Evening star., 1938-09-18

M France decide to intervene on
v behalf Of Czechoslovakia, that
country Is resolved to fght any
attempt by the Germans to wrench away
the portion called the Sudeten land. This
determination has been made clear to all
governments concerned.
President Benes is aware OF the difn-
culties which face Great Britain. He
realizes that a cold-blooded analysis OF
the situation makes British leaders shrink
from responsibility no man in a demo-
cratic country dares take. Premier Cham
berlain and his advisers know better than
the rank and file Of the British people that
the British Isles are more in danger Of be-
ing starved out by blockade than is Ger
many herself.
The Reich, besides having laid up i'm
mense stores Of food for the last two years
in specially built subterranean granaries,
can operate on interior lines and obtain
most Of the raw materials required from
the states Of the Danubian Basin. A block
ade Of Germany at this time would be far
less damaging to the Reich's power of re-
sistance than it was in the periof 19l4-18.
Great Britain, on the other hand, Is in
q more difficult position than she was ~
years ago. Not only will her main arteries
Of communication be disrupted, but the
progress Of aviation will make it difficult
for the ships of the North Atlantic lanes to
reach their destination safely.
The same problem exists for France in
a more attenuated form. The French
have no illusions that their communications
with North Africa their chief source of
supply for manpower and foodstuffs, will
not be interrupted by the Italian Navy
and air forces. Measures already have been
taken to evacuate the military port Of
Toulon And arrangements have been
made to transport all the supplies of food
and soldiers from Central Africa by way
Of Dakar, capital Of Senegal, and those
from Algiers and Morocco by way of Casa
blanca.
Immediate Aid Not Expected.
The Czechoslovak general staff does not
expect immediate assistance from the two
major Western democracies at the outset
Of the war. The Rhine fortincations will
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through for at least nine months and the
British and French navies cannot pen
citrate into the Baltic Sea because the new
German fleet and the Gibraltar Of the
North, the Isle Of Helgoland, would make
such an operation impossible. Only from
Soviet Russia can Prague look for swift aid.
Its air force has been concentrated in the
Ukraine and on the Rumanian border for
several weeks. Although 1t is impossible
to determine the exact strength of that
force, 1t Is believed in Berlin to amount
to sovething like 1,700 modern war planes.
Whether the British and the French
governments make the question of Czecho-
slovakias territorial integrity their own is
a matter OF indifference to President Benes
and his associates The Prague govern
ment is certain that as soon as their coun-
try becomes battlefield for the armies of
Germany, Czechoslovaka and Russia, there
will be such hue and cry in Great Britain
and France that the government will be
forced by popular pressure into a war
against the Berlin Rome axis. This, of
course, Is less true In Great Britain than
in France.
The French government has always been
able to issue an order Of mobilization. This
it refused to do in March, 1884, when the
Germans militarized the Rhineland, be-
cause the general staff and the government
knew they could not mobilize public opin-
ion for an eventual war. But today public
opinion is completely modified. While the
French people do not desire war, these last
two years of peace" have sapped their
nerves and their pockets to such an extent
that they believe it preferable to have 1t
out than to continue this intolerable sit
uation. "We' either have fight or a real
peace" said Georges Bonnet recently in a
conversation with one Of Washington's
travelling observers, but our people can
not any longer stand the incertitude of the
fpresent time" And when France j,
launched into warlike adventure, Britain
must follow. regardless of consequences.
The Czechoslovakians are known to be