Montana labor news., 1938-06-23
SPANISH SITUATION
AN INTERNATIONAL
EMBARRASSMENT
BY A. E.

With Mussolini firmly established on
each side of the Mediterranean and
the Balaeric Islands, what about the
British lifeline? While there might
be an understanding between Mr..
Eden and Mussolini in regard to the
Mediterranean Sea and the African
possessions, what would keep II Duce
from springing another coup d'etat
similar to his March on Rome?
While London and Paris have been
procrastinating and playing into the
hands of General Franco, the three
Fascist states, Portugal, Germany
and Italy, have been intensively ac-
tive in aiding the Insurgents, secretly
as well as openly. On the other
hand, what have the democratic gov
ernments of England and France
done in maintaining their legitimate
relations with what they yet deign
to call the recognized government of
Spain? They have broken their pre-
war contracts of furnishing wal ma
~terials to the Loyalist government of
Spain, ven though General Franco
has not yet been given belligerent
status.
Should Spain fall into the hands
of the Fascist powers, it would upset
the status quo of Europe and give
Hitler and Mussolini a dangerous
military advantage over England and
France. With only two nations in
the world openly supporting the
legal government of Spain, neither
of which has been in a favorable
position to be of decisive aid on ac-
count of their geographic positions,
the U. S. S. R. likely saved the 10y
alists from ruthless destruction at
the beginning of hostilities, and in a
world war could form the backbone
against any possible coalition. In
case of a showdown, Germany could
blockade the Soviets in the Baltic
Sea and possibly Archangel on the
White Sea, but only temporarily;
while Japan could blockade Vladi-
vostok, but only temporarily. Italy
could blockade the Dardenelles en-
trance to the Black Sea, which would
inconvenience Russia but little; but
neither Germany, Italy or Japan is
in a favorable condition for a major
and decisive war at this time; besides
Japan has already overreached her
self in China.
From a military point of view,
their geographic positions would be
of considerable s%trategical value, but
their war-chests are rather empty
and another significant item is the
fact that all three are sitting on
slumbering VOLCANOES of unrest. It
is true that the radical elements of
the three countries mentioned have
been driven underground but they
are there just the same and the
rulers know or suspect that the next
major conflict is apt to spell finis
to relationships. Japan made a tacti-
cal blunder by invading China by
Understanding her opponent, which
may spell the beginning of the end
of her as a continental power. With
Hitler and Mussolini, I think it's a
game of bluff too, tempting to ignore
after the English Mediterranean
fiasco.
The moneyed interests of England
are between the devil and the deep
sea. While they hate to see their
lifeline threatened, they essayed to
take a chance on General Francisco
as against Communism which, no
doubt, explains Mr.. Eden's peculiar
tactics. While the English policy is
to stand pat and let good enough
alone, its prestige was seriously
threatened during the Abyssinian
crisis. At that time, England's mill
tary position was %precarious. Hav-
ing spent a million dollars per day
to overcome that, I think now she
could take a firm stand without the
danger of a European war on the
theory that both Hitler and Musso-
lini are bluffing.
While France is in a somewhat
similar position to Great Britain, the
Mediterranean control is not a mat
ter of life and death as with Eng
land; furthermore the left-wingers
are not any too well seated there,
which is likely the reason for the
government doing nothing while the
reds r bowling their heads off.
Thus the government passes the
buck, leaving it up to Mr.. Eden to
take the lead.
Had the League of Nations said
stop, and meant it, the japanese
would probably not have taken Man
churia; but, having started out on
the wrong foot, it threw the whole
machine out of step and was the
definite start of a whole series of
incidents: the conquest of Abyssinia,
the Rhineland incident, the invasion
of Spain, and the japanese ocupa-
ton of China.
A vaccilating policy is the most
costly in the long run. For instance,
when Moscow called a halt on the
Manchoukuo's invasion of Outer
Mongolia "a Japan inspired move)
it was halted after an insignificant
skirmish and Japan has never since
mentioned her superior claims to