Evening star., 1936-11-20
BY WALTER DURANTY.

tllc CuCuIlStdICcc WHICH Ilhu DttIl
expected; second, that 1t is further
proof of Italo-German solidarity.
The two great Fascist powers, thus
indubitably associated in their Span
ish adventure, had reckoned that, by
November IS, Franco would be the
undisputed master Of Madrid. They
had thought that his triumphant
progress, to which they had both con-
tributed so materially, would be
crowned before mid-November by the
conquest of the Spanish capital with
little less difficulty than his occupa-
ton Of Toledo a month earlier. In
stead, he was met by strong and
desperate resistance, and although the
Moors and Legionaries who have been
the spearhead of his whole campaign
have now crossed the Manzanares
River and penetrated to University
City, 1t Is still too soon to say that
he has won the victory.
Instead. therefore, of Italo-G German
recognition being the conservation OF
success, 1t appears in historical per-
spective as a lifebuoy, a gesture Of aid
to a cause that is not yet won. like
the charge of the old guard at Water
loo when Napoleon risked his all to
win before Blucher could break his
flank.
Expectation Upset.
The Madrid battle Of the past two
weeks has not only upset the general
expectation of Frances easy success;
it has revealed the underlying weak
ness Of a daring military adventure,
well-conceived, admirably handled.
strongly supported. and gallantly exc
cuted. but nevertheless representing
in the final instance an attack Of
| alien forces, aided by alien treasure
and equipment, against the funda-
mental liberties Of people. In Amer
ican history, the name of the Hessians
afford a ready parallel to Franco S
use of Moorish and foreign mercen-
aries.
Italo-German recognition OF the
Franco regime has a further sig
nificance. 1t implies an admission
of fact which this country, in the
heat of a bitterly contested election,
failed to recognize; to wit, that the
militarist rebellion in Spain was and
Is an essential part of Hitler's pro-
gram. Save for an accident, the
leader of the rebels would not be
Gen. Francisco Franco but Gen Jose
Sanjurjo, a Paladin of courage whose
exploits rivalled those Of the Cid
Campeador himself.
Sanjurjo was the sole double pos
SCISSOR of the "laureat order of valor,"
which corresponds to the Congress
sional Medal or the Victoria Cross.
When the rebellion broke out in July,
he was in Portugal He boarded a
plane at the Lisbon airdrome to fly
to Burgos or some other point in
Spain, where he would take COM
mand Of the rebel forces. The plane
crashed at the take off and Sanjurjo
died with his boots on" like a
soldier, as he had lived.
But that is not the point. The
point is that, before coming to Por-
tugal, he had spent several months
In Berlin in close contact with the
German leaders.
In Frances case, too, there is an
incident worthy of mention. Before
the July rebellion, Franco was in
Majorca. not actually disgraced but
regarded with suspicion by the Frente
popular government. Franco entered
Spain in an airplane flown by a
young Englishman, who perhaps was
neither Fascist nor q Fascist agent
but was inspired by the romantic
Fascism Of the Scarlet Pimpernel'
novels and movie plays which have
been 90 popular in England.
Puzzling British Position.
The position Of England at the pres
ent time is one Of the major European
puzzles, not only in regard to Spain.
As q whole the country Is liberal and
democratic-that is to say, anti-Fas-
ciSt and undoubtedly anti-war. On the
other hand, there is small but influ-
ential group in British ruling circles,
perhaps even in the cabinet itself.
which Is not unsympathetic to Ger
many and to the Fascist program, and
which is willing, perhaps, to accept the
Fascist thesis that democracy can be
defeated by calling it, as Hitler called
1t at Nuremberg, a channel or ap-
proach to bolshevism.
No unbiased observer of present-day
Europe can fail to recognize that the
objective Of NaA Germany is the revi-
sion Of the territorial clauses of the
treaty Of Versailles. And why not?
Germany was beaten in 1918 and the
treaty Of Versailles, as it was drafted.
not as President Wilson wanted to
draft it, embodied the phrase first
coined by q conqueror of German
blood $500 years ago in Rome when
Brennus said, "Woe to the van
quished," and threw his sword into the
scales which had been symbolically
erected to decide the terms of peace
OF course, it is natural and logical
that Germany should wish to regain
what 1t had lost. That, when you 60
down to fundamentals, Is the secret Of
Hitlers' success. He found Germany
PROSTATE and he made it strong; he
told his people, Follow me and will
break their treaty" So they followed
him and already he has broken q great
deal Of it.
His support of the Spanish militarist
rebellion Is part and piece Of his whole
policy; it is an extension into foreign
affairs of the occupation Of the Rhine
land last March.
Hitler was fortunate in finding that
Italy was not only willing but eager to
cooperate in his support of the Fas-
cist coup d'etat In Spain. The Balearic
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