Evening Post SATURDAY, DECEMBER 26, 1936. NAZI POLICY NEARS CRISIS

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 153, 26 December 1936, Page 10

Evening Post SATURDAY, DECEMBER 26, 1936. NAZI POLICY NEARS CRISIS

How far Herr Hitler will go in Spain was a pre-Christmas topic in London papers, and assumes special importance in view of.the comments (published today) of the Berlin cor-.-respondent of the "Daily Mail." Either Herr Hitler must now decide "to extend intervention to a sensational and dangerous degree," says a diplomatic contributor to the "News Chronicle," or else he must "admit failure and put an end to intervention—which, it is understood, the German General Staff is urging." The Nazi diplomat and the German re*gular soldier are . two different people; the soldier may not sub-edit speeches, but he is in the picture when it comes to underwriting a military campaign, such as an adventure in/Spain. If Italy and Germany were likely.to co-operat^ in a military adventure in the Western Mediterranean, the German soldier might possibly view it with a less unfavourable eye, but every step towards an Anglo-Italian Mediterranean understanding (of .which so many rumours are cabled lately) would be a step away from a Hitler-Mussolini raid on Spain and Spanish possessions.. How could two predatory Powers agree about Spain,. even if both were Fascist? And how could a predatory Italy measure up for an understanding with Britain? Assuming that Italy is not in the plot, any "serious German commitments in Spain" (hinted at by the "Daily Mail's" correspondent) must be carried by Germany alone. This is the problem of the Fuhrer and his General Staff. The" opinion that Herr Hitler has now attained a point at which he must either go back or go forward j in 'his plan to make General Franco a winner is strengthened by an opinion, coming from another quarter, that the Government and the rebels in Spain have reached a stale-1 mate. This is, of course, a military hypothesis, just as the supposed stalemate in Abyssinia was a hypo-1 thesis, quickly exploded. If Franco could finish up the civil war quickly, as Badoglio finished up the Abyssinian war, many of Herr Hitler's immediate difficulties would disappear. But if, as the Berlin correspondent of the "Daily Telegraph" reported on December 16, Franco has told the German Government that he requires 60,000 more men to win the civil war, how can this help be ' rendered without undisguised German . intervention? —an intervention which the cautious German General Staff would have to underwrite. At the date stated (December 16) the foreigners, mostly Germans and Italians, fighting for Franco and the rebels in Spain were estimated at foom 16,000 to 25,000. Can their {/forces be augmented to victory point I by the current method of voluntary enlistments when Britain and Fiance are striving, through the Non-Inter-Avention Committee, to stop voluntary enlistments? If not, what is Herr Hitler's next move? Is it to ) recoil from the , consequences of open intervention in Spain, and "admit failure"? Or will some new coup by a Germany "almost in .a state of war" startle the world in the early months of 1937 as in the year now closing? Besides the Spanish temptation, and the supposed hesitant attitude of the German General Staff, there is a third-factor, probably the most obscure of all. Germany's internal economic situation has been painted by various authorities in so many , conflicting colours that it remains a ■ mystery. But the "News Chronicle's" ] contributor claims to have informa- ', tion that "Germany's economic con- ■ dition is far worse than is realised 1 or reported," and that for economic : reasons ] \ ,Herr .Hitler may be templed as never \ before to embark on some serious : foreign adventure. The deciding time is set down for the late spring. The theatre of action is not suggested, but that part of the issue would be simplified if Russia became involved in war with Japan. There are many obstacles to an open and declared German-Japanese military alliance. Such an alliance would be tantamount to recognition of the independent State, of Manchukuo and of Japan's position therein; and as China's trade is important to Germany, Berlin is unlikely to recognise Manchukuo in ihe same cheerful way as Berlin and Rome have recognised the Franco Government, and thn Italian annexation of Abyssirfia. But if, without the embarrassments arising from a declared alliance between Germany and Japan, , war between Japan and Russia did 1 in fact arrive, the position would be .different. Could Herr Hitler keep out? Could either his generals or his economists keep him out?