Evening star., 1934-09-16

it is upon the fulfllment of those
expectations that the prospects Of es-
tablishing his dictatorship on an en-
during basis rest.
So far events have gone against
him. 1t is true that he has enor-
mously intensified the disquiets ano
alarms of Europe, but, apart from
his dramatic stroke in quitting the
Disarmament Conference and the
League of Nations, he has done
nothing to strike the imagination oi
the outside world with the sense oi
Germany's power. And that stroke
though sensational at the time, Is
now seen to have been gesture
Of the theater, without any driving
power behind it.
The only result has been to leave
his country more isolated than ii
has been at any time since the war
He has reawakened all the fears and
suspicious of France just at the time
when a more reasonable and accom-.
modating spirit was taking charge oi
affairs in that country. He has for
feited the friendship of Italy, the
country to which his system of gov
ernment is most akin. His relations
with Russia are those Of undisguised
hostility. And, most serious of all
is the change of attitude his activi-
ties have wrought in England.
X X X
1t is not too much to say that
before Hitler's accession to power the
sympathies of this country had swung
definitely to the side Of Germany.
We felt that Germany had been
badly treated. We were tired of being
led by the nose by France. We hated
the Poincare policy of envelopine
Germany with bayonets. We wanted
peaceful reconstruction of Europe
and saw no way to it through the
Vaccinations of the Quai d'Orsay.
That was the position when Hitlel
snatched Office. Today British feel
ing is as distrustful of Germany as il
was in 1914. It still deplores the
French policy that paved the way for
Hitler, but it has to face facts as they
are, and the whole trend of events
in Hitler's Germany has shocked pub
lie opinion and driven it, despite it.
self, back into the orbit Of France
1t is significant that the bitterest
feelings toward Germany today pre-
vail in quarters which we're most
friendly to her in 1914. 1t is not tie
to enter Germany. That stalwart ad-
vocate of fair play to Germany in the
past, the Manchester Guardian, is
forbidden to enter, too.
Nor, in making Germany friend
less. has Hitler so far any positive
achievements in the foreign field to
his credit. The three most acute
grievances of Germany since the war
have centered in % the Polish Cor
ridor; (2) the Saar; CD Austria. 1t
was in these matters that Hitler was
most confidently expected to deliver
the goods" And it is in these mat
ters that his failure is most con-
spicuous. 1t is true that he has got
rid of the Polish Corridor grievance,
but he has only got rid of it by put
ting it in cold storage for 10 years
wisely, I think, but this was not what
was expected of him.
X X X
On the Austrian issue. his record
is calamitous. Two years ago Ger
many and Austria were on good terms
and anxious for a closer alliance. Eu-
ropean opinion, outside the French
circle of influence, was favorable to
the "anschluss" and some sort OF
union of the two countries seemed
inevitable. Hitler, by his policy ot
the high hand, has destroyed this
possibility. He has converted Austria
from friend into an enemy. He has
killed the "anschluss" idea stone dead
He has made Austrian independence
inviolable and in doing so has turned
Mussolini from something like an ally
into his most aggressive foe.
And he seems to be making an
equal hash of the Saar. Nothing was
more certain two years ago than that
when the plebescite takes place in the
Saar next January that region would
be restored to Germany by the vote
of the people. That certainty is gone
In antagonizing the Catholic Church
Hitler has enormously strengthened
the Socialist opposition to the return
of the Saar to Germany, and the ag-
gressive Nazi propaganda is creating
as much resentment there as it has
done in Austria. 1t is quite in the
cards that the vote will go against
Germany and in favor of the status
quo. Even If the vote is favorable to
Hitler, it is doubtful whether the
League, as the guardian of the rights
of minorities, will ratify it. 1t will
certainly not do so without strong
guarantees against prosecutions such
as those which have disgraced the
- q rule In c.. l. 3..y.
lCopyright. 1934l