EUROPEAN DANGER

Evening Star, Issue 21881, 19 November 1934, Page 12

EUROPEAN DANGER

DUE TO TREATY TERMS COULD HAVE BEEN AVERTED SNOWDEN ON POSITION Sixteen years after the end of th« Great War—the war which was fought to end war—Europe is dominated by the fear of another and still more terrible conflict, writes Viscount Snowdenin the ‘ Daily Mail.’ Great Britain was dragged- into the last war through the Continental policy which had divided Europe into two opposing camps. The French alliance with Russia was aimed at the encirclement of Germany and the Austro-Hun-garian Empire, and Great Britain’s un« defstanding with France virtually committed her to take sides . with France and Russia in this anti-German With the experience of that war still in mind, and with the knowledge Which; they now ■ possess of the policies which caused the war, the peoples of Europe cannot offer the excuse of ignorance if they allow their statesmen to continue to pursue similar policies which will have the same inevitable consequences.The “ statesmen ” of Europe have certainly not learnt the lesson of thei last war. They are pursuing the old policies of seeking an elusive security in military alliances and the increase of their armaments, and are trying to justify these actions through the discredited fallacy that the bigger the armaments the greater the certainty or peace. The existence of armaments assumes a potential enemy. That idea is the cause of the universal fear and feeling of insecurity which are terrorising all Europe to-day. ' GRIEVANCES REMAIN.

No effort is being made 1;o remove the manifest grievances which certain: countries endure and which, so long as they exist, will be a menace to the peace of Europe. Instead of seeking to redress these wrongs, the Powers which have inflicted them are engaged in forming alliances to maintain theraj by force. This is the direct road to another war.

The chief cause of European unrest,' and the feverish efforts to increase armaments an to form defensive pates,; is to be found in the Treaty of Versailles and in the treaties which dismembered the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Until these treaties are revised there will be no peace in Europe, and war will only be postponed until the aggrieved nations feel themselves strong enough to try to wrest by force the justice which the other Powers deny them. That is the crux of the European situation; and in the meantime the policies of Great Britain, France, and Italy, and the nations of the Little Entente, now apparently with the support of Russia, are aggravating the' situation, and giving the_ aggrieved nations every reason to believe that there is a concerted determination on the; part of these Powers to keep them in subjection by force.

GERMANY’S REASON. Germany left the League of Nations because she. believed, and rightly believed. that the other Powers were determined to deny her. equality in armaments. She made an unprecedented offer to accept any measure of armament, however modest, which tha other ‘ Powers would impose upon themselves. That was the acid test of the sincerity of the other; their willingness to accept a drastic limitation of their own armaments. However much we regret some o£ the manifestations of the present temper of the German people—and thesej have done well-nigh irreparable damage to the esteem in which Germany; was held by vast populations in this and other countries, and have supplied her enemies with the excuses they, lacked for their inimical policy towards her—we must admit that it is in great part the result of long years of humiliation and suffering. A nation of sixt ymillions of proud, patriotic people cannot be kept permanently in a position of inferiority. If the statesmen of Europe would realise these truths and set about drastically revising the Treaty of Versailles, restoring Germany .to her position as an equal among the Powersthey would be. doing something which; would lessen the tension in Europe; and which, when the task .was accomplished, would remove the menace o| war. ' NOT EASY. T do not in the least minimise the; difficulties of that task. The “ Peace* Treaties,” by. their disastrous division of the territories in South-east Europe, have' created new or enlarged States which will resist every effort to pufj .back to their natural political allegiance the millions of people who were transferred like cattle to an alien ruleOne of the greatest crimes of the “ peace ” settlements was the disruption of the Austro-Hungarian Empire- ■ What was left of Austria made; it impossible, for her to exist as an independent political and economic unitShe was denied by treaty the right to become a part of - Germany, which would seem to be her natural destinyThe result is that , she is likely to become the prey of .one or other of tha powerful States which surround herThat would inevitably lead to trouble with Germany. ■ The case of Hungary is one. ot th* most pathetic of the dismembered States. She is powerless to assert her, claims to justice by force, but her helplessness should make a special appeal to the sense of fairness of some-of the Powers responsible for the wrongs which she feels so keen *y DUE TO THE POWERS.

An appreciation by the framers of the Versailles Treaty of the inevitabla consequences, of delay in revising what Mr Lloyd George described as , the “ harsh and cruel terms of the treaty five' years ago, when Germany was controlled by a far-seeing statesman.., Dr Stresemann, would have averted the developments of the last two years in that country. Now, if Germany is driven to try to# obtain her rights by force of arms the guilt will not be wholly hers but mainly that of the Powers who, by denying her justice, have deprived her of faith and hope in anything other than the strength of her own armaments. If war comes, is Great Britain to fight to maintain the iniquitous provisions oh the Treaty? This is the question the British people may have to answer. If a British Government would have , the courage and statesmanship ■ to declare that it will fulfil no commitIf a British Government would have the courage and statesmanship to declare that it will fulfil no commitment to go to war against Germany so long, as her admitted grievances- in-: flicted by the treaty are' unredresssd, its action would result either in the ; revision of the treaty or it would put. the responsibility for war upon thosa Powers which were determined to per* petuate those wrongs. ’ ‘ '