref
erential tariffs and all sorts Of reclpTo-
cities
And such hope as exists Of European
cooperation must be based upon the
economic factor. Internationalism as
a moral force has, for the moment at
least, lost its weight. Nationalism is in
the saddle almost everywhere in the
Continent. Fascism continues to gain
ground in Germany, Austria, Hungary,
while 1t still holds out, at least super
ficially impregnable, in Italy.
But peoples which seem unable 10
live peacefully together are condemned
to trade extensively with each other or
go under together. And beneath the
surface Of this present and unn1istak-
ably disturbing tide Of super-national-
ism 1t Is possible to discover other cur
rents of business, finance and economic
common sense working. Meantime Il
is significant fact that even 30 rela-
lively an unimportant event as the
Bulgarian wedding should have set Eu
rope to talking just as it used to talk
before 1914, when anything that hap
} pened in the Balkans was news and
most actual happening we're bad news.
(Copyright, l93o)