Evening star., 1939-08-19
Danzig Seen Wedge
For liquidation
OF Polish State
Germany Must Be Safe
In Eost Before Seeking
Showdown With British
By JOHN GUNTHER.

RIGA, LatVla, Aug. 19 (N.A.NAo.
The main point about the Danzig
crisis is that it has nothing to do
with Danzig. This is the opinion
of seasoned observers whom this
correspondent has been consulting
in this critically important part of
the world.
What is going on in this period of
extreme crisis is development in
the struggle for power in Europe
which has persisted for hundreds of
years. The age-old antipathy be-
tween the Slav and the Teuton 10 :.
factor, and SO is the comparatj. ely
new contest for ascendancy pe oween
aggressive German imperialism and
the status quo policy of the British
Empire.
The Germans know that they can
only come to grips with Great Brit
ain for the final showdown if they
can first make their eastern from
tiers safe. Before they can have
any possible chance of success
against Great Britain, they must
liquidate the Polish state Failing
that, they must make Poland
satrap state or satellite.
In effect, Germany has Danzig
already. 1t has complete political
control of the Danzig area. 1t can
not claim, as it claimed during the
Sudeten crisis, that German mi
norities are being mistreated. Dan
zig is more German than Germany.
This must be apparent to any casual
visitor. When 1 was in Danzig a
few days ago 1 thought that it far
outdid the Reich in its display of
Nazi enthusiasm.
Exercise in Prestige.
The Germans want Danzig as an
exercise in prestige; they want it
as an instrument in power politics
against Poland. They hope that it
will be a wedge toward future in
corporation of the Polish Corridor
into the Reich, SO that the main
body of the Reich will no longer be
separated from East Prussia.
The new crisis which may be said
to have begun this week follows
closely the examples of the Austrian
crisis in March, 1888, and the Sude-
ten crisis last September. Prof. Carl
j. Burckhardt, League of Nations
high commissioner in Danzig, paid
visit to Hitler in Burchtesgaden-
and so did Chancellor Schuschnigg
of Austria. The German press has
begun exactly the same kind of in
t1ammatory campaign that distin-
guished the early stages of the as
sault on Czecho-Slovakia.
The closing of the frontier of ST.
lesia, first by the Germans and then
by the Poles, indicates that the crisis
has already developed to a tempo
which the Czecho-Slovakian crisis
took considerably longer to reach.
Hitler Misinformed, Poles Feel.
A few days ago in Poland, I saw
a good many political personalities.
They were unanimous in the belief
that the chief danger to peace is
that Hitler is misinformed They
thought that Hitler had been in
f1uenced by several of his close asso-
ciates, chiefly by Foreign Minister
Won Ribbentrop, to believe that Po-
land will not fight, that France
would fight, but that England would
not fight and, therefore, France
could not. They thought that Hitler
believed mistakenly that he could
make just such an end of Poland as
he did of Czecho-Slovakja.
In this belief, Hitler has possibly
been encouraged by recent British
maneuvers The British are reported
to be spending f2,00O,O00 a day on re-
armament. They refused a cash ad-
vance to Poland of only f5,O000O
In other words, they seemed to be
rating support of their Eastern ally
as being worth less than two-and-a-
half days of their own expenditures
for arms.
Beyond this lies something deeper.
1t is that the British, through this
indirect financial maneuver, are
trying to restrain the Poles from
too-precipitant action. The British
are in the position of a bridge player
with the dummy hand The Poles
are playing the deal and the Brit
ish want to indicate to the Poles
when they start bidding that they
must not overbid
Poland Not Frightened.
I was struck by one thing above
all in Poland. 1t is that Poland has
no fear of Germany. The British
are worried. the French are fright
ened-sensible people! The Dutch
and Belgians are frightened, the
Swiss are terrified, and so are the
Yugoslavs and the Hungarians, to
say nothing of Italy. But Poland is
not frightened. Poland is perfectly
willing to fight war. The British
still want to avoid war if avoidance
of war is possible on any humanity
acceptable terms. Therefore, they
are seeking to restrain the Poles.
Hitler knows this, according to al
my informants in Warsaw. But he is
making a tremendous miscalculatior
if he thinks that the Poles will not
fight. British or no British, the
Poles will fight, alone if necessary
They are confident that eventually
the British will have to come in, ever
if they don't want to and even if the,
seek to wiggle out of the Anglo.
Polish pledge
Reported secret negotiations be-
tween Poland and Germany are dis
counted in political circles here. Prot