Evening star., 1933-04-16

| Il cnangeQ SlOeS, cropped CeI-
many and Italy and gone over
to France and Poland. are slowly being
understood throughout Europe.
The whole distribution Of forces has
been altered. The specter of hungry
Russia led by vengeful Germany.
which David Lloyd George. British
statesman, long professed to fear. is at
least temporarily laid.
Germany's chances Of ever recovering
the Polish Corridor or Upper Silesia are
greatly diminished Poland Is immense
| " strengthened, for 1t IS free now In
case of need to mobilize its far from
negligible army entirely to the west,
instead Of having to face two ways as
heretofore.
The union Of nearly all the Slavs on
the same side IS causing revival OF OF
the pan-Slav sentiment in response to
German Chancellor Adolf Hitler's new
racial pam -Germanism. The bloc OF
states opposed to territorial and treaty
revision is hardened and reinforced to
such an extent that it appears. Tor the
time being, to be almost invulnerable.
Revisionists Disagree.
The revisionists - Germany. Italy,
Hungary and Austria, now talking IN
Rome and receiving, according to re-
ports, some support from the vatican
are yisibly flustered, disagreelng among
themselves and debating what to 90
next.
Even the Far Eastern situation IS al
fected, with Japan now looking less 70
France and Poland for sympathy ana
more to Germany and Italy.
The GOOD relations between Germany
and the Russian Communists began
even before the end Of the World War,
when there was the landing of war sup
plies for the Poles. The late FTencn
Foreign Minister Aristide Brands whole
plea at the Washington Disarmament
Conference was drawn from supposl-
ton of German Russian colluSion 10
overthrow the peace treaties.
The first juridicial art Of Russo-Ger-
man collaboration was, however. the
treaty signed by surprise at Rapallo IN
the midst of the Genoa conference IN
April, 1922. There followed few years
later the Russo-German treaty OF ber,
| lin. probably also some secret technical
agreements reached in conversations at
| Spandau.
Russia and Germany consulted on
foreign policy. Germany borrowed
money in New York and London and
| reloaned it to Russia. Russia became
| Germany's best customer. German
| technicians are believed to have helped
train the Russian army and to have
helped get the German general stan to
| facilitate the return to Russia OF Com
munist exiles from Switzerland.
Weakened French System.
The allies feared that Germany, too,
would 20 Communist after its defeat,
and the Germans played on this fear to
| IN, nd
armistice. When the Soviet armies were
at the gates of Warsaw the Germans IN
DanZig refused to allow setting up new
Russian war industries and factories.
German officers are believed to have
received aviation training In Russia. In
any case, there was q sort Of friendly
comradeship between the Russian army
and the German Reichswehr.
The threat Of some future combined
Russo German attack tended to cripple
and neutralize Poland and thus weak
ened the whole so-called French sys-
tenn of alliances. The western powers,
particularly the British, tried repeat
edly to wean the Germans away from
Russian influence, but in vain.
With the coming Of Dictator Josef
v. Stain and the elimination of the
Trotzky elements. the Russians gradu-
the Soviets could only exist If the whole
world became Communist, and substi-
tuted the present theory, that existence
side by side of the Communist state
with capitalist states was perfectly COM
patible.
This already made Russia somewhat
less useful to Germany as a means Of
pressure on Poland. But the real change
only began with Japan's aggression in
Manchuria, which Russia construed as
dangerous threat to its Far Eastern
situation. Russia thereupon began to
negotiate series of nonaggression pacts
with Poland. the Baltic states and
France, seeking thus to insure its rear
In case OF war with Japan.
Hitler Completes Break.
When Lieut.. Col. Franz Won Papen,
then German chancellor, at Lausanne
during the reparations conference pro-
posed military alliance to France with
out first consulting Russia, the Soviets
definitely began to sheer of from Ger
many. Under the next German regime
that Of Lieut.. Gen. Kurt Won Schleicher
with strong Reichswehr influence, there
was q brief improvement in the Russo
German relations. With the advent Of
Hitler, however, the break has become
virtually complete.
This is not only because of Hitler's
war on the German Communists, but
also because Of the pan-German talk o1
expansion eastward into the Baltic
states ard even Of giving Poland the
Russian Ukraine In exchange for the
Corridor.
At the present time the Polish-Rus-
sian and Franco Russian pacts are In
full effect. The Soviets announce Their
intention of taking trade contracts
away from Germany and giving them
to Poland and France. Russian news
papers, which for years supported Ger
many and treaty revision, are nov
preaching "peace" and the necessity q