March 21.
The anxiety which. has been created by the German subjugation of Czechoslovakia, and the demands upon Rumania has done more to increase the tendency of democratic states to coalesce in common defence than anything which has occurred since the col~ lapse of the Locarno Pact. Poland has been brought to a realization of the essential fact that her communication lines with the south have been cut by Germany who has undertaken another effort towards expansion towards the East, Russia, who sees the growing threat to herself in the latest developments, is reported now to be ready to participate in any system of collective secur~ ity, despite the "disappointment of Munich," while there is considerable support shown in favour of a conference between Great Britain, France, the United States, Yugoslavia, Rumania, Greece and Turkey for the purpose of devising a common policy in the event of new instances of aggression. Germany having by her action swept away all and every ground upon which good rela~ tions with her could be based has completely frustrated those in many countries who desired friendship with her. Thus the very large body of opinion which in Great Britain favoured such a development, and was working earnestly towards it, has been deprived of whatever slender chances there were of bringing so happy a situation about, and the only practical policy of international concern now is how those countries which are at present threatened, and those others which may be menaced in the near and remoter future can best combine for the purpose of offering that common resistance without which the grandiose schemes of Herr Hitler stand a good chance of succeeding, They have been forced to realize that the rearmament of Germany can only" be accepted as dictated by reasons of self-defence, if it is also under stood that that defence is designed to operate against the results of her own aggressions. Once that is accepted the newly-built Ger~ man armies become a weapon of offence in aggressive campaign of imperialistic expansion, And so the doctrine of collective security, which for some time past has been under a cloud, has emerged again as a matter of very urgent practical polities. It is to be hoped that it will be possible quickly to bring about common understanding amongst all the nations at present menaced, whereby common action shall be taken in the defence of any individual nation attacked, If such an arrangement can be reached it' will only be effectively operative If the responsibilities of the participating countries towards each other are defined with greater precisone: than has ever been employed in the past. They will need to be as clearly defined as is the present relationship between Great Britain and France—without any reserva~ tions whatever. That it would result again in the encirclement of Germany, something which its Government so strongly resents, is, particularly now, no reason why stich a scheme should not be developed to its final conclusion, The argument may be advanced that such @ scheme would lead to a general deterioration of the present situation, "but against that it may be contended that condi tions are now so bad that it is very diMeult to believe that they can be very much worse short of actual warfare, That can only be avoided if there is arrayed against the totalitarian states such an array of strength that even their leaders will hesitate before embarking upon further attempts to redraft the map of Europe and the world, Of the enormous strength which such a cornbin tion of nations united for common defence could muster there cannot be the slightest doubt. It is now and would continue to be very much in excess of whatever the agressor states could ever hope to command, and economically as well as militarily would present something which they would be more than a little foolhardy ever to think of chal~ euging. It would forge a weapon to be used only in the vindication of the principles of peace the effectiveness of which would be undeniable, But it must be remembered that nothing short of a defensive alliance will serve the purpose; an unequivocal pledge that if any one member of the combine is attacked the whole will be at war, is the only really useful counter-measure against the threat which is developing, It will not suffice merely to enter into a convention providing that when one of the parties becomes the victim of aggression the others shall consult as to the best means of protecting it; it is imperatively necessary that the aggressor states shall be made to realize that the very act of isolated aggression will bring about (Continued on page 491)
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.