Evening star., 1933-04-30
BY FRANK H. SIMONDS.
7 NNOTICED by Americans whose
attention has been fixed upon


dramatic and even sensational
~ events at home another Of the
great postwar gestures has
ended in nothing. The new Holy ALL
ance, foreshadoWed by the March con-
veryations of Macdonald and Musso-
lini in Rome, has come to nothing. It
has been rejected in fact and, although
accepted in principle by France, it has
been condemned with a violence which
Is significant in all the capitals of the
Little Entente and In Warsaw as well.
Evcl more significant has been the
shift il lIritish opinion. When Mac
Donald went to Rome the Hitler victory
was still news and the sudden attack
just beginning. British public opinion,
although disturbed by the Nczi phe-
nomenon, still remained Sympathetic
with the idea of territorial revision of
the peace treaties. And first in the
British mind was the problem Of Ger
man-Polish frontiers
Even while Macdonald was flying
toward Rome, however, British opinion
was changing rapidly as the news from
Germany flowed in. And the change
was taking place in precisely the quar-
tiers hitherto most favorable to Ger
many and to the cause of revision. It
was the Labor and Liberal newspapers
anc Spokesmen who pronounced deep
and bitter criticism OF the German
course. Almost overnight the sympathy
with Germany which had developed
over all the periods since the close of
the war in all but Tory quarters was
abolished.
Chamberlain Unopposed./
As a result, when Sir Austen Cham
berlain warned the House of Commons
later against all projects of territorial
revision in the light of the treatment
Of the Jewish minority in Germany and
OF the further fact that revision would
mean the transfer of some two millions
of Poles to German rule, not a voice
was raised In opposition to his words
which were approved by Sir John Simon
and later were the basis for a formal
protest on the part of the German gov
ernment.
But the fact cannot be mistaken that
Mussolini's bid for British support of a
program Of treaty revision directed by
his Four Power Club has failed. Ger
many has lost that support and SYM
pathy in Britain without which she
could hope to accomplish little. Even
before he returned home from Rome
Macdonald was already aware of the
fact that his plan nc longer commanded
national support. Thereafter he was
becomingly vague about it..
On the continent, however, this shift
In British opinion had immediate and
enduring consequences. In France the
realization that England was coming
over to the French view of the Ger
man situation strengthened the hands
Of all those who favored sticking to
the alliances and holding to the League.
Moreover, upon the French govern
ment there was now exerted enormous
pressure from Prague, Bucharest and
Warsaw.
In very clear terms Paris was told
that the nations Of the Little Entente,
and notably Czechoslovakia and Ru-
mania. would be forced to make terms
with Berlin-terms which would insure
the creation of colossal Mitteleuropa,
dominated by Htler's Third Reich, first
economically and then politically, and
stretching from the Baltic to the Black
Sea. In no uncertain terms the allies
OF France demanded reinsurance as to
the policy and purpose Of Paris.
Beyond doubt the assurance has been
increasingly satisfactory in recent days.
The French hand is strengthened by
the realization that the British are no
longer sympathetic with any German
project, whether Of territorial or arma-
ment revision. The thing they feared
most-British urging to accept German
or Italian proposals for treaty revision
is no longer a present danger.
1t must, however, be recognized that
the issue itself, the question of terri
torial revision, has become more acute
as result of the Roman expedition of
Macdonald. Poland and the Little En-
tente have been put on final notice of
German and Italian purpose to parti-
ton them and to annex provinces and
cities. The result has been to fortify
enormously the nationalistic elements
IN these countries and at the same time
to create state of permanent nervous
ness and apprehension. Only financial
restraints set limits to actual prepara-
tions for a new war all over Central
and Eastern Europe.
State Of Mind Obstacle.
It IS this state Of mind which is 60
Ing to prove one of the great obstacles
to any progress at an economic confer
ence this Summer. That and the Ger
man situation. For it is obvious that
no real progress can be made in the
direction OF world recovery so long as
Germany remains outside the camp of
the nations working for such recovery
or while Germany and France are
deadlocked within any such coalition.
France, too, must hereafter be under
direct and continued pressure from her
alnes who are menaced by German or
Italian revision programs.