Evening star., 1934-05-27
BY PERTINAX.

~ AuAASA w o6AOO o10aO t4AC OH
plication Of the peace treaties.
The first break took place as early as
March, 1920, when Mr.. Millerand,
then prime minister, had the town OF
Frankfurt occupied by French troops
which garrisoned the Rhineland. The
of the French soldiers from
the trenches of Tchanak, where they
had stood at the side of the British.
in October, 1922-a happening which
ended the solidarity of the allies to-
ward Turkey-was the second rupture.
The seizure of the Ruhr in January.
1928, was the third.
In December, 1882, the refusal of
the French Parliament to comply with
Mr.. Ramsay MacDonald's advice in
relation to the payment of the Ameri-
can war debt can be regarded as the
fourth great Anglo French divergence.
And now the rejection in Paris of the
basis Of compromise, put forward
last January by the British foreign
office as possible solution of the
problem of disarmament, again sepa-
rates France from England.
In every previous occasion the
French ministers, after having as
serted their freedom of movement
and made some headway in the
direction of their own choosing.
sought for a settlement with the Lon
don cabinet. and reached it at the
cost Of extensive concessions to the
British point of view. This time the
case may prove different, because the
compromise" drafted in London
three months ago rests upon the as
sumption that the Germans would be
willing to keep their "rearmament"
within fairly moderate limits. Such
an assumption is likely to be. set to
naught by all sorts of new develop
ments.
Question Vital for Europe.
What are the prospects of Franco
British cooperation? No question is
of more vital interest to the future of
Europe. 1t is commonplace to say
that were France and England united
in thought and in action the peace of
Europe could not be challenged by
any one for long span of years. For
instance, the best judges of interna-
tional affairs are wont to repeat that
the great lesson learned by the Ger
mans during the World War is that
never again must they attempt to fight
a coalition of the two Western democ-
racies.
A survey Of the causes which led to
the disintegration of the entente cor
dale" is necessary if we are to con-
slider its chances of being revived
before We can say whether it has to
be regarded as corpse or as phenix
that can rise again from its ashes.
The disappearance in England of
every feeling of continental solidarity
with France can be accounted for as
follows:
Since the fifteenth century, since
the end of the long-drawn war with
France. which finally constituted
England as an island nation, the wisest
leaders of the kingdom have consid-
cred that they had better mix as sell
dom and as little as possible with the
strifes of the European states, that
their only interests in them ought to
be limited to the maintenance and
safeguarding Of balance of power,
so as to prevent any single govern
ment from acquiring so much power
that 1t could turn against the British
realm with a united continent at its
back. Little by little feeling of
racial distinctiveness, and even of su-
periority, has strengthened that pol
icy and finally has made it an appar-
emily interchangeable tradition. The
enormous commercial. financial and
colonial expansion of the Victorian age
has been interpreted as a justification
of its soundness and righteousness.
Splendid isolation; no prouder Ger
tiflcate of enduring triumph was ever
coined in any country.
Aim Always to Aid Weaker.
It's practical application is very sim
ple-always to associate with the
weaker nations against the stronger,
and when, as the outcome of the fight
which British sea power is unfail-
ingly sure to make victorious-the
stronger nation has been brought to
book and appears likely to become the
underdog. to gently. but firmly. move
to its side-thus restoring equilibrium
at the expense of the associates of
yesterday.
Such was the game played by
CaStlereagh in 1914 on the morrow of
Napoleons defeat. Nine months had
not elapsed since Bonaparte's exile to
Elba; yet the British foreign minister
was actually appending his signature
to treaty of alliance with France
and Austria Uanuary 3, 1879, di-
rected against Russia and Prussia,
which had stood in the English al
lance for about 20 years. No wonder
that Mr.. Lloyd George should have
exclaimed in 1919 in the midst of the
peace conference: "I mean to behave
as Castlereagh"
The growing influence of the do
minions with the British common
wealth, the prospects of an intimate
cooperation with the United States
(Which by then could be reasonably
entertained) gave great momentum to
Mr.. Lloyd Georges ideas. But there
were so many ties between the great
allies of the war, the signatories of
the treaty of alliance of September,
1914. that it was not so easy for the
London cabinet to disentangle itself
from European affairs. For one thing,
innumerable provisions in the various
peace treaties. the pact of assistance
to France and the Leagues covenant
itself appeared at first sight to fix it
in the continental quagmire.
League Gave Way of Escape.
In practice the League of Nations
supplied a way of escape. OF course,
If the pact of assistance had been
ratified, if the articles In the COW
enant had been interpreted and car
ried out in accordance with the orig
inal spirit of its promoters, If all the
signatories had been really determined
to enforce its Article x guaranteeing
all frontiers as well as the political
independence Of the member states)
and its Article XVI (providing for
automatic sanctions of an economic
and military nature to be carried
out against an aggressor), it would
not have proved possible for Mr.. Lloyd
George and his successors to retreat
from the continent and to let all
international contracts 60 to the dogs.
but in rapid succession the Senate
Of Washington dissociated America at
one single stroke from the pact of
IL