RUSSIA, POLAND AND BRITAIN

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 181, 2 August 1941, Page 6

RUSSIA, POLAND AND BRITAIN

TTOW circumstances change! Less than two years ago Germany made a pact with Soviet Russia, and then attacked Poland. Britain (and France, having sworn to defend Poland, declared war on Germany when ilv attacking Germans refused to withdraw. The Germans conquered Poland, but before they had quite finished liie Russians marched in. By Ilusso-German treaty Poland was partitioned, and in a speech on October 111, KWO, M. MolotolT declared thai "there can be no question of restoring the old Poland, so there is no just ideation for the war. ft

is not. only senseless but criminal to wag< a war for the destruction of Hitlcrism, covered as a fight for democracy. The imperialist character of the war is obvious to anyone who wants to fact , realities." That ■was M. MoiotofT's view then. Russian t'-oops remained in the part uf Poland which they had seized, and the Ilolshevisation of the country proceeded, while ju.-t. across the boundary the other Poles were being Naziiied. Opinions dilter on the question of which Poles, wore the most miserable , . Hut now. it appears, all has changed. The Soviet and the exiled Polish Government have signed a treaty. The Soviet Ambassador declares; that "the peoples of Russia had very friendly feelings towards the people of Poland.' , The British oHieial wireless informs us that pleasure and appreciation are expressed in London of the wise statesmanship ''and goodwill of both parties" which made the treaty possible. What nauseating rubbish! The most that can be said honestly is that Poland and Russia are both victims of German aggression, and it is in their common interest that both should do all the;.- can to defeat her. Russia did nothing to show her recognition of that interest until Germany attacked her. On the contrary, the helped Germany.

The new treaty means that. Russia recognises that Germany's doublecross of the Soviet cancels the result of Russia's doubie-cross of Poland. Thus it lias some value in removing obstacles to co-operation, for war purposes, between Britain and Russia. Whether the Poles will ever feel that they can trust the Soviet, any more than Germany, cannot be said; but unless their memories are'exceedingly short it seems unlikely. Mr. Lden lias given an assurance that the treaty carries no guarantee by the British Government of frontiers in Eastern Europe. For that we may be truly thankful. How the British Government ever hoped to honour, in a practical way, its guarantee to Poland, was and is a mystery. It proved impracticable as against Germany, and it would have been no less so as against Russia. The future of Poland must remain obscure, dependent of course on the outcome of the war. The new treaty has value for the purposes of fighting the war against Germany, but. remembering that treaties and pacts have become as cheap as tram tickets, we may excuse ourselves from joining those who profess to think that this one possesses an enduring substance which the others lacked.