Evening star., 1936-04-08
London
Continued From First page.)

military strength on land and in the
air"
Der Fuehrer said: Berlin might
easily in a few hours be reduced to
heap of ashes by Russian air at
tack before the League or any other
body would even have begun to discuss
the question of how to deal with it."
The British Ambassador disclosed
Hitler's view of the Franco-Soviet
military alliance" as directed against
Germany had rendered the air pact
out of the question.
The 88-page white paper, which was
held up for two weeks by a German
objection to publication of some of
the documents, outlined the conversa-
tions for European security pacts from
June 27. 1884. until Leopold Won
Hoesch, German Ambassador in Lon
don. went to the foreign Office March
7 and told Anthony Eden, British for
eign secretary, that Der Fuehrer's
troops had entered the demilitarized
Rhineland.
Eden recorded on January q the
fact that Konstantin Won Neurath,
German foreign minister, who was in
London for the funeral of the late
King George, told him.:
"The German government fully in
tended to respect the treaty of Lo-
carno."
"Germany's anxieties, however. were
not with the West" Won Neurath told
Eden.
Fear Czech Alliance.
The German Ambassador stated ::
Certainly If the Franco-Soviet pact
Is ratified, this, combined with the
existing pact between the Soviets and
Czechoslovakia, which meant Ger
many is most vulnerable to the Joint
action by those two powers from the
air, would render the negotiations for
an air pact and air. Limitation agree
ment more difficult"
The correspondence showed that
Germany, from August 1885, onward,
steadily held the view that the open
ing of air conversations were i'm
possible on account of the Italo-
Ethiopian dispute.
Eden also recorded an interview
with Ambassador Won Hoesch March
27, and stated: The Ambassador
asked me whether I saw any prospect
for making any progress to improve
the relations between the Western
European powers.
He complained 1t was Louis Bar
thou (late foreign minister of France)
who had started all the trouble by
bringing Russia into the picture.
1T is notable how French public
opinion had undergone a change, for
where it was the Rightists in France
that first clamored for Franco-Soviet
pact, it now is only the Left that
supported it, whereas the Right
wanted to come to terms with Ger
many.
Il replied that I was particularly
anxious to make progress with the
air pact and air limitation and had
said so more than once. 1t remained
to be considered whether there was
any means for doing so under the
present conditions"
In summing up the white paper re-
port, Eden wrote on March 26:
"On March 6 I myself again sent
for the German Ambassador in Lon
don and an important conversation
took place. I emphasized to the Am
bassador the Importance which I
attached to improve relations between
the great great western powers.
''It was as concrete means of i'm
proving these relations that I pro-
posed to him immediate opening of
serious discussions on the question of
an air pact. On the following day the
Ambassador called at the foreign Office
and informed me of the German gov
ernment's decision to denounce the
Locarno pact and reoccupy the de-
nilitariZed zone"