Evening star., 1939-09-03
For the Record

elgn Of11ceS OF embattled Europe
discuss and decide whether Adolf
Hitler's personally conducted war on
Poland shall become general" con-
f1ict by the embodiment of the Poles
British and French allies, it is useful
for the record to establish at the
outset the question of war guilt. His
tory will concern itself avidly with
the origin of the second Armageddon
within the lifetime of the present
generation. Germany has never
ceased since 1914 to argue over war
guilt" 1t remains one of the few
provisions of the Dictate of Ver-
sailles' which definitely fixes blame
for the first World War on the Reich
that the Nazis have not managed
to nullify.
In Prime Minister Chamberlain's
address in the House of Commons on
September l he adduced brief, but
all-conclusive evidence as to where
responsibility for the German-Polish
war, and what may be its aftermath,
lies. The facts are disclosed in detail
in the British white paper containing
the correspondence between the gov
ernments of Great Britain and Ger
many since August %. That CORE
spondence opens with Chamberlain's
note to Hitler concerning German
military movements and the Ger
man-Soviet agreement. The British
Prime Minister singled out as of par
ticular pertinence for determining
the location of war guilt the British
note to Germany of August 80. It
shows, Chamberlain rightly observes.
how easily the final clash might
have been avoided if there had been
the least desire on Germany's
part to arrive at peaceful settle
ment." Britain recognized the ur-
gency OF speedy discussion because
OF the explosive possibilities inherent
in the presence, on opposite sides of
the German-Polish frontier, of two
modified armies" Chamberlain ex-
pressed confidence Poland would Join
IN mutual undertaking that there
should be no aggressive military
movement" while negotiations for a
peaceful settlement were under way.
Poland promptly replied ton Au-
gust 3D that she was prepared to give
formal guarantee of peaceful nego-
tlatlons on reciprocal basis.
Germany never replied to the British
proposal-"one which, had it been
followed" Chamberlain declares,
must have averted the catastrophe"
which began with the invasion and
bombing OF Poland by German forces
early in the morning of September l.
In the official German broadcast
on the night of August 81 there
occurred this passage: I'm these cir
cumstances, the Reich government
considered its proposals rejected"
Chamberlain proceeded to tear that
Nazi allegation to pieces and to show
its utter untruth. The proposals" in
question-the Hitler 16-point pro-
gram providing, among other things,
for unconditional annexation of
Danzig and the Corridor-were never
communicated to Poland at all, so
they could not have been rejected"
On August 20, Germany promised
Britain it would Immediately draw
up proposals for a solution acceptable
to the Reich government and, if DOS
slble, place them in the hands of
Downing Street before arrival in
Berlin OF Polish negotiators expected
on August 30.
Britain, of course, was awaiting
these proposals. But the next thing
was that when the British Ambassa-
dor In Berlin saw Won Ribbentrop,
the former urged upon the Nazi for
elgn secretary that when the pro-
posals were ready" he should invite
the Polish envoy to call and hand
him the proposals for transmission
to Warsaw. Thereupon, as Cham
berlain told Parliament Friday, Won
Rlboentrop "in the most violent
terms" shouted that he would never
ask the Polish envoy to visit him.
Parliament was invited by the Prime
Minister to notice that this explosion
in the Wilhelmstrasse was on We'd
nesday night, August 80, which
Germany twenty-four hours later
claimed to be the final date latter
which no negotiation with Poland
would be possible"
1T Is now clear" Chamberlain
said, that the Germans conception
OF negotiation was that on an almost
instantaneous demand the Polish
plenipotentiary should go to Berlin,
and then be confronted with state
ment of German demands to be
accepted in their entirety or refused. 4"
History will hardly be mistaken
in adjudging the Nazi Reich guilty
OF unqualified perfldy, first, in seek
ing to coerce Poland into accepting
a purely German settlement" of the
Danzig and Corridor issues under
duress, and, secondly, in unleashing
Germany's thunderbolts on land and
sea and in the air while diplomatic