CENTRAL EUROPE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 301, 20 December 1937, Page 14

CENTRAL EUROPE.

GERMAN AMBITIONS.

ANOTHER DIPLOMATIC'PUSH?' I SITUATION SEEN FAVOURABLE rsir Arthur Willnrf. K.8.R.. tli<writer <if llie followini: article. hiis for ninii.v venrs lienil of I lie news section of ihe British Koreimi Ollli-e nnil re, inn In* 111 close loucli with those .lrlministerina Ihe foreign policy «• ri>)> t Hriin in. He Is n recognised nutlmrily on -ill <|uest ii• 11 s re |nti 11 tr to lntrrnational affairs. | LONDON. Anxiety is felt here over tlio indications that (.1 riiuiny is about to start her long e\poetcd diplomatic offensive for the ilominalion of Centrnl and SouthKastcrn Europe. The offensive is expected to open noiiinst Aiistriii. A grave view is taken hi I lie nlliciallv inspired statement just issued in Berlin scolding Austria for being unfriendly to (iennany, and especially for being guilty of behaviour unworthy of "a (icrmaii State." It is not expected that the statement is the precursor of anything like violent action against Austria. Hut it is looked upon as a first step in a careful campaign for the subordination of Vienna to Merlin. It is believed that the next i'tep will be an effort to make Dr. von Sclittnelinigg take representative l ' of the Austrian Nazi party into his Cabinet, to be followed by intensified Nazi agitation and then a political crisis which would eliminate l)r. von Sehuschnigg and lead to the formation of a Nazi (lovernment in Vienna at the beck and call of Berlin. Many things favour German activity in Central Kurope at this moment. According to news just received here it / in at least likely that the obscure political crisis in Poland may lead to a totalitarian Government there, friendly to Berlin, that would greatly strengthen Germany's hand. So might the situation in Yugoslavia, though it is not believed hero that it will take a serious turn. The general diplomatic situation is also increasingly favourable to Germany. England and France are both deeply involved in the Spanish muddle. England also has the Far Eastern Conference on her hands. Neither over Spain nor over the Far East are the democracies using the only argument whereby the dirtators might bo influenced, namely diplomacy firmly supported by a readiness to use force to back it if necessary. Mr. Eden thus finds himself straddled between two conferences, one in London, the other at Brussels, both of which promise to be embarrassing failures. 1 Franco's Prospects. Regarding Spain, it is growing daily clearer that his short spasm of firmness, which stopped submarine piracy, is over ] arid that there is no real intention here ! to support France in the opening of her ' frontiers to the Valencia Government if Signor Mussolini should refuse to withdraw his troops. An<j[ it is equally clear that without full British support France will not act. This state of affaire. has had several results. It has not increased Franco-British solidarity. It has shown the dictators that with a little patience and much obstruction they can keep up the farce of the Non-intervention Committee certainly long enough for General Franco to carry out his present plan of using his allies for a great effort to subdue Valencia in the next six weeks and probably to allow him to Jiave another try ne*Jt »ptjny, II his present . a 8 ex Pert» here are Inclined to think it may. " ! ■, The Brussels Conference Is equally encouraging to the dictators Mr. Nornian Davis and Mr. Eden may meet as often as they like and issue statements about the usefulness of their I work, but they have so far done nothing to show the dictatorships that the democracies mean business. In these circumstances it is not surprising that the Rome Alliance should become careless in the concealment .f its diplomatic strategy. It has been clear since Herr Hitler launched his hint last week about his readiness to mediate in the Chinese war that Japan is to have a free hand in the Far East with as much support from her Euroi>ean friends as possible, especially when she wants to make peace, that Italy should take the Mediterranean as the sphere of her activities and ambitions and that Germany should concentrate upon the domination of Central and Eastern Europe. Signor Mussolini's acceptance of Germany's Central European plans, which involve his playing second fiddle in Austria and other places where *he hoped to be supreme, has been bought by the German promise to support his Mediterranean ambitions. That, it now appears, was why after Signor Mussolini s visit Berlin stopped the intima* tions with which it had been lavish last summer that it did not much lilce the Spanish adventure. ,

Dictators Don't Went War. That Herr Hitler should be preparing to tread on Signor Mussolini's corns by undermining, Austrian independence instead of interfering with Czechoslovakia may be explained by the fact that the last thing the dictators want is war. They are relying both in the Far East and in Europe upon the continued weakness of democratic diplomacy. They know that in both places there are thinps which they could not safely do. In Europe ''.hey could not safely be rough with the Czechs. The Czechs are well organised diplomatically and militarily. (»uns might go off if they were too brutally handled, and then anything might happen. For this reason, the fact that Herr Hitler has accused Prague of unfriendliness at the same time as Vienna is regarded here as of secondary importance. Nor for the same reason is London afraid of war. The principal result of the present display of dictatorial dynamics is to increase uneasiness as to the main lines of British policy. This can be seen from recent debates in Parliament. It is beginning to he wondered when, if ever, Britain's rapidly increasing armaments will allow Mr. Eden to take a stronger stand in his diplomatic interchanges with the dictators. The answer is that while a strong British policy is not likely for the protection of Central Europe, Germany will probably find herself firmly niet if she presses her colonial claims. It may be taken for jinnitod that Lord Halifax in Berlin will meet anything that the Hermans mijrht. siiv about colonies l>y repeating that'i while not unsympathetic with Ger-| nw.nv-s claims, Britain-jWill -only discuss them as part of a •reneTal effort at inter, lidt ionnl appeasement. ■