Evening star., 1936-09-20

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be wiser, under present European con-
ditions, to remain quiet. But arms and
ammunition for the Magyar army are
being earmarked In the German arse
mails and will be ready to ship via Aus
tria as soon as 1t becomes necessary
Hungarian pilots and group COM
manders are being trained in the
German air squadrons.
The renewed filtration between
Poland and France does not seem to
worry the Germans overmuch. Gen.
Rydz-Smigly is Pilsudsh's successor,
but Is not Pilsudski. He has neither
the strength of character of the late
Polish dictator, nor his popularity.
Rydz-Smigly is opposed by the pow
erful political group known under the
name Of the colonels." AT the
head of that group is Col. Beck, the
Polish foreign minister. who probably
Is the most astute politician in East
ern Europe. Beck is o-German,
and strongly so. It was he wha
brought about the detente between
Germany and Poland, which ended
in a 10-year non-aggression pact.
What renders his position still strong
er is the fact that his pro-German
policy was fully approved by the late
Marshal Pilsudski.
End Of Fight Near.
The fight between Beck and Rydz-
Smigly-f it comes to that-will not
last long. AS a matter of fact. right
now in Paris there are many who
doubt that the influence of the COM
mander of the Polish Army will last
long. Rydz-Smigly was overadvertised
In France. The French government
was badly in need of a diplomatic sue
cess. The Polish envoy was promised
financial aid for Poland, but whether
this aid will materialize is question
which nobody can quite answer.
Blum,s price for more money for
Poland is Col. Beck's head, and it is
doubtful that Rydz will be able to get
it for him. Furthermore, when
pressed about Poland's role in the
event of a Russian-German conflict,
and whether Poland is going to live
up to the terms Of her alliance with
France, all that the Polish general
could say was that in the event
France was attacked, Poland would
take into serious consideration" the
terms of the treaty of alliance.
The extent of Russia's military
power is an. extremely debatable sub
ject. In yranne and In CSechosIoyakia
public opinion is led to believe that
the Russian steam roller is not the
myth which II proved to be if&l914.-
And over the radio and in the press
the public is told about the millions
of men under arms, about the thou
sands of arplanes which form the
Soviet's fighting squadrons, and the
thousands more which the Soviet fac
tories can build every month; the
public Is told about the divisions Of
tanks and the thousands Of guns
which the Russian Army possesses,
and these tales are substantiated by
interesting moving pictures taken in
the Soviet republic. These, Of course,
are not fakes. The Soviets have mil
lions of men under arms-the most
powerful reserve of men in the world.
They have the war materials. as
shown Yet, the German general
staff does not seem to worry about
them.
The reason for this is that the Ger
man generals look upon the situation
from the professional point of view.
which naturally escapes the public.
Those millions Of men, as in the days
of the czars, say the German officers,
lack leadership. Where the czarist
commanders were corrupt, the Soviet
generals are inefficient. They are
good Communists and probably coura-
geous men, but lack the technical
and the professional knowledge re-
quired of army leaders these days
the next war will be q conflict Of
forces. The Russian
Army is young; promotions from the
ranks have been rapid, and one Of the
main qualifications for a promotion is
the strength of the individuals Com
munist convictions.
No Graft In Russian COmmissariat.
The millions of men are well
equipped: there is no graft and cor
ruption in the Russian Commissariat
Of Ordnance, as there was in old
days. But these men cannot be trans
ported with ease because Russia lacks
transportation facilities. There are
few new railroads; the old ones con-
tinue to be in a deplorable state.
for the use Of the thous-
ands Of trucks the Soviet Army pos
sesses, are practically non-existent.
And the Germans figure that in the
event of q general mobilization the
confusion will be such that it will be
impossible to move important masses
of men on these inadequate lines of
communication. The air force is good
and large, but airdrome facilities ap-
pear to be deficient.
The Soviet government is doomed
at least that Is the conviction of the
Berlin general staff. With raw army
ulCdEdplC u ICoActlklS Vic OAloldu8A46
of machinery as efficient as that of
the Reich Army; having to wage q
war on two fronts-the understanding
with Japan provides that Russia shall
be attacked in the Far East as soon
as the Germans begin their operations
in the West; isolated from her prin-
cipal ally, France, and confronted
with internal dissensions likely to re-
act violently with the help Of German
agents, the giant on clay feet will COLI
lapse within q few weeks after the
first bombs have been dropped on the
Soviet territory.
These are the reasons why the
German general staff and the Ger
man people believe that war with
Russia is inevitable: that it must start
soon, and that its outcome in favor OF
the Reich is . foregone conclusion.
(Copyright. 1880
Nazi Government Helps
Build Russian Cathedral