Evening star., 1933-07-16
Germany Isolated by
Steps Taken at London
BY A. G. GARDINER.

l
LONDON. July l5-The World Eco
nomic Conference has not been fruitful
Of spectacular results since the events
Of last week 1t is doubtful whether,
without delay, results of any kind can
be achieved.
But It would be a mistake to suppose
| that the gathering Of delegates has
been entirely useless. 1t is believed
that the scenes of informal contacts
| have been productive Of understand
i ings and agreements, which may be OF
! lasting influence and importance.
Among such happenings the most
conspicuous up to date have been the
diplomatic successes of Maxim Litvinoff,
Russian Foreign Minister. In the course
cf few weeks in London he has nego-
! tiated two matters Of outstanding i'm
portance Whatever the outcome OF
! the official proceedings of the confer
ence. Litvinof may return to Moscow
! well content.
! The first of Litvinoffs successes comes
in an understanding with the British
. foreign Office regarding the release Of
| British prisoners in Moscow and the
f., raising of the British embargo on Rus
! sian trade The tedious dispute be-
! tween this country and Russia has been
| settled by the simultaneous release Of
| the prisoners and the calling off of the
embargo Thus a difficulty, which never
, ought to have arisen, is settled in a
manner which saves the pride of both
/ parties.
The second success. the signing Of
conventions of non-aggression with Po-
land. Rumania, Czechoslovakia, Turkey
and others, is even more important. The
{oh ott m 10
cut-and-dried definitions of aggressions,
have the effect of shelving the Bes-
sarabian dispute and rendering a war
| between Russia and her neighbors in
the next few years much more i'm
/ probable than before. Thus one Of the
main dangers to European peace has
been greatly diminished.
! All this is great personal triumph
for Litvinoff. But it is not difficult to
discern in the background the pressure
CT impersonal events. The tremendous
economic difficulties of Russia, due to
the incredible ineptitudes of the five
year plan, made it more than ever de-
sirable to keep the peace with her
neighbors. Beyond this, the Nazi revo-
luton in Germany was producing its
inevitable diplomatic reshuftling in
Europe.
Everywhere that French diplomacy
| has influence. outstanding disputes are
being settled. There Is little doubt that
| the willingness Of Poland and the Little
Entente to sign Litvinoffs pact was due
to French encouragement. The rap
prochement between France and Russia
is one Of the most significant develop
ments of recent months.
X AZ
On top Of all this comes the news
| of Franco-Italian conversations. It i.
! reported that Premiers Mussolini anc
Daladier are to meet to discuss out
| Standing questions between France ano
| Italy. The content of the discussions is
not known. But with Italy alarmed
| at Nazi ambitions as regards Austria
| it is clear that her position is favorable
to wide-sweeping arrangements.
1t was always difficult to see sub
stantial Italian grievance against
France. It is probable that much Of
Mussolini's thunder was necessitated by
the exigencies of internal politics Il
he obtains an understanding from
France which he can hail as a con-
| cesSion, there is no reason why the
tension should continue.
Thus in six months the diplomatic
| position OF Europe has been entirely
| changed. For 13 years after the con-
clusion of peace at Versailles the tide
of developments was steadily in favol
of Germany. No doubt it was slow
| tragically slow, but it was nevertheless.
unmistakable. Given moderation anc
prudence on the part of the German
rulers, it was bound to lead to sweep.
ing rehabilitation of Germany's posi-.
tion. Now all this has vanished. A!
"a result of four months of Nazi rule
Yancient rivals draw together and ole
tensions relax. The isolarlon of Ger
many Is nearly complete.
It is difficult to say that this wa
not justified. 1t Is significant tina
those who were the most fervent vel
wishers of Germany now regard he
policy with the utmost apprehension
Adolf Hitler's celebrated peace speech
was reassuring as far as it went. Blu
in these matters deeds are more i'm
portant than words, and the hope
based on that speech were dissipatet
by the scandal Of Germany's policy a
regards Austria. It Is no good for Hit
Ter and his ministers to proclaim goo'
will and the absence of aggressive in
tentions when night after night thei
creatures are allowed to broadcast. from
Munich, indictments to Nazi revolu
ton in Austria.
i. Fortunately, 30 far the net effect