Evening star., 1940-06-22
Armistice, Not Peace

Armistice terms submitted to the
French delegation by Hitler at Com
plegne yesterday, are not peace con-
dltlons. What has been put before
France Is merely to betoken the
republics incapacity to go on fight
Ing. AS the Hamburger Fremdenblatt
explains, IAN armistice denotes the
military destruction of the enemv in
sense that he shall not be able to
lit up his arms again. Because of its
complicated nature, the treaty of
peace must await conclusion at some
later date. An armistice only creates
military guarantees for the securing
OF successes achieved by the victor,
until such time as normalization of
relations may be arrived at by treaty
OF peace"
In other words, before France
learns the worst, i.e., the territorial
and other spoils demanded bv the
Germans, she must undertake to
strip herself utterly of the power to
resist the conqueror's will, as it NAV
md expression in a pact of peace
which the Petain government, if still
IN of1lce, will have no alternative but
to sign on the dotted line. Thus.
from the moment the French con-
sent to armistice terms, no matter
how humiliating or dishonorable
these may be, they will be deprived
by their own act, of the means of
continuing armed opposition.
Pending disclosure of the armistice
conditions, it is interesting to recall,
as the German press is now doing
IN accents Of malicious irony. the
terms which the Kaiser's govern
ment was compelled to accept on
November II, 1918. These were not
followed until seven months later
by the peace treaty of Versailles
Marshal Foch's armistice provisions
were:
immediate evacuation of invaded
countries; repatriation of all inhabi-
tants; surrender in good condition
OF 5000 guns, 10000 machine guns.
5000 f1ame-throwers, 1000 airplanes:
evacuation Of the left bank of the
Rhlne; surrender of three bridge
heads on the Rhine; surrender of
1900 locomotives, 10000 railroad
cars and 5000 motor trucks in good
working order land with spare
parts; disclosure of all mines and
OF delay-action fuses, and assistance
IN their discovery and destruction.
immediate repatriation, without
reciprocity, of all prisoners of war:
abandonment Of the treaties of Bu-
charest and Brest Litovsk.
surrender of six battle cruisers
the best ten battleships, eight light
cruisers, fifty of the best destroyers
and all submarines" Subsequent to
delivery of the war materials therein
specified Germany was required to
destroy between 1919 and 1923, under
the supervision of Allied commits
sions, vast quantities of additional
military equipment. It was the
Reich's disarmament which was
plaintively detailed by Chancellor
Hitler on April %, 1899, in his trucu-
lent Reichstag reply to President
Roosevelt's plea to the axis dictators
Tor ten years of peace.
So the world must wait a while to
know what peace terms will follow
the armistice for which France asked
both Germany and Italy. That
they will be harsh terms is frankly
foreshadowed by the Nazi press.
Undoubtedly, the surrender of the
French fleet is provided for in the
armistice OF June 81. Exactly what
Is to become of the territory of
France in Europe and of the French
Empire overseas remains a peace
treaty secret. That it will be ruth
lessly despoiled by and divided
among the victorious dictators seems
n fNrn~ann