Loma D'Anesxos's Diany."—With Historical "Notes by Gertbwobl.
Londons. Hodder & Stoughton.
Shanghai; Kelly & Walsh.
An intensely interesting sketch of post star events during one of the periods of reconstruction, from the pen of an Ambassedor who was at the heart of affairs. Following the end of the Great War, which left Europe unsettled and burdened! with debt, came a period of some years in which the nations strove] fo readjust their affairs and to} settle so far as could be the problem of payment of their losses. Germany under the Treaty of] Versailles was the principal debtor] on whom fell the task of paying.' The problem had not been solved to the date June 1922 when this! volume starts, and had indeed become acuter in the course of the years following the end of the war. The British Ambassador at Berlin, himself financial expert, shows so clearly the reason of this failure viz. an attempt to estimate Gerbilities "before determining that country's ability to pay. In the year 1922 France became the more insistent on her claims and finally in January 1923 advanced into the Ruhr with a view] to enforcing her demands, ous results followed on thi the refusal of Great Britain to follow the lead of France, the determined resistance and unity of the German nation, the support of passive resistance by the German Government with the: necessity of financing that resistance. But, the principal result was financial chaos in Germany the mark droppitig to]
value which rendered it practical ly valueless. Lord D'Abernon is quite clear in his views as to why that financial chaos was inevitable and how inflation of the currency must involve the country in ruin, views which have been so amply' sustained by subsequent events. These views he expressed again and again but the temper of the nations: in this period was such that no heed was taken. The stabilization of the currency in Germany which! was effected towards the end of 1023 brought relief, and here again the accuracy of the views of Lord} D'Abernon were proved.up to the hilt.
Apart from the main theme, the sketches of the various statesmen are of peculiar value, for the re can get an insight into the chat ters of men who were at the of affairs and the motives which' swayed them. 'Further one reads of other notable men and the opinions they give of events just prior to, during and after the war. The spirit of France which was to ensire at any' cost safety from attack by Germany and the position the latter country brought about} 'a situation fraught with the gravest! danger to Europe. The policies of the nations, the alliances proposed and the ities of the alliances all make really interesting reading and give the reader some inkling as to how events were shaping till happier policies -prevailed in the Locarno Treaty and the admission of Germany as a full] member of the League of Nations. As an appendix is furnished, the Speech of Lord D'Abernon to the Royal Statistical Society in Nover-ber 1926 dealing with the collapse and recovery of German currency with full and relevant tables of statistics.
This volume is a valuable contion to contemporary history and should be one of the books of reference for historians who in years to come will write of the: period with which it deals.
The publication of the third and concluding "volume of the Diary' will be awaited with a pleasurable icipation—G.W.. lof a cup of tea, a joke,, a walk seashore may make as warm and lasting a Pact of Peace as any sign-Jed by statesmen." And then. we. Jcome to chapter after chapter of the most interesting reading which takes us all eyre China. Visits we have to Peking, Nanking, © Hang-Jchow, Tientsin, pictures of Shanghai. and Imany fine pictures of the poor and rich alike of China~ But it would be well now to leave a little to the reader and, in conclusion, to express our thanks to Lady Hosie for the care she has devoted to her Latest book.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.