EUROPE’S FUTURE

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 229, 24 June 1941, Page 3

EUROPE’S FUTURE

Great Britain’s Part In Reconstruction LESSONS OF THE PAST If Great Britain and the allied countries could in the morrow of victory bring to the continent of Europe a new idea of future political, economic and social organization, it would bring tremendous relief to the European people and, at the same time, it would be a powerful weapon in this war, stated the Consul-General for Poland in New Zealand, Professor Wodzicki, speaking to the Palmerston North Rotary Club yesterday. In his opinion, he added, that “fifth arm” would have a similar and even better effect than the 14 points of President Wilson of 1916. The nations having seen how the Nazi slogan, “neither capitalism nor socialism” worked in practice, were ready for new ideas, which could be brought to them only by a “pax Brittanica.” Before looking to the future, which seemed rather cloudy at present, it was necessary to consider the forces with who Britain and her allies had to deal in Europe, and the principal aims of the enemy, said Professor Wodzicki. There was no doubt that Europe was passing through a new period of far-reaching political, social, economic and technical revolution, Professor Wodzicki continued. The outlines of the German “Nene Ordnung” had not yet emerged clearly, but the old one was fast disappearing. Analogy With Napoleon. No one could have failed to notice the striking similarity between the present times and those ‘of Napoleon. There is, of course, a difference, because the genius of Napoleon was not only destructive, but in many ways constructive and creative. His failure was due, inter alia, to the difficulty to muster.a creative effort equal to the destructive one preceding it, “There are even deeper analogies, as, for example, the same combination of war and revolution. The French revolution led to the Napoleonic wars. The Russian revolution of 1917, and the German revolution of 1933 have led to the present war. As stated by a Polish economist, the ideal of the Ger-' man revolution is neither capitalism nor communism. There are no positive solutions and it derives its vigour from hatred and the spirit of destruction, deeply rooted in the German mind. The popular appeal of national socialism lies probably in its opposition to both capitalism, whereby it won the working class, and to communism, whereby it captured the middle class. The national socialism exploited with full perfidy two yearnings of the postwar world: The desire for social justice, expressed by the opposition to capitalism, and the desire for order, expressed by opposition to social anarchy.” National Socialism. The national socialism was built on several a priori postulates, which even their originators hardly believed. The fundamental postulate was that of the superiority of the German race over all races of the world, which conferred on it the right to claim and appropriate directly or indirectly anything which it regarded as indispensable to itself, and the right to proclaim wore and more territories for its Lebeusraum. Strictly speaking, it should be called a pseudo-socialistic system, for it employed the term socialism with even less justification than did the, Soviet Union when using the term Communism. Both systems had the common internal policy, that of terror. “May I stress something which explains to us how tremendous is this struggle?” asked Professor Wodzicki. “In the first war for domination of the world the-German people had no leader. Now they stand united behind Hitler. Just as Winston Churchill is nearer to the British people than Mr. Asquith and Mr. Lloyd George, just as President Roosevelt is nearer to the American people than President Wilson ever was, so Hitler is nearer to the German people than the Em l>eror, or Hindenburg, or Ludendorff, or. indeed, any German of the past. He is essentially the chosen leader of the Germans; the wan they want, now that the Fatherland is at war. The war itself and Hitler brought a consolidated German national unity. No Third Chance. i “This war is not being a war’ between Governments or systems of gov ernments. The British people are not fighting the ‘Nazis.’ They are at war with the German nation. Even if Hit ler dies or is replaced, and the Nazi party put in jail, all free and demo cratie people will be at war till the armed might of the German nation should be broken. The defeat of Hitler or of the ’Nazis* and the capture of more Hess’s can be no more than a contribution toward the final victory. If the German nation retains the possibility to recover its armed might this second bloody World War will have been fought in vain. . . . “We must keep in mind that the British Empire seized the first chance iu 1914. It lost tb-e second when they allowed the Germans to rearm, shortly before Hitler became Chancellor. The last chance of survival was seized in September. 1939. Poland’s firm decision to fight with an overwhelming foe came into this atmosphere of appeasement before aggression ns a ‘breath of strong, fresh air.' If we lose this last possibility tlvere will never be a third.”