Evening star., 1941-05-11
War Enters Its World Phase,
With U.S.. Deeply Committed
Conflict Spreading to Middle and Far East, Where
Peoples Often Are Unable or Unwilling
to Embrace Democracy
By FeHr Morley.

be won that way. But in the phase Of
world anarchy now beginning it may be
surmised that Hitler will seek to para
lyze the vital connections rather than
the heart of the British Empire.
1918 an Incomplete Parallel.
This strategy has been foreseen, and
to some extent welcomed, on the as
sumption that it will mean an over
extension of German strength and
therefore an increase in the chances of
collapse within the citadel of Nazi
power. As one commentator recently
pointed out three-fourthS of the Euro
pean territory now occupied by German
troops was similarly held in 1918, only
few months before the Allied triumph.
If the fundamental elements in this
war were similar to those in the last,
this parallel would be consoling.
Unfortunately, the similarities are
superficial. 1t has often been argued
that the social revolutionary aspects of
this World War, almost completely abb
sent in the 1914-l918 struggle, are at least
as important as the military considera-
tiOnS. But there is a natural aversion
to exploring the full implications of that
difference.
The hostility of the Nazi movement
to what we vaguely call democratic
processes is well understood. Its equally
bitter hostility to what Hitler calls ''plu-
tocratic capitalism" is less frequently
analyzed. Yet it is the semi Communis-
tic aspects of the Nazi movement which
have, for instance, done most to further
close working agreement between
Germany and Russia. Our new en-
barge on exports to the Soviet makes It
clear that Washington regards the re-
lationships between Berlin and Moscow
of convenience.
We habitually stigmatize Russia as
the enemy of capitalism and Germany
as the foe of democracy. But we also
find it difficult to distinguish between
the political and ethical concepts of
democracy and the strictly economic
concept of capitalism.
The average American still firmly be-
ieves that democracy would disappear
II CdplldllS1l Nclc AL tIlIS
country and that democracy will survive
only if our system of free enterprise"
is maintained. Because the two fields
are regarded as interlocking, if not iden-
tical, rather too little has been made of
the fact that the thorough-going NaZis
are as hostile to our form of capitalism
as they are to our system of representa-
tive government IS
Democracy Doesn't Suit All.
1t is well to realize, at this stage of
the wars development, that in a large
part of the world our easy unifcation
of political and economic principles does
not obtain. In particular it is not found
in colonial, or emi-colonial, areas where
an alien capitalism has been imposed on
people to whom western ideas of democ-
racy are wholly foreign, and who are
often unable or unwilling to assimilate
them.
Into this great zone the war seems
now about to flood, as it boiS over from
its original confinement within the con-
tinent of Europe. But in this zone the
conflict will probably be much more an
theological struggle than one of Panzer
divisions.
Oil will not be needed to conduct it,
though oil is one of the reasons why
some of the first intimations of serious
disturbance are already apparent in
Iraq. And neither Germany nor Rus
sia, except in their propaganda depart
ments, would be over extended by car
rying conflict between Communist i'm
perialism and capitalist Imperialism
into an area where democracy, in the
sense that we use the word, has never
been established.
With this complicated and confusing
aspect of the war the American people,
now acknowledgements, may soon have
to concern themselves If so, we shall
have to do some thinking, as we'll as
acting, in fields which are very unfa-
miliar to most of us. AS Senator
Ashurst sadly observed during the de-
bate on the Conscription Act: you
cannot jump halfway down Niagara"