Evening star., 1934-11-11
ITALY ARMS 6-YEAR-OLDS
In EUROPE'S WAR PARADE
Mussolini and Other Rulers, forgetting
Military Horrors, Are Declared
Heading for New Conflict.

in the training of American officers
for the fighting in France, used to re-
peat over and over again in his classes
that you cannot fight men against
machines. This Is even truer today
than it was 20 years ago. The late
William Jennings Bryan drew upon
himself the scorn of practical men
when, during the preparedness cam
paign before America entered the
war, he repeated that In case Of need
million Americans would spring to
arms overnight. His critics annoyed
him by pointing out that they would
have no arms to spring to.
A similar situation exists in parts OF
Europe today Germany in particu-
lar is not yet well enough armed to
risk a war. Some of the other nations
also do not feel that they have large
enough supplies of arms and NUM-
tions to give them any prospect OF
success in the event of general Eu-
ropean war.
Problem Of Alliances.
But it is not only question Of
armaments It is also question OF
alliances. Nations rarely fight alone
in Europe. The old theory was that
by maintaining so-called balance
of power among different groups Of
nations, it was possible to maintain
the peace of Europe. This was true
so long as the nations were organ
lied as they were prior to 1914. Since
has been divided into two main camps
the victors and the vanquished. The
victors have sought and still seek to
hold to their winnings, territorial and
otherwise The defeated nations are
determined to regain as much of their
lost territories as possible. In the
case of Germany the ambition goes
even beyond regaining former parts
of the empire. Germany hopes also
to obtain large remnants of the
broken-up Austro-H Hungarian empire.
This is at the bottom of Germany's
efforts to annex Austria. Should she
succeed in doing so she will become
the most powerful nation on the con-
tinent of Europe. This is why the
other nations are almost Solidly united
against her. Her only friends-if
such they may be called-are Hun
gary, which like herself wishes to re-
gain lost territories; Poland, which
has made truce with Germany, in
the belief that she can thus better
build up her own strength so as to
resist ultimate German invasion, and
YugoSlavia, which stands in such
mortal fear of Italy that it might
welcome stronger Germany as a
check against Italian ambitions.
Not Believed Far-Sighted.
In the case of Poland and Yugo-
slavia it is hard to feel that the pro-
German elements are very far sighted.
This is particularly true of Yugo-
slavia, which seems to have forgotten
the history of German development,
and which does not realize that Ger
many asa neighbor could be much
more genuinely harmful to Yugoslav
interests than Italy, if for no other
reason than that an enlarged Ger
many would be so much stronger than
Italy can ever hope to be.
But there is no doubt that new
groupings of nations in Europe are
in progress. AS yet it Is too early to
see just what the result will be. Un-
til Russia once more becomes a DOW
erful factor in the European picture
there can be no certainty as to the
direction which European politics will
take. Now, as during the last hun
dred years, the key is in eastern Eu-
rope. This is why the recent murder
of King Alexander Of Yugoslavia was
of worldwide concern.
Those observers who know Europe
best are looking forward with dread
to the day when Germany. either by
herself or by the accession of useful
allies, will be strong enough to have
a chance of success in a war in which
most OF the rest of Europe would
once more be lined up against her.
They are fully aware of Germany's
desire to make war. They also realize
the potential danger in Italy's new
policy of mobilizing even the chill
dren. But they feel that so long as
the balance of power in Europe is
very uneven-So long as the anti
German group holds a preponderance
In armed forces-there is no likeli-
mood OF a German war-always bar
ring some unforeseen collapse in the
present political lineup in Europe.
At the same time they recognize the
possibility of war between Italy and
resulting from some fool
lsh acts of young hotheads. They
realize that such a war might spread
to the rest of Europe. But they also
know that such war would be easier
to nip in the bud than would be a
war in which Germany was one of
the principal participants.
Tragedy in Chaos.
In the meantime, what of the chill
dren of Italy and Germany, trained
from a tender age to be "kannonen
futter"? The most that can be said
is that in the process they acquire
self-control and a good
physique, together with a conscious
ness that there are greater interests
than those Of the individual and the
family, and greater responsibilities
than are dictated by mere personal
whim.
The true tragedy lies in the fact
that even the young men, already in
arms today are ready and eager to
fight. neither knowing nor caring that
in the process they will bring down
European civilization in ruins and
plunge the worlds culture back into
chaos. The so-called peace which
began when the armistice was signed
in a railroad car near the Franco
German front 16 years ago has ap-
parently taught Europe but little.