Evening star., 1939-07-09

| MAhOHAL SW llIL1 N M.
Approaching what may be the crisis
OF its independence, Poland is being
guided through the shoals of possible
war by the shadow hand of its re-creator,
now dead four years, but still living in
the hearts Of his countrymen and in the
policies of Polands statemen.
Josef Pilsudski conceived an inde-
pendent Poland, brought it to realiza-
ton, warded off the perils of its early
| years and set it on the path of strong
| statehood, path it has followed until to-
day it stands almost a flrst-rank power
in Europe
| Marshal Pilsudski is dead, but three
men dominate Poland and its foreign
| policy in its stead-a septuagenarian
| President, an esthetic general, and a
/ tough-minded young foreign minister
| President Ignace Moscicki, Gen. Edward
/ Rydz-Smigly and Foreign Minister Col
/ Joseph Beck are carrying on the precepts
| of Pllsudski in defense of the country
| against its expanding Germanic neigh
Dor.
y
! on the policies of the revered marshal
| is almost an understatement; they are
the personifcation and embodiment of
| Pilsudskis philosophy Of government of
his policies of relations with other coun-
tries, and of his dreams for a strong
and self reliant Poland
Trained by Pilsudski.
Each of them had strong and abiding
relationship with the father of modern
Poland while he lived; each knew him
| intimately, was chosen by him for the
| position he now holds and was trained
under his guiding hand; each of them
/ now sets himself to hold for the Polish
/ state that position of importance in Eu-
ropean, especially Eastern European, af-
/ fairs which Pilsudski Won
Behind these men stands a compact
mass of 35,000,000 imbued with the single
| idea of preserving the independence
which ended Polands interment in three
| graves. According to Witold Wankowicz.
! counselor of the Polish Embassy in
! Washington, who has just returned from
six months in his homeland. the entire
| country is under the spell of serene,
calm confidence in its own ability to meet
any challenge to its independence, its
territory, or its hold upon the Baltic
seacoast. 1t is not the calm of people
who are not aware of peril, for the quiet
mobilization of reserves has carried the
urgency of the situation to every village,
but the calm of highly patriotic nation
determined to die in battle rather than
yield to invasion.
This iron-nerved readiness to face
whatever menace awaits is the product of
the principles on which Pilsudski found
! ed the Polish state-authoritaria gov
ernment which is yet not dictatorial, and
leaves room for limited democracy; i'm
provement of national defense, a pro-
gram which takes roughly go per cent
of the Polish budget each year; rejection
of ideologies of either Right or Left in
order to consolidate. the nation, free
from those internal divisions which led
to the partitions of the 18th century.
Balances Two Forces.
Abroad, Pilsudski's policres were just
as realistic and consonant with the les
sons of Poland's history and the exigen-
cies of Polands geo-political position as
were his domestic policies. The rul-
ing consideration was Polands position
at the crossroads of two great civiliza-
tions-the East and the West-therefore
the task was to balance the two forces
between which she was caught. Germany
and Russia represent the forces of the
West and the East, respectively, for
Poland, and the effort to balance civili-
cations resolved itself into a policy of
balance between these two great powers.
Behind this fundamental political
tenet of rapprochement with both Ger
many and Russia for peace, Pilsudski
wrought the French and Rumanian al
liances for security. Poland thus would
have both peace and security, reinforced
by realistic dealing and insistence that
no international decisions be taken with
regard to any state without the partici-
patton of that state in the negotiations.
Over all was the canopy of good neigh
Dor policy which was more than mere
| neutrality in Eastern Europe's conflicts.
The fruition of Pilsudskis foreign pol
icy was the 1882 non-aggression pact
with the Soviet Union, reaffirmed in 1885
and 1885, and the 10-year non-aggression
pact of 1884 with Germany, denounced
by Hitler in his Reichstag speech April
g. 1899.
Today the policy of balance is in con-
fusion. While ties with Russia have been
strengthened by trade agreement which
facilitates the flow of strategic raw ma
terials from Russia to Poland, the rap
prochement with Germany was destroyed
by Hitlers denunciation of the 1884 pact
and hostile preparations for the recovery
not only of the Free City OF Danzig, but
for the dismehbering OF Poland by seiz-