HOUSE OF LORDS AND POLAND

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 82, 4 October 1944, Page 4

HOUSE OF LORDS AND POLAND

The first and the third points of British ' foreign policy, according to Lord ' Cranborne, are (1) fostering good relations of the Allies,, (3) planning the pbst-war world. The third point seems to be foundatibnless, of at least shadowy, without the first; in other words, post-war planning in a.comprehensive sense is possible only by the united efforts of -Britain,- America, and Russia; therefore the good relationship of the Allies, or at any rate of the Big Three, is, a sine qua non—a prerequisite to . the reconstruction of Europe and the world. So far as the co-operation of Russia with the west is concerned, the first hurdle may prove to be also the worst. The firsthurdle is the Polish question, of which Lord Cranborne says that it not only affects the war against Germany but is "a world problem of first importance." World peace—as the Americansseem to have discovered—is impossible without European peace; European peace is impossible without Anglo-American-Russian co-operation; and Russian co-operation with the Western Allies may prove to be impossible without- a satisfactory , Polish settlement. So it is by no means an overstatement to say that European peace and world peace pivot on Poland. At the same time, if-the Poles, or many of them, or*some of them,,object to being sacrificed (as they may think) hi the interests of Big Three unity and of. non-Polish conceptions Of world! peace, if they pursue their objection in face of the fact that Russia physically domiiiatei- the situation, such a Polish attitude is understandable. But the old question, in that case, would still remain: What can the Poles or anybody else :(apart from the Russians) do about it? Lord Cranborne, when he made the statement quoted above, was speaking as Leader of the British Government in the House of Lords,, and was winding up a Lords debate, on the wai- situation. He stated that the relations. of the tiiree 'Governments—British, American, Russian—and their /'growing spirit of collaboration" was "excellent." The question is whether the spirit is excellent enough to compose a very real difference in material aims. "Russians conception of a strategic frontier and the Poles* conception of historic and racial rights present a legitimate difference which diplomacy has^ not found it easy to remove. History shows that where such a dispute arises between two States, one of which is physically able to impose its own terms on the other and also on. all comers, there is a great temptation for' the stronger side to dictate the settlement. But in the matter of peaceful solution of genuine difficulties civilisation is trying to get away from his^y;, and if civilisation in 1544 is able tc _tt qvei this first (and probably : worst) hurdle in "the path of the Big Three, -;k tremendous victory for peace will have been attained. On the other hand, ar enforced settlement, r- if it. takes the place of an agreed settlement, maj poison' future relations in Ettßope anc may the fiuropeah pacification Vas a whole. Can Russian' statesmanship satisfy the Poles, meet Britain's Sense of responsibility, and .give Americans reason to believe that European questions are hot insoluble, and that a return to American isolationism is unnecessary? v •Interposed between Lord Cranborne's first and third points comes No. 2—-"to put the occupied countries ori their feet again and to encourage national unity in those countries which have been distracted by the strain they have j undergone." Only some of the occupied countries have been liberated; the

liberated ones include France, Belgium, and; part of Holland. The people of the liberated countries of course will have a great deal to say concerning the regaining of their' feet. They will have most to say on the particular and important question of whether tiieir to-be-elected Governments shall look to the Right or to the Left. In this connection much interest attaches to the reported announcement by General de Gaulle of a policy of nationalisation of arms and munitions industries and of mine_.. The attitude towards 'collaborationists—especially fierce, it seems, in Belgium—and the rapid politicalisaljon of thought in countries whose forthcoming election decisions must be more or less a gamble seem to promise new distractions in both the western and the Balkan countries that are now saying gobd-bye fo their German conquerors. But of what significance is political building in the smaller European States unless the rebuilding of .Europe .herself^ is 'reinsured by the Big Three? While all Lord Cranborne's points are important, fundamental importance at present belongs to' the first—a Polish settlement cementing the Anglo-American-Russian rebuilding of Europe.