Evening star., 1933-09-03
BY FRANK H. SIMONDS.
Asst week I wrote of the disarray
in the ranks of the signatories

Ao1 WtSh / WIOle VI lIlc QlSdII dy
in the ranks of the signatories
of the four-power pact which
IL had been produced by the Nazi
attack upon the Dollfuss regime
In Austria That disarray continues
and the struggle which has been pre-
cipitated gains in importance daily.
Literally what is at stake is not the
mere question of union between the
ktich and the mutilated fragment of
the oId Hapsburg territory on the nearer
bark of the Leitha but the existing po-
iiti:al and territorial system of all Gen.
trail and even Eastern Europe.
Stupid as the followers Of Hitler
have been in awakening the apprehen-
sions of all their neighbors. and even
In arousing British concern by their
efforts to revive German sentiments
among the populations Of their cid
African colonies. now British or South
Africa. they have made no mistake
IN directing their main thrust at Aus
tria. Moreover although Italy. Britain
and France in their several ways have
disclosed a purpose t. maintain the
status quo on the Danube, there is as
yet nothing to suggest ia. the NaZls
Will not win eVc',tually.
What such victory would mean, too
must not be mistaken No. only would
100000 Austrians be added to the
$50 900 Germans of the Reich, but
the fate Of 100000 people living in
the Czech provinces of Bohemia, Nc
ravia and the old Austrian Silesia would
similarly be decided. For this western
fraction of Czechoslovakia would be-
come mere Cape Cod projecting into
the German ethnic sea and the situa-
ton would be made more desperate by
the presence of 100000 Germans in
this territory.
Would Isolate Czech State.
Once seated at Vienna, the Nazis
Vouic be able to st-angle the Czech
state economically. isoiete it milita,liy
and, through the German minority in
II, divide it politically. Again, once they
positaSed a common frontier with the
FunGarlans. they would be able easily
u sltplInt Italy in Budapest by offer
ing the MagyarS their ancient Slovakan
proVlrce with its considerable Hun
garlan minority in return for an al.
lance And they Would also be able
tc offer the Magyars market for their
large grain surplus not otherwise dis
CO. II { Die
But this would be to restore the
Mitteleuropa of the World War era.
The combined population of the Reich,
Austria and Western Czechoslovakia
would reach to 80 900 O0O with a Say
minority Of only 100000 of Czechs.
In addition, the population of the
Magyar ally, swollen by the return of
Hovakia, would amount to 100000.
And against such a solid block, what
could France and Italy hope to ac-
complish even if they were able to work
together, which is extremely unlikely.
For France, this restoration of Nit
teleuropa would mean the end of Euro
pean control. The Little Entente would
be shattered, Czechoslovakia parti-
toned, Rumania isolated, YugoSlavia
driven to make terms with Berlin,
which would be easy, for the enduring
enemy Of the southern Slavs is Italy.
Nor would it be difficult for the Ger
mans to bring about a territorial re-
adjustment between Budapest and Bel
grade which would satisfy the Magyars
without calling upon the Serbs to make
considerable sacrifice
Poland Would Be Abandoned.
But with the Little Entente abolished,
France would be forced to abandon
Poland and, in effect, retire behind
her own frontiers, with only the British
guarantee contained in the Locarno
pact to insure her against an eventual
German attempt to recover AlSace-
Lorraine. AS for the chief French ally.
Poland. it would be left to its fate and
compelled, probably after military de-
feat. to consent to a new partition
involving the loss of the Corridor,
Posen and Upper Silesia-all the prov
1nceS recovered by the treaty of Ver-
sailles.
But the situation of Italy would be
far more precarious She would then
have common frontier with Germany
from the Brenner to the hinterland of
Trieste And the new Germany would
certainly seek to recover not only the
Austrian land in the Upper Tyrol still
inhabited by a German-speaking ma
jority, but also Trieste, the traditional
port of the Holy Roman Empire upon
the Adriatic. Automatically. therefore,
Italy would be forced to surrender her
dream of replacing France as the
dominating power in the Danube and
of becoming the chief Mediterranean
state. In addition, her own unity
would be endangered alike in the Tren-
tino and at Trieste.
Whether she then became the ally
of France or Of Germany, Italy would
in either case have to accept the role
of a subordinate power and all the
Fascist dreams of third Rome would
vanish in thin air A new triple alli-
ance of France. Italy and Britain
might emerge, but it would hardly be
able to stand against the new German