Evening star., 1939-08-22
Soviet-Germun Pact

Soviet-Germun Pact
The announcement that Germany
and the Soviet Union have agreed
to conclude non-aggression pact
nullifes efforts to form an Anglo
French Russian alliance and gravely
impairs the effectiveness of the
peace front" which Great Britain,
France and Poland have sought to
erect against Hitler's territorial
ambitions
Nazi Germany is jubilant, and
Poland stands in great danger of at
tack as the result of Chancellor
Hitler's diplomatic coup. He not
only has torn away the backstop of
Poland's defense, but by virtue of the
trade agreement with the Soviet an
nounced Sunday, he has procured for
the Reich access to vast reservoir
of raw materials which will be vital
to Germany in peace or war.
1t is, of course, impossible to say
whether the trade agreement and
- the non-aggression pact will remove
the immediate threat of war in
Europe. The British and the French
are still bound by an unequivocal
pledge to come to the aid of Poland
should she fight in defense of her
independence, and it may be that
the Poles will resort to the gamble
of war as the sole alternative to
complete domination by the Reich.
There is no reason to suppose that
Hitler will moderate any of his de-
mands now; in fact, he is more than
likely to enlarge them, and the sequel
to that inevitably will be the destruc-
ton of Poland as sovereign state.
If the issue is to be settled by resort
to arms, it is obvious that the
German position has been greatly
strengthened. Assuming that the
forces of the Reich ultimately will
crush Poland, and they are probably
capable of doing that, Germany will
then have ready access to the great
Russian storehouse of raw materials
to carry on the fight against France
and Britain. That would greatly
minimize the present advantages
the democracies enjoy by virtue of
their superior naval power and might
well make it impossible for them to
bring Germany to her knees by
long war of attrition. And behind
all of these considerations looms the
ominous possibility that Russia, hav-
ing moved this far into the German
orbit, might even lend active military
supp It to the Reich if the fortunes
of should turn against Hitler's
les
Announcement of the agreement
indicates a revolution in Soviet
policy. For years Russia has clamored
loudest of all for collective security
and a united front against Fascism
and aggression. What has happened
behind the heavy screens of Moscow
is profound mystery, inexplicable
in the absence of more facts than are
{.
know the sequence of events, and
can draw certain conclusions from
them.
Prime Minister Chamberlain en-
tered into negotiations with Russia
after concluding the Polish assist
ance pact and giving unilateral
pledges to Greece and Rumania. He
was not prepared at the outset to
go as far in the direction of
military alliance as Moscow desired,
and when he did advance toward
the Soviet position, he encountered
new and higher demands.
Negotiations seemed to be ap-
preaching conclusive stage when,
several weeks ago, Britain and France
sent army leaders to Moscow for staff
talks, but over last week end dis
agreements arose, providing the
occasion, if not the motive, for
the announcement of the Berlin
Moscow pact.
Russias agreement to come to
terms Win Germany is also heavy
blow to Japan, in so far as Japanese
ambitions to challenge Russia in the
Far East are concerned. So long as
Russia was menaced by Germany
in Europe, Japan was relatively free
to press her campaign for mastery
of Asia, but with conclusion of the
non-aggression pact, the Soviets will
be in a much stronger position to
protect their Far Eastern interests.
1t would appear, however, that
Japan'S hand in China proper has
been strengthened, for Britain, as a
result of the agreement, will surely
find it even more difficult to resist the
current japanese demands on her.