Evening star., 1937-02-28
BY CONSTANTINE BROWN.

leader IN the QemOcratlc
countries of Europe seem to have a
definite idea how to cope with the
present dangerous situation.
While nations large and small are
rushing their armaments at break
neck speed, timid politicians travel
from place to place, carrying Shriveled
olive branches in their hands and
murmuring: We must have peace,
our people want peace
Germany has frankly laid her cards
on the table in London. A fortnight
ago Baron Joachim Won Ribbentrop
presented the British foreign Office
with a memorandum which put British
statesmen in the position of either
yielding to the Reich colonies, which
are at present under the British and
French flags. or facing an eventual
war when Germany makes the move
for territorial aggrandizement In
Eastern Europe And while the Ger
man foreign office did not demand an
immediate reply from London, military
preparations within the Reich left no
doubt that the Germans meant what
army concentrated on the Czecho-
slovak frontier are being rapidly re-
inforced; motorized divisions are be-
ing rushed as fast as they come out
of the factories and their crews are
receiving the necessary instruction On
the borders of Bohemia. The Ger
man Minister in Prague is adopting
q tone toward the Czech government
not much different from the tone. the
Austrian Minister took with the
Serbian government in 1914. And to
the great surprise of Prague diplo-
matte circles the British Minister does
not even profess to be shocked by his
German colleagues attitude.
Attitude of British.
The actions and the statements of
responsible British statesmen seem to
imply that the British government is
determined to maintain an unyielding
attitude toward German colonial
claims and leave Eastern Europe to its
own devices.
On February Is Stanley Baldwin,
Britain's ultra-Tory premier, after
D
-3ndum. told the House of Commons:
1t is worth anything and everything
in Europe today to get feeling of
security-at least in one part-from
which that security, if once attained,
may spread to other parts of the
continent. Were there a pact-I am
not speaking of collective security
through the whole of Europe-for
mutual assistance against aggression
among the nations Of Western Europe,
I hold and believe that such pact
could maintain peace" In that
statement the British premier indi-
Gated clearly that he was veering to-
ward the German point of view re-
garding continental Europe.
Soon after Hitler tore up the Locar-
no pact on March Z, 1886, Mussolini
and Hitler announced that they were
prepared to enter into non-aggression
agreement with the Western European
nations, on condition that such an
agreement should not be extended to
countries such as Czechoslovakia and
Russia. The British were of two minds
regarding this proposal; the French,
who have offensive and defensive
alliances with Czechoslovakia and the
Soviet republics, fatty refused Hitler's
proposal.
Answer to VanSittart.
Last July during the visit Of Sir
Robert Vansittart in Berlin he broach-
ed the matter again to Hitler. He
received the same answer: I'VE shall
be delighted to guarantee the frontiers
of France and Belgium and any other
Western nation, but you must leave
Russia and her Eastern allies out Of
the picture"
Vansittart returned to London via
Paris and the French told him that
there was no question of their aban-
doning the Soviets. And to empha-
size this point they urged-some say
forced-Benes into an official mill
tary alliance with the Soviets.
The British left things as they were.
The foreign Office claimed to under
stand full we'll that war on the
Vistula would mean eventually war
on the Rhine, too.
Now Premier Baldwin seems to be-
and a threat on the ViStula cannot
affect the Rhine. Or, as Paris inter-
prets the British premier's speech, the
danger of war in Eastern Europe is
less frightening to British statesmen
than the possibility of yielding a
number of colonies to the Reich. But
Mr., Baldwin may simply be tempor-
izing-to gain time until the British
armadas in the air and on the seas
are equal to cope with any combina-
ton of forces which might be willing
to line up with Germany.
The British rearmament program
involving the fantastic sum of $780,
100000, impressive to laymen, does
not overwhelm professional military
men, In democracy like Great Brit
ain, where labor has its rights, where
the capitalist is allowed to make sub
stantial profits and where public opin-
ion has its say, it takes =. long time
to transform ,500,000,000 into an
efficient military machine.
Commitments Of British.
While the British with no definite
commitments on the Continent of
Europe except a vague promise not
to allow the Germans to cross the
Rhine in an offensive warfare, feel
that time is playing into their hands,
Paris Is getting more nervous daily.
French observers point out that the
British have underestimated the work.
ing power, the resources and the will
of the German people. As a glaring
example of this they point out what
has happened to the German navy.
Under the treaty of Versailles that
navy was entitled to 100000 tons of
ships limited to battleships not ex-
ceeding 10000 tons and with no de-
stroyers or airplane carriers.
In 1885 Joachim Won Ribbentrop
achieved his first success in London
g when he induced the British admiralty
to change those provisions of the YER