Evening star., 1934-04-22
Is Disarmament Lost?

! contrast to the German military es-
tablishment. Its main strength lies in
the trained reServists. In truth, the
army as it exists in peace time is ex-
| pected to disappear on the first day Of
mobilization 1t enters in the melting
pot from which. in combination with
reserves outnumbering it by 90 to l, it
will resurge, three or four weeks after
ward, in the form of the great army
/ that will wage the war. But in the
mean time, during that premobiliza-
ton period, what force is goinC to bear
the brunt of the battle?
! Such is the really weak spot in
Frances national defense. For many
| years it was assumed by the French
general staff. by the cabinets and par
/ liamentary commissions which worked
out the French military system that
! the Germany Army would undergo
| the same lengthy process of mobiliza-
ton and that the French and the
| German forces would emerge practi-
| cally at the same time. But the ex-
| istence of the German military socie-
| ties has persuaded the French staff
to revise its ideas on the subject and
not to dismiss offhand. as unreal.
contingency whereby about 250,000
Frenchmen would have to try to hold
| four or five times as many Germans
in check.
To obviate that danger. either the
German military societies ought to be
diSbanded altogether (Which seems to
be out of the question because they
are the main pillar of the Hitlerian
I -. s-Nf
active service with the colors ought
to be heightened to 18 months or
years so as to increase the number
of men Immediately available.
I notice that in League Of Nations
and disarmament conference circles
various combinations are being con-
sidered to bring the French and the
German Armies nearer to equality in
the generalization period: under
them. probably, some provision would
be made for increasing the permanent
electives of the French Army. But
we are, then, no longer engaged in
disarmament. We would be under
taking to bring about a balance Of
military power under international
supervision, to regulate the growth Of
military power not only in France
and Germany, but, mind you, in all
European countries. Would it not be
superhuman to succeed in such a
venture? And what form of interna-
tional control would be adequate.
Problems Fundamentals.
Such is the problem reduced to its
fundamentals. In good logic it could
only be solved by the creation of an
omnipotent League Of Nations hav-
ing at its command physical means
Of such magnitude that no single
state would ever be bold enough to
challenge its DEGREES. But as long as
territorial controversies continue to
rage all over Europe it would be use
less to strengthen the League.
Alternatively, a Franco-British mil
itary alliance perhaps would serve the
same purpose as regards Western Eu-
rope. But were either system within
the bounds of practical possibilities
German rearmament would not have
developed on such a huge scale, for
the bitter memories of the war years,
reawakened by the prospects of an
anti-German coalition, would have
prevented the German people from
lending support to a policy Of war;
like revenge likely to lead to a new
disaster. Then moral disarmament
which necessarily holds the key to
physical disarmament-would have
been permittkd to run its course