Evening star., 1936-03-15
GERMANY'S GREAT ARMY
ORGANIZED WITH SPEED
Even French Military Men Marvel at
Completeness of War-Like Prepa.
ratiOns of Hitler's Forces.

SduoSo VI EuIUpco NICiUuo ClICic, ~
may be pointed out that the Hitler
regime itself is in part the product
Of the French policy from Versailles
on. Perhaps the fundamental ques.
ton at this moment is, Can Hitler
be trusted under any circumstances"
If he signs treaties tomorrow, will he
abide by them? Now evidence to the
contrary which Is pointed to is of
course Der Fuehrer's act on Saturday
in denouncing without, warning the
| Locarno treaty, which less than a
year before he had undertaken pub
licly to respect, ''as long as the other
parties to the contract on their part
abide by the pact"
1t is suggested Der Fuehrer's claim
that France in negotiating the
Franco-Soviet pact had broken the
Locarno treaty was not sufficient
excuse for his sudden unilateral de-
nunciation and that Hitler to accom-
plish his end should have resorted to
machinery provided in the pact itself
for his denunciation. Moreover. 1t is
pointed out that the ground on which
many observers eondoned Hitler's
move year ago in scrapping the mill
tary clauses of the Versailles treaty
| does not exist in the case Of the
Locarno denunciation, since the lat
ter pact was freely negotiated.
Examination of Course.
Consideration of the question as to
whether Der Fuehrer is likely to abide
by his engagement in the future ne
cessitates an examination of the en-
| gagements which he proposes to make.
In brief, his project as announced last
Saturday is: First, 25-year non-
| aggression pact between France. Bel
gium, Germany and possibly Holland,
the pact to be guaranteed by Great
Britain and Italy; second, demili-
tarized zone extending on either side
of Germany's western frontier: third,
a western air Locarno: fourth, BIZ
lateral nom aggression pacts with Ger
manys neighbors to the east and
southeast, including under certain
conditions Lithuania: fifth, the return
Of Germany to the League, with the
understanding that in due time the
colonial problem will be tackled and
the League statute will be separated
| from the Versailles treaty.
Assuming that this security pro-
gram were to be carried out in full, at
what point might Hitler be expected
| to violate its provisions or attempt to
circumvent them? In his speech be-
| fore the Reichstag Der Fuehrer said:
After three years ended today, Ibelieve
I can regard the struggle for German
equality as concluded. We have no
territorial demands to make in Europe.
We know that all tension which arises
from the wrong territorial provisions
or disproportion between the sizes. of
national populations and their living
space cannot be solved in Europe by
war. We hope human wisdom will
help alleviate the pain of this condi-
ton and allay the tension by the
method of gradual evolution in friendly
| cooperation"
The Austrian question comes to
mind Immediately. Let us assume that
at some future date Austria were to
experience a Berlin-inspired NaZi
coup; that Austria were to demand"
| thification with Germa1, and that
Berlin we're to accept" this German
state into the Reich. In the light of
what he has already done. does it ap-
pear likely that there is anything in
such series of developments which
Der Fuehrer could not explain away
even if the security project outlined
had been fully realized?
Aggression in Saar.
The non-aggresSion pact with Aus
tria would not stand in the way, for
there would be no overt aggression.
Moreover, Berlin might be able to
argue even that events had nothing to
do with the territorial demand on
the part of the Reich. It should not
be forgotten that so far, unless the
return of the Saar to the Reich be
attributed to his influence, Hitler has
accomplished nothing toward the
realization Of the first point In his
original Nazi program. That point
reads: I'VE demand the union Of all
the Germans in greater Germany in
accordance with the right of self
determination. Though he says moth
ing on the subject these days, there
can be no question but that Hitler still
desires to realize the anschluss In his
lifetime. not only because he himself
is an Austrian but because through
such an accomplishment he would be
following in the footsteps of Bismarck,
the great unifier of Germany.
To understand Hitler one must keep
in mind that, however lacking he may
be in the qualities which Bismarck
manifested, he is a great admirer
of the Iron Chancellor. Incidentally.
it is apropos to note that Bismarck
usually found some means for cir
cumventing treaties when treaties
stood in the way of the realization
Of his plans. 1t is a fair guess that
If Hitler survives the present i'm.
broglio he will remain relatively quiet
for some time to come. A fragrant
denunciation of the new treaty, of
course, would serve to destroy what
is left of his reputation for integrity.
Moreover, on the present occasion,
the threat of armed resistance is
proving so formidable that Der
Fuehrer is unlikely In the near future
to take a step, even one not barred
by treaty obligations, which would
be calculated to precipitate tempest
of like fury about his head. Despite
what has been said, it is likely that |
by and large the future move Of
Hitler on the European chess board |
will be limited more by the threat of
armed resistance than by treaties.