THE RESULT OF “APPEASEMENT”

Grey River Argus, 7 September 1939, Page 10

THE RESULT OF “APPEASEMENT”

The policy of appeasement of the fascist dictators has at las*., as every unbiased observer predicted it would, resulted in war. Everybody, outside of the pro-fascists among the British ruling class, knew that the policy of concessions to fascist blackmail would have to end sometime. Everybody knew that each successive concession only increased" the fascist appetite for plunder, made them more audacious in their blackmailing demands, and made 1 them more able to wage war when the fateful day eventually arrived. . It would have been easy to stop the fascist attack on Aby sima. It could have been done by economic measures alone, without risking a single life. A firm stand then by the democratic states would have put an end to fascist encroachments. The. betrayel of Abyssinia led to the attack on Spain. Spain could have been saved, but the appeaser?, were so much concerned with building up the fascist powers as a capitalist bulwark against the European working classes that they had no consideration for the fate of the Spanish people. Czechslovakia was the next victim of appeasement, and here again a democratic state could have been saved from annihilation if Britain and France had then had any respect for their pledged word. But the British and French Governments preferred appeasement to keeping their promise, and the Nazis were allowed —even encouraged—to overrun Czechoslovakia. And now appeasement has led to war. Why do the ruling classes of Britain and France, the people who abandoned Abyssinia and Spain to their fate and who cynically let down Czechoslovakia, now take up such a firm stand against the Nazi aggression against Poland? Is their promise to Poland more sacred than war, their promise to Czechoslovakia? Or have they; at last realised the folly of appeasement and resolved to stop the onward march of evil, brutal aggression? It is to be hoped that the latter is the reason for the decision to stand by Poland. If the British and French Governments have decided to enter the fight for that reason, Labour can. and will support them. Labour knows that fascist aggression and domination must be halted if democracy is. to be preserved, if what little of true civilisation the world has painfully attained is to be saved, if the human race is to have the opportunity to move onward to something higher than class antagonisms, national hatreds and periodical slaughter. But Labour must make sure that the imperialist aims of the war of 1914-18 are not pursued in 1939. There must be no attempt to wage a war of conquest. There must be no prolongation of the war by making imperialist demands upon Germany. There must be no second Versailles Treaty. And it must be made clear to the German people, the great majority of whom are probably strongly opposed to the Nazi attack on Poland and would stop it if they could, that they are not regarded as the enemy. It is Labour's duty to see that the war is brought to an end by a just and equitable peace treaty at the earliest possible moment, and that not one single life is thrown away on any less worthy aim.