Evening star., 1936-08-30
BY CONSTANTINE BROWN.

L harassed than when I saw him
in the middle of July.
For upon his shoulders rests the
grave responsibility Of reconciling his
ideal Of peace at any price with the
tenance as major European power.
And for the first time since the reins
Of government were placed in his
hands he realizes that his love for
peace is not shared by everybody on
this continent.
The fate of Europe is in the hands
of Mussolini and Hitler, who, say their
close affiliates, do not want war, pro-
yided they can achieve their aims
without fighting.
The German italian alliance has
become an accomplished fact. 1t may
not be written, signed and sealed
on q piece of parchment, but it is
none the less definite and strong
There are 108,000,000 Germans and
Italians ready to serve their dictators
> with blind obedience. Financial and
economic obstacles, which to the out
3 side observer seem insuperable, do not
seem to worry them.
It Is in this light that the Euro
pean situation should be regarded
these days.
Interest Centers in Spain.
s. The Spanish situation continues to
, hold the center of interest in all the
. European capitals. And as days go by
. there is increasing evidence that the
3. Spanish generals, strongly supported
!. by Italy and Germany, will win the
battle against the popular front in
Madrid. 1t is possible that by the
time this article Is published Gen.
Frances partisans will be the masters
of Madrid. Their victory was hang
ing in the balance until large quanti-
ties Of German and Italian airplanes,
ammunition and military instructors
appeared on the stage. And behind
this effective support is the Ger
man North Sea fleet, which has been
transferred to the Mediterranean. and
the Italian fleet, which has been slowly
concentrated within striking distance
OF the Spanish mainland.
A victory Of the generals, say the
italians and the Germans, will restore
law and order in Spain and that
country will become the bulwark Of
Western Europe against communism.
Once Franco Is master of Madrid
and sets up a regular government
there Germany and Italy will recog-
znize it Immediately. Additional war
fmaterial and instructors supplied by
these two Fascist countries will sue
-.ceed In suppressing communism In less
than six monthasS zssx
Tho French government Is fully
Aware Of what . victory of the generals
may mean for France. Spain will be,
for while at least completely under
the domination Of Hitler and Nusso-
tlini. France, under such circum-
stances, will flnd herself compelled to
consider q third front to be defended
in the event of an international con-
fagation-the Spanish front. Here
tofore the French general staff has
been taking precautions on the Rhine
the Maginot chain of fortifications-
and in the Alps. Now it has to work
out plan for an equally strong de-
Tense along the Pyrenees.
General Staff Saw Danger.
"The general belief is that because
Of our sympathies for the Spanish
democrats we have been endeavoring
to help them," said one of Blum's close
associates the other day. THE truth
Is that our general staff saw the dan
ger in a victory of Franco and his
generals before our sentimental social
lists saw 1t. They put it to the premier
quite bluntly: If Franco wins, not only
have we to prepare ourselves to defend
the Pyrenees frontier, but our COM
-munications with North Africa will be
in danger And the premier, who at
first, to please the British, hesitated
to lend Frances support to the legal
Spanish government, offered as So
luton a neutrality agreement which,
II accepted by the other powers in
good faith, would have allowed the
two factions to fight out their own
battles. I do not hesitate to say that
the Spanish Socialists, who have the
bulk of the nation behind them, would
have won. Now 1t Is probably too
late"
The French resent bitterly the lack
Of consideration given by Italy and
Germany to their neutrality plan and
lay the blame for its failure on Brit
aims doorstep.
The British foreign office allowed
itself to be influenced at the outset
by the admiralty and the war de-
partment, where Franco was popular
because Of his anti-C Communist senti-
ments. These two departments were
Influenced by the fear of communism
and overlooked what was behind the
Franco movement-Hitler and Musso-
Nni. That was why Frances neu-
traIty plan was never backed seri-
ously in Rome and in Berlin. It was
only after the French general staff
pointed out to the British that in the
event of Frances victory the domina-
ton Of Germany and Italy might
endanger their possession of Gibraltar
and certainly their supremacy in the
Western Mediterranean that the
British woke up and the foreign
ONCE instructed its representatives in
Rome and Berlin to give every sup
port to the French proposals. But 1t
Wss too late.
Mlssolini had killed any possible
effect Of the French proposals by his
dilatory tactics. ..
First Proposal August 8.
The first French proposal, submitted
TO Count Galeazzo Ciano on August
3 by Ambassador de Chambrun, was
communicated over the phone to Il
Duce the very same afternoon.
Mussolini was flying around Italy
and had no time to give the neces-
sary consideration to M. Blum's pro-
posals. When he was ready to an
swer, the German feet had almost
completed its concentration in the
Mediterranean and the commanding
admiral had called on Franco to toast
the victory of the rebels. In the