Evening star., 1936-01-01
YEARS PROGRESS
/, GRAT|F|ES NAz|S
Rebuilding of War Machine
Greatest Foreign Policy
Triumph.
BY WALLACE r. DEUEL..

hA hiAR0A b1AAv 4NofNSbo W AO0AAcoAN
standard-the year has been one of
decided success, both at home and
abroad. The price for these sue
cesses has been . high one, but the
MANS think 1t Is not too high.
In foreign policy the greatest
triumph Of the year has been the
defiant rebuilding of the German war
machine, which no other country or
combination of countries has dared
or cared to challenge. The second
greatest triumph has been the COL
lapse Of the united front formed at
Stresa (by Great Britain, France and
Italy against Germany and the sign
ing of a naval treaty with England.
The naval agreement was espe ecially
significant because it came after
Reichsfuehrer Adolf Hitler had laid
far more of his cards on the table
Tin his conversations with Sir John
Simon, then British foreign minister)
than the German foreign Office itself
thought it was either wise or neces-
sary to do.
Minorities Strengthened.
In three adjacent territories the
Nazis have strengthened the position
of the German minorities during
l935-the Saar. Memel and Austria.
1t Is possible to question whether the
Saar vote was a Nal victory, but the
world as a whole accepted 1t as such.
and this in itself makes it important
whether the world was right or wrong.
On the whole. furthermore. the re-
absorption of the Saar into the Reich
is proceeding in a manner which does
credit to the Nazis.
In Memel the German vote was
approximately the same as it had been
in the last previous election before the
NaI revolution in the Reich. But
Lithuania lost q good deal Of prestige
through the election by a breakdown
of the voting system: and, much more
| important, the Lithuanians after the
election set up German government
| in Memel.
The Nazis' policy in Austria ha.
been to keep the pot boiling but moi
to try to make it boil over. This policy
| apparently has been successful
Coupled with the unpopularity Of the
Austrian governments pro-Italiar
policy, Nazi activities there seem tt
have resulted in strengthening oi
the German position.
In Danzig, on the other hand, the
Nazis have definitely lost ground. The
Nazi vote in the last election there
declined somewhat. The World Cour,
discredited the party by finding il
guilty of serious vote frauds, and the
Nazi government of the Free City oi
Danzig discredited itself by badly
bungling economic and financial prob.
lens.
Campaign for Colonies.
Another gain of German foreign
policy during the year has been the
acceptance in principle by foreign
public opinion Of the Nazis' new cam
paign for colonies. The party has re.
gained in this respect the appreciablt
amount Of ground 1t lost in the first
two years of its rule.
Alsi. the Reich's keeping of q fire.
hand through all the complicated in.
ternational negotiations and shifts ir
power has been of great value to Ger.
many. The Nazis have successful,
refused to commit themselves in re.
spect of disarmament. the League o.
Nations, an air Locarno treaty, tn,
eastern pact and the Danubian treaty
Since Germany's relative power Il
constantly growing. this freedom O.
action Is precious asset.
Certin progress has been made a
the same time in attacking the prob
lem of the demilitariz.d Rhineland
Germany began the year by exploring
the possibility Of refusing any longel
to recognize this zone. This explora
tion convinced the Nazis that such ,
gesture would be too dangerous for tn,
time being, and Gen. Hermann Goer
ing, Reich's aviation minister ant
Prussian premier, openly declared tina
the Reich would continue to respec
the zone. But the foreign ONCE ha
never stopped to nibble at the lega
aspect Of the problem and probabl,
has done much to prepare the groun,
for the ultimate militarization of thi
region.
Olympic Games Triumph.
One Of the recent triumphs of Ger
man foreign policy has been the de
cision of the United States to take par
in the Olympic games next year II
Berlin. Much is said about the loss o
foreign good will which the Nazis hav
caused, but the Nazis cannot take thi
talk too seriously If Great Britain still
is willing to sign treaties with tn
Reich and America still Is willing t,
compete here In athletics.
The unwillingness Of foreign gov
ernments to take any action in retail
iation against the mistreatment Of thei
citizens and violations of their terri
torial sovereignty Is also . good omeI
for the Nazis.
The American government in par
ticular has, by Its acceptance of th'
Nazi policy in the first Of these re-
CARDS, done much to encourage tn,
government here. American citizen
have been Disseminated against be
cause Of their race. American citizen
have been arrested and imprisoned To-
several months at a time without hav
ing charges brought against them
American citizens have been tried be
fore political tribunals. And tn,
American government has not ever
once raised an eyebrow. much les
asked even the most deferential o
questions about these proceeding
throughout the year. Practical poll
tics being what they are. these fact
point q very interesting moral to tn.
Nazis.
With two exceptions, political mur
i daHn - LiA~A~I- ~.