Evening star., 1935-06-02

the recent speech to remove the doubts
and suspicious which the events Of the
past two years have awakened.
1t is possible that Hitler, impressed
by the events of recent months, in
f1uenced by German diplomats who
are aware of the extent and danger Of
their country's present isolation, ad-
vised my military men Of the hopeless
ness of undertaking any war under
present conditions, has not merely laid
aside temporarily but renounced per-
manently the ideas which were ex-
pressed in Mein Kampf. Authority
and experience may have brought with
them perception of the folly and
fatality Of the course outlined in that
book. After all Mussolini who spoke
with equal violence in the beginning
is now counted a good European-if
hardly a good African.
1t May Be Strategy.
On the other hand, Hitler may
merely be resorting to a strategy i'm
posed by the fact that for the present
he can accomplish nothing by force
and at best he can only strive to divide
his present opponents and thus pre-
/ pare the way for future action Of the
sort he once promised. His speech
/ lends itself to that Interpretation by
| those whose not unreasonable suspi-
cions endure. Even they, however.
will be prepared to concede that If this
was the design Of the Reichstag speech
the execution was admirable Spoken
! sincerely, Hitler's words would be un-
answerable and if they were insincere
/ they must prove even more annoying
to those who distrust them.
| Certainly Germany does not want
war now and Hitler does not mean to
precipitate it in any immediate future.
Probably if the truth were fully known,
while Goeringis air force may have the
edge upon that OF any other great
power, Germany's army is not ready
and cannot be made ready for several
years and-what is most important of
all-Germany's economic condition is
such that she does not possess now and
| cannot quickly accumulate stocks of
| those raw materials which she lacks
| and must purchase abroad. And even
! if Germany were ready in the air and
| on land-So far as machines and men
are concerned-to start war without
the material reserves necessary to con-
/ tinue it would be to invite certain ruin
/ to no purpose.
That National Socialist Germany
under Hitler's dictation would well
come the chance to make permanent
peace with both France and Great
Britain seems to me beyond debate
That it would be glad to make o SINH
lar compact with Italy which would
recognize as immutable the Italian as
well as the French frontiers of today
seems equally clear For long time
/ to come an unprovoked attack by the
Reich upon any one of these three
countries or a direct attack upon
Great Britain is unthinkable; it would
almost surely bring all three into ac-
! tion at once, backed by the Little
Entente and the Soviet Union.
On the other hand, that Germany
/ is ready to accept as equally defini-
tive the frontiers which exclude from
/ the Reich the German-speaking popu.
| lation Of Austria and CzechoSlovakia
| appears totally unlikely, particularly
in the light of the recent election In
the latter country. But in all the re-
gion Of the Danube time works for
Germany and not for France and
Italy, who are seeking to halt her
advance by preserving the status quo
of the treaties of st. Germain and of
the Trianon Again, although it may
be possible for Hitler, as long as he
remains in power. to perpetuate the
German-Polish non-aggression pact
which is his greatest achievement in
the field of international relations. it
remains open to question whether any
successor could preserve the Polish
Corridor against Prussian protest.
Big Economic Factor.
But laying aside all territorial and
racial questions. there is one element
which still remains to be reckoned
with. that is the economic. The ma
terial condition of Germany has be-
come incredibly difficult if not actually
desperate because the gradual extern
sion of economic nationaliSm among
all countries has progressively cut
down the sale of German goods
abroad. and therefore reduced pari
passu German capacity to buy the raw
materials without which she cannot
operate her domestic industry. Unless
some escape from that situation can
be diScovered-and presumably 1t
must come through the extension of
foreign credits-Hitler may presently
be faced with a choice between domes-
tic collapse and foreign adventure.
between a successful war of conquest
and a collapse to communism. There
in lies the gravest danger to peace
from Germany-during the next few
years.
1t would be a course of extreme folly
If Great Britain. France and Italy did
not now make Hitler's Reichstag
speech the springboard for new diplo-
matte exchanges. He has offered Ger
man acceptance of non-aggression
pacts with all his neighbors except
Lithuania. He has even intimated
that German return to Geneva would
cease to be impossible on the day
Germany's right to rearm was ac-
knowledged and to recognize what is
in reality soon to be an accomplished
fact would not be too great a conces-
sion.
No one will expect the French, the
Italians or the Soviets to accept Hit
ler's words at their face value, and
while a certain number Of Britons
will. majority certainly will not. But
at the very least it is possible for the
other four great powers of Europe to
act upon the assumption that Hitler's
words are sincere precisely as long as
such action does not involve material
sacrifices or political hazards. If Hit
Ter draws back when an effort is made
to take him at his word. or II he
agrees and later breaks his agree
ments, his own situation and that Of
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| | 2,;J. II. PsoJ.~.