Evening star., 1935-04-11
The British at Stresa.

There is only one fair certainty
about the momentous Anglo-French-
Italian conference assembled at Stresa
today to deal with the German re-
armament crisis. That certainty Is
that Great Britain holds the key to
the situation. If there is to be
action worthy of the name-action
genuinely capable of restraining Nazi
ambitions to redraw the map of
Europe-it Is evident that the British
must pledge themselves to take part
in it to the full limit of their power.
They must, in short, should the
emergency arise, be prepared to fight
alongside their continental associates
to preserve Europe from aggression.
Anything short of British readiness
to line up with France, Italy,
Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union
against any menace emanating from
Hitler's Reich, will be envisioned at
Berlin as a Europe divided against
itself, a Europe which the Germans
can dare to defy as they ventured
to do twenty-one years ago.
The 1914 parallel springs readily to
mind in contemplation of present-hour
conditions. There is a growing body
of historical opinion that 1t was the
indecision of British policy in the
weeks Immediately preceding August
that mainly encouraged the Kaiser's
government to essay its mad gamble,
in the belief that it ran little risk of
confronting Britain as an enemy.
Many authorities are convinced that
if Sir Edward Grey had let Berlin
know unmistakably that hostilities
would find the British army and
navy ranged alongside France and
Belgium, the war would have been
postponed, if not altogether pre-
vented. Grey could not give any such
assurance because of divided counsels
in London. Germany launched her
thunderbolts and Armageddon re-
suited.
Divided counsels once more prevail
in Britain, as another threat to peace
darkens the European horizon.
France and Italy, nearer to the peril
geographically, incline to favor an
outright military alliance of the three
Western powers as the only practical
method of discouraging and thwarting
Germany. There is little British en-
thusiasm over that proposal. An Ital-
ian spokesman, now at Stresa, puts
the matter succinctly. THE bigger
commitment the British make on the
continent" he says, the less COM
mitment they actually make. That
is, the more Britain is willing to
pledge herself now to a three-power
accord, the less dangerous it will be
for her, because it will call halt on
Germany"
The British have arrived in Stresa
determined not to commit themselves
until after further exploration" of
the situation. For the moment their
aim Is pan-E European security agree
ment under the auspices of the League
Of Nations, coupled with continued
effort to bring Germany into such a
collective system. Hitler told Sir
John Simon in Berlin the other day
the price at which the Reich Is ready
to live in peace with its neighbors. It
is price hardly any one Of them is
willing to pay. 1t must presently be
disclosed whether Britain is inclined
to do business with the Nazis on their
truculent terms or join the rest of
Europe in resisting them. Perhaps the
revelation that Goering already COM
mands an air force the equal of
Britain's will help John Bull to decide
in which direction his best inter-
estS lie.