Evening star., 1938-06-19
BY JOHN LLOYD.
Chief. Associated Press Paris Bureau,

CnleI, Associated PreSS Paris Bureau.
TRANcE Is hard pressed In a sorely
* troubled Europe, engaged in what
the French popularity term the bat
tie Of peace"
Her position is often likened to that In
the moments of deepest concern during the
Great War.
For the French, peace came only during
the 13 years that followed victory in 1918
and preceded the rise of Reichsfuehrer Hit
kr. Since then they have been sitting on
have deprived them methodically of the
fruits Of triumph.
In Paris one frequently hears the remark
I'VE won the war but lost the peace" A
corps of the worlds keenest diplomatic and
press observers is following the situation
closely on the spot. 1t regards talk of de-
feat as too hasty conclusion, but agrees
that the moment is dangerous and that
events have been piling up unfavorable to
the French.
Totalitarians Have Their Day.
1t is patiently apparent that the totali-
tartan states are carving the turkey-a far
cry from the days when allied statesmen
parceled out Europe and set the rules for
governing the various parts.
Spain and Austria are like ghosts on
Frances doorstep.
Czechoslovakia and the Rome Berlin axis
are matters of very grave concern.
There are some who look back on the
Quai DOrsays past conduct of affairs as
largely responsible for present difficulties
They take the stand that in the days prior
to Reichfuehrer Hitler: squeezing tactics
were pursued when squeezing was the last
thing that should have been done
But that, in the sum of things, is agreed
to be neither here nor there.
Fuehrer Hitler came and is taking every
thing he can take for Germany and most
people believe he will continue to take 50
long as he has the other fellow at a dis
advantage.
The danger Of war is generally felt among
observers to lie in the possibility Of acci-
dental combustion. It is, with the dicta-
torial governments forcing matters to the
hilt, considered q very real and great
danger.
Provocation Held in Check.
A deliberately provoked war is not antici-
pated-at least not for the very near future.
But, taking the Czechoslovakian affair as
an instance. there are all the elements that
make an explosion possible.
tn, lek 80 I1& J1,l /
the situation as 1t stacks up to the French
man:
The matter Of prime concern to him
after the Great War was national security.
He feels that If he fought for anything
between 1914 and 1918, 1t was that.
Today national security appears to him
to be sadly menaced. 1t isn't the strong
bulwark he thought the Versailles treaty
would build and preserve. The Maginot
line Of fortiications along the German
border is q source Of comfort, but there
are other frontiers, and there is-the air.
France is acutely-and uncomfortably--
air conscious.
Successive governments have struggled
to build great "armee de rair," which
would make any potential enemy think
twice. Still, after years. the armee has
only Some $500 first-line fighting ma
chimes, and stories Of the development
Of the German and italian air forces are
disquieting.
Two Peace Bases False.
French security plans were based on
disarmed or inferiorly armed Germany.
They did not take into account q Rome
Berlin axis nor did they consider the rise
Of q pro-derman power south of the
Pyrenees.
Now the Frenchman contemplates q
large and thorough war machine on his
northern border, allied or possibly allied
with an equally powerful machine in italy.
French statesmen are not convinced that
Benito Mussolini would Join Germany In
a war against France. but they must con-