The Dominion. MONDAY, MARCH 14, 1938. CRISIS IN CENTRAL EUROPE

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 143, 14 March 1938, Page 8

The Dominion. MONDAY, MARCH 14, 1938. CRISIS IN CENTRAL EUROPE

Political tension in Central Europe has been dangerously aggravated by the sensational developments in Austria, 'lhe gist of t e various reports that have come to hand during the week-end is that Germany-has invaded Austria and taken control of the country. Dr. Schuschnigg, the Austrian Premier, has been deposed, and a proNazi Government installed. Protests in “the strongest possible terms addressed to the German Government by the British and French Governments have been regarded by the. recipients as unwarranted and lacking understanding of the real position. Unfortunately there is no misunderstanding possible concerning the real position. Herr Hitler’s policy, as was Germany’s before the . Great War, is aimed at the domination of Central and South-Eastern ’ Europe. His attack on Austria is regarded as the prelude to a series of manoeuvres directed toward that end. Austria after tlie war was guaranteed immunity from aggression. Both Great Britain and France have specifically stated that she could rely on their protection They have assisted materially both in the League of Nations and independently in the economic and financial resuscitation of the country. As for Italy, which as far as can be seen has been an unmoved spectator of the political rape of Austria by Germany, witness Signor Mussolini’s fervid guarantee of protection recorded on August 13 1934, in a reference to' the assassination of Dr. Dollfuss, the late Chancellor: “His death,” said the Duce, “more than anything else, signifies the continuation oL Austria’s independence. We would fail in our pledges if we permitted the most trivial violation of that sacred pact.” It will be recalled, moreover, that a former move on the part of Germany against Austria was sharply checked by Signoi Mussolini by the dispatch of two divisions to the Brenner Pass in readiness for eventualities. Since then the political aspirations of Germany and Italy have become pivoted on what is known as the Berlin-Rome axis, Italy being accorded freedom of action in the Mediterranean and Germany in dealing with German minorities’ questions in Central Europe. In July, 1936, Herr Hitler and Dr. Schuschnigg came to an agreement concerning the basis for the future relationships of Germany and Austria. One of the principles of this was that each should manage its own affairs without interference by the other. T his agreement was flagrantly violated last month by a peremptory demand from Herr Hitler for a reconstitution of the Austrian Cabinet—to include five Nazi Ministers—and the release of all political prisoners, estimated in number 4000. Following this Herr Hitler delivered a speech in the Reichstag in which he said that “in two States on the frontiei of Germany there were more than 10,000,000 Germans who were prevented from reunion with Germany. . ... who must suffer for their German sympathies.” Dr. Schuschnigg’s answer to this was to announce a national plebiscite on the issue of a free German Austria,” to have been held yesterday.

People of Austria, he declared in an appeal to the nation, for ’ the first time in the history of our Fatherland the leaders of the State demand a public profession of faith in your homeland. All of you, men and women of the free Austria, are summoned to confess yourselves before the whole world. You shall say whether you are minded to go the way we are going,, which has as its object social concord, equality of rights, the final overcoming of party divisions, German peace at home and abroad, and a policy of work. The violence and unexpectedness of Herr Hitler’s reprisal to this step suggests that he feared the result of the vote. An anh-Nazi vote would have checked his plans for the union with Germany of all German populations alongside but beyond, her frontiers. This, points out a writer in the December Round Table, “would mean acknowledging the right .of the Austrians, the Sudeten Deutsch, the people of Danzig, Memel, and parts of the Polish Corridor, and in the end the Germans in the Italian Tyrol, to decide for themselves whether to join the Reich, possibly with some measure of local autonomy.” This, in the light of the latest events, was rather understating the case. The Austrian people have, not been given the right to decide this question for themselves. It is stated that a plebiscite will still be held, but it will be a plebiscite under Germany’s management. . . . . • r How can Germany possibly justify this violation of an agreement the essential principle of which was non-interference? As to its effects, the possibilities are highly dangerous. The British and French Governments, in almost identical terms, have warned Herr Hitler that such action is bound to produce the gravest reactions, “of which,” says the British Note, “it is impossible to foretell the issue. What has’happened to-day in Austria may conceivably happen tomorrow in Czechoslovakia. This was clearly in the mind of the Czechoslovakian Prime Minister when he said recently, in reference to the grievances of the German minority: “We reject consistently and on principle all external interference in our internal affairs.” The Czechoslovakian Government is looking anxiously to France for an assurance of assistance in future eventualities. Dr. Krofta, the Foreign Minister, in a public statement in November last, welcomed a statement by‘the French Foreign Minister, M. Delbos, made the previous month, that his country would fulfil its obligations in the event of an attack on Czechoslovakia. The possibilities inherent in the dangerous policy Herr Hitler is now pursuing in Central Europe fully justifies the emphatic protests made by the British and French Governments, and the grave warnings uttered.