Evening star., 1933-03-26
BY FRANK H. SIMONDS,

warning: Europe Is IN the tnrOeS OF lts
most acute postwar political crisis and
governments and peoples are once more
discussing the possibility OF new war
The warning Of the Pope, the despair
ing endeavors Of Macdonald to save
the Arms Conference have been sympto-
matte, while the British press usually
given to most sober language describes
the danger almost in panic phrases.
What has produced the present acute
terror? Primarily, it is plain that the
explanation must be sought in the rise
of Hitler to power and the multiply
ing evidences of the extreme nationals
tic passion of his following. Speci1cal-
ly, however, European agitation has
been accompanied by discussion Of the
program for new coalition designed to
establish a fresh state Of balance OF
power in Europe, based upon German
Italian partnership.
It is this attempt to engineer new
balance Of power which has contributed
so much to present alarm because in
the existing state of Europe war must
be inevitable consequence if such an
attempt be persisted in. An alliance
between Mussolini and Hitler to end
French hegemony is in itself an in
triguing thought But what does II
mean? What, after all, is state of
balance of power which most Americans
regard as one of the occupational dis
eases of European craftsmanship?
Americans Mistake Balance.
It is, think, one Of the commonest
Of American mistakes about Europe to
conceive of balance Of power as re-
sembling the nursery game where chill
dren build towers with blocks, each
seeking to out-top the other. But to
think of the international game as
piling Poland on France and Italy on
Germany and then putting smaller
blocks On either heap is to reduce to
mere mathematics something that Is
vital, passionate and, under certain cir
cumstances, the most dangerous Of all
undertakings.
For balance of power actually involves
two things and emotions.
1t Is not merely condition where there
is an approximate balance between the
material resources Of two rival coal-
tions, but also situation in which the
purposes of the two coalitions do not in
volVe questions of life and death for
either. For while equality of strength
would in itself make resort to war a
hazard, fear of the purposes would
abolish the restraints of caution.
Take an example in ordinary life,
Two men of equal physical strength
will instinctively refrain from mixing
it up" over some relatively trivial dis
pute, because a scrap might mean fol
either licking" out of proportion tG
the issue. On the other hand, in the
case of master and slave, the situation
Is different because the slave, eager fol
freedom, will seize upon the slightest
chance to strike. And the master is
always under the menace of the known
purpose of his slave.
Now let us apply this principle to the
existing European situation. 1t is plain
that Europe is today agitated by the
prospect of the formation of new
coalition composed of Germany, Italy
Austria and Hungary designed to offset
the present French coalition, which in
cludes France Poland and the nations
of the Little Entente hoSlovakia
Yugoslavia and Rumania. As it stand!
today such a rival coalition would not
be Immediately equal since all Of its
members save Italy are disarmed by the
peace treaties. On the other hand
equality of armamentS would give il
equality of force and such equality can
not be indefinitely postponed.
Seeks Old Frontiers.
But what of the purposes of this new
coalition? What does Germany seek:
| The restoration of her old frontiers In
the east, which would involve taking
the Corridor and Upper Silesia from
Poland, territory as large as MaSsa-
chusetts with three millions of inhabi-
tants of whom 80 per cent are Poles
| It would then involve still another par
tition and a mutilation of Poland only
conceivable If Poland had been crushed
| in war. Like the slave of our figure
| then, Poland will risk anything to avoid
| German designs.
What does Austria seek? Union with
Germany which would create a terri
torial situation in which Czechoslovakia
would be practically surrounded by Ger.
| man territory, isolated from the rest
of the world and containing a huge
German minority eager to force Bo-
| hemia and Moravia, with their SlaN
majorities, back under German rule
For Czechoslovakia then. Austrian pur.
pose is q threat to national existence
itself.
What does Hungary seek? The res.
toration of all her lost provinces now
in the possession of Rumania, Yugo-
slavia and Czechoslovakia, which would
reduce all three states to insignificant
proportions, to the level of pre-wal
Balkan states. Last of all, what doe!
| Italy seek? Dalmatia, which Is Yugo.
| slavia's sea front and has purel!
| Slav population. You see at once, then
that the purposes of the new coalition
are of a character which compromise
the very fundamental interests Of tht
allies Of France.
And what of France? She is not in
terested directly in the Corridor or Up
per Silesia, the union of Austria with
the Reich or the frontiers of Hungar!
or the title to Dalmatia. But wha
concerns her Is that Germany is seek
mastery on the continent and II sh.
could smash Poland, annex Austria
circumscribe and isolate Czechoslovakia
she would be able to face an isolated
France far more powerful proportion
ately than in 1914 France withou
allies would have to face the PoSsibilit!
Of q reopening of the question o
Alsace-Lorraine. She must then choose
between making her defense of Met
and Strasbourg on the Moselle and th'
Rhine or on the Vistula and th'
Danube.
Italy's Aims Undisguised.
On the other hand, Italy has made
no disguise Of her purpose to revise tht
situation in the Mediterranean to hel
own profit and at the expense o.
France. That means in simple term!
that italy seeks in North Africa French
territories such as Tunis, while extreme
Fascist patriots not infrequently rais<
the question of Corsica and even o.
Nice. With all her present allies elm.
mated, what chance would France hav'
later against double attack Of Ital!
on the Alps and Germany on ths
Rhine?
In such situation what must France
and her allies do? Quite obviously
prevent the formation Of this new coali'
tion, block the creation Of what i
called q new balance Of power in Eu'
rope. How? The way is quite simple
Such a coalition can only becom,
formidable when Germany and he
comrades of the World War re-arm
But under the treaties such re-arma
ment is forbidden. Thus France vii
have the law behind her II she seek,