Evening star., 1937-02-21

on the grounds Of violations by the
three states already mentioned. But
the Russian offense was less than that
of the hackers of Gen. Franco and his
rebellious generals, In that the arms
did go to the established and recog-
nized government of Spain.
The Nom Intervention Committee
which was set up in London has, SO
far, been a farce 1t is known that
it is a farce; it is known that the
governments of the states whose rep
resentatives were sitting on the COM
mittee were lying and cheating. And
thus this most sinister lesson has to
be learned: namely, that we are back
in an era of power politics compare
BILE only to the time of the religious
wars in Europe in the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries, and that the
only argument to which certain gov
ernments will listen today Is the
argument of the gun.
Reason Simple and Sinister.
The breaking OF pledged agreements
In this particular case has been winked
at and overlooked and tolerated for
one reason only-none of the coln-
tries IN Europe today wants real war.
This Is not only because each one is
heavily armed and arming; it is
certainly not because there Is any
high morality in the chancelleries OF
Europe. The reason is simple and yet
sinister.
It is the fact that if war on a great
scale breaks out, all will be in peril;
and this because of the airplane.
In the last great war the generals
suffered few casualties. Their head
quarters were far removed from the
fighting line. True. the great cities
within reach of the primitive flying
machines of the day were open to
attack; Paris and London, in particu-
lar, were bombed and Paris suffered
long range artillery bombardment.
But the peril then was nothing to
what it will be next time" Not only
will the military headquarters be
targets of attack, unless some conven-
ton is established and observed of
not bombing them, but the seat of
government in every European state
will be open to assault from the air.
From the highest to the humblest,
therefore, all the inhabitants in the
European countries know what to ex-
pect. None of them wants war, there
fore, and q very high degree of
nationalist exaltation would be re-
quired before the people themselves
would tolerate war. Therefore, while
which, on the whole, had been observed
prior to 1914 with a fair degree of
success for a hundred years, is now
much weakened. there is a will to
peace, the result Of apprehension of
what war means.
Britain and France Most Pacific
Having said this, it remains to be
noted that events arising out Of the
Spanish civil war have shown that,
of the great powers, the British and
French are the most pacific. They
have nothing to gain from war. and
everything to lose. While the Italian
and German governments are un-
certain of the backings of their people
for war, they are prepared to risk war
and bluff more than the British and
French.
The Russians do not want war either,
because it would interfere with their
economic development; but they are
strong, and growing stronger. and
are now in the best geographical posi-
tion Of any people in Europe. Russia
is the one country in Europe which
cannot be vitality damaged by air at
tack. That is because the most i'm
portant industries have been deliber-
ately placed out of medium airplane
bomber range.
Another important lesson is the
violence of the class feeling in Europe.
Monsieur Blum, prime minister of
France, told friend Of mine recently,
in discussing the Spanish situation,
that one Of the most disquieting facts
in Europe today Is the terror Of the
middle classes Of Socialism" And
by Socialism, in this connection, is
meant any politics Of the left or OF Q
working-cla complexion.
A Fascist Spain would constitute q
real menace to the security Of France.
A democratic, anti-Fascist France
would have third frontier to guard.
Communications between France and
her colonies in Africa across the Medi-
terranean would be seriously menaced
by Fascist Spain. Yet the Right in
France, the parties of the wealthier
business men and the upper classes
generally, have been favorable to the
success of Gen. Franco and the
Fascist movement in Spain from the
beginning This class feeling, in other
words, Is stronger than Nationalism.
We have an example, also, in the
British government. A Fascist Spain
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