Evening star., 1935-06-19
Anglo-Cerman Naval Deal.


diplomatic transaction in postwar his
tory. Great Britain and Germany have
signed q permanent and definite" naval
agreement, whereby Germany receives
the right to total tonnage at the ratio
of IS to 100 for Great Britain. The
pact nullifies the clauses of the YER
sailles treaty restricting the Reich to a
fleet of 10000 tons and permits her
to build one aggregating roundly AGO.
600 TONS The most startling feature
of the agreement is that which grants
Germany nominal parity in submarines,
and actually and Immediately forty-five
per cent of British strength in that
category. The official explanation OF
the submarine concession is that British
tonnage in that type Of ship is so much
smaller than the French that Germany
considered that the general treaty ratio
of thirty-five per cent would not give
her a reasonable proportion of undersea
vessels as compared with France.
Germany is naturally elated over hav-
ing delivered this final death blow to
the treaty of Versailles. The Reich Is
particularly overjoyed at its triumph in
recovering the right to rearm with sub
marines, freely granted by that power
which was the chief victim OF U-boat
warfare. On the heels of his success in
defying the military clauses of the peace
treaty, Hitler's achievement in destroy
ing its naval provisions, with British
sanction, makes his victory complete.
Nazi diplomacy is entitled to plume itself
over the amazing results, which are
hailed at Berlin as the dawn Of a new
day.
France is grievously upset over these
developments. She finds it difficult to
reconcile them with repeated assurances
that the bedrock of British policy is to
do nothing capable of creating breach
with France. The British thesis is that
as the Versailles treaty was irrevocably
broken by Germany's unilateral violation
of the military clauses and as the Reich
is already creating mighty air force
and laying down submarines, the only
realistic policy is to keep Germany's
rearmament within bounds by freely
negotiated agreements. The British
argue that they have proceeded in the
manner best designed to prevent the
outbreak of unrestricted naval COM
petition. 1t is more than open to doubt
that such reasoning will appeaSe French
anxieties over a situation that now car
ries the triple threat of Reich rearmed
by land, sea and air. Nor is Italy, al
ready irritated over alleged British inter-
ference in the Abyssinian affair, likely
to look with favor upon British con-
nivance in plans that will make the
Gefmans the equal, if not the superior,
of the italians in sea power.
The Anglo German agreement ap-
parently contemplates new naval con-
ference in which Germany will partici-
pate and at which Britain presumably
would seek to have the 100-to-35 per
cent general tonnage ratio she has allo-
Gated to the Germans ratified. Whether
that comes to pass or not, the agreement
is apparently to stand as a bilateral
Anglo German arrangement. Germany
reserves the right to propose an increase
of her ratio "if the general equilibrium
of naval armaments is violently upset"
On the face of things yesterdays
events in London throw out of the win
dow not only the remnant of the defunct
treaty of Versailles, but also the WASH
ington. and London naval treaties. That
clothes the Anglo German deal with an
international aspect of which it can
hardly be that the last has been heard.
SReS-$-