The Waterbury Democrat., 1938-12-28

around the disintegration of the Popular Front which finally col lapsed after a series of successive shocks eliminating in the general strike faSco of Nov. 30.
 Impartial students agreed that the rapid deterioration of Frances foreign and domestic sltuatlonS were not only parallel movements hut also the result of the inter changeable repercussions upon eacn other of the unfavorable forces al work at home and abroad.
 They hold the view that the French committed fundamental error in departing from their tlme- old policy of maintaining clear cut line of division between 1orelsn and domestic politics.
 Without Cabinet In Crisis
 January, 1888, saw the second rbaI,temps government in power On March 10, this government re- signed without waiting TOT an ullf af favorable vote in the cnamDeL ol deputies or the senate. TWO uaSs 1afer the Austrian Anschluss was occomnlished. Leon Blum was pus- iiv engaped in trying to organlze d ,,ew government. When he nnally ,rasented his cabinet to PreSloen. ahrI,n France was already 1aceu with a fait accompli. WhetneI T,rence would have reacted hau there been a government ol, II, Ma1Ti aS;1 70 will remain question. All aVan
 able evidence points to passlVe pa,Ve fe He
 centance. although six months o = fore the fact it was coiililio1A W hear Frenchmen say: or,a.
 ,anchluss, c'est la guerre.
 For many months it was s Miais- +en,ots @ forewarned of Germany ,, imnending action, had resisnJo i,1a rather than face a dlsageeeapre a,o1, situation. There was never any confirmation of this.
 o0i France's acceptance of Ger ,,anv's annexation of Austria 1-os ~ ~reearded as the second great WeSoe w driven into its contlnenIai svstem bv Germany The IIfs' srest blow delivered by Adoi1 hie- Ter OF Marc h7, 1886, when ne ,, ue nounced the Locarno PacG anu anu Teoccupied the Rhineland also r,ey,t unanswered. Pierre Etlenne Tiandin the French foreign nm iste- on March T was to play an imrnrtant role later i'll prevent ing France from making war oli Germany to save CzechosloVaKla. aSa,,
 Blum came to power on Ma.cii 13 to face serious financial SiSuo i. aticn. Before drawing up ms final cabinet list he pleaded Wltn nationalists and conservatives te join him in a national union gov ernment built around the Popular Front His offer was refused.
 Blum Cabinet Falls
 Bl,,ra's government was snort lived. On April he was defeated ;n the senate on the issue oi ,,lensrv 1 financial and economic powers. His program, which ln- ch,ded foreign exchange control a capital levy and other forms o, , managed economy, was 1oIceu through the chamber of oeputies, hut ran afoul the conservative senate led by Joseph Calllaux president of the finance commit tee .;. ,;n- ;ster for national defense, Edouaro Daladier, who took power on Aprll 1o with a Radical Socialist caplne' containing three RepuDllcan oo- cialists. Resorting to ortnoooX IT. nancial measures, the Dalaolel cabinet put through $50 recovery fecrees covering all domains, pu1 which failed to produce the de- sired effects, as proved early m November when Paul Reynauo WAS asked to take over the finance ministry. . 3a;oo, Socialists and the extreme Wlng oi the Popular Front progressiVeiy deteriorated all summer long as inc rearmament race made It m- neratiye to speed up national pro duction. Timid efforts to increase working hours in the armament in- riustries met with labor's reDul1s Sporadic strikes occurred. sep tember, however, turned the mines of the French people from tnen domestic affairs to the growing peril centering around German Czech relations. ,
 Many French leaders had long felt that France had committed a grave error in accepting Britain leadership in the Spanish ques- ton because of Frances vital ln- terests in the Mediterranean. Fur slling Britains' leadership. France had accepted the non-interventlon policy (although Blum was cred tied with its authorship. Every effort to pursue a more indepen- dent policy was vetoed by Lon don. Even certain conservative elements chafed under Brltalns guiding hand.
 Britain Takes Leadership
 The Czech crisis, however, led the French to believe that their country would enjoy the initiative in facing Germany and that Brit ain would follow. It was felt that inasmuch as France was bound to the Czechs with a mutual assist ance pact it was normal for 1t to enjoy Britain's support. This was the case in the early days of the crisis. but as events pointed to- ward a clash the French govern ment, according to critics, weak ened and passed the hand to the British in exchange for a promise to 20 to Prague's aid should the Germans attack during the period of Viscount Runciman's mission.
 The dispatch of Runciman to Prague reversed the respective rOles held by Paris and London. Britain led and France followed. me governments violent critics aIIeged that it aided and abetted Britain,s policy of granting satis- faction to Germany. A bitter campaign waged in a small section If the conservative press support ed by the Socialist and Commun- Ist organs was openly aimed at the premier and his foreign min