THE H.B. TRIBUNE MONDAY, MARCH 13, 1933 EUROPEAN UNREST.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIII, Issue 77, 13 March 1933, Page 6

THE H.B. TRIBUNE MONDAY, MARCH 13, 1933 EUROPEAN UNREST.

It was almost expected that the accession of Herr Adolf Hitler, the Nazi leader, to a position of official authority would be followed by a good deal of internal trouble in Germany. These expectations have been in no way disappointed, and now that the recent general election has given him a fairly reliable majority backing in the Reichstag we are beginning to see the extremes to which he is prepared to go in order to impose his political and social tenets upon the country. When first, some five or six weeks ago, President Hindenburg elevated Herr Hitler to the position of Chancellor, ’ the London “Times” spoke of it as being desirable that he should be “given the chance of showing that he is something more than an orator and an agitator. But,” it added, “the experiment will be followed with some anxiety in foreign countries, notably in France, where resignation to the inevitable is far from implying satisfaction, and in Poland, which has been one of the chief targets of Nazi propaganda. - In Great Britain, too, as in France, the effect of the change of Governments on the German attitude towards armaments will be watched with some misgivings.” It may, however, be doubted whether in thus forecasting possibilities the “Times” had in thought any such lengths as those to which the new Chancellor has already gone immediately he found himself clothed with power to act. He has set out at once to reform, or, rather, to transform, not only the policies of the Federal Government, but also those of the Governments of the constituent States. There is, indeed, really nothing boastful about his claim to have initiated, and with some present show of success, a complete revolution in the methods and principles qf government throughout the country. In his efforts to effect this he is following pretty closely the lines that were adopted in Italy by Signor Mussolini, upon whose example, and with whose apparent approval, he is shaping his course. There must, however, be some grave misdoubts as to whether, among a population of an entirely different type and constitution, he will he allowed to carry his object through with as

little resistance as met the Italian dictator. It must equally be doubted whether he himself has the personality, strength of character and firmness of purpose that have enabled the “strong man” of Italy to bring practically the whole nation to his side. There cannot, therefore, but be some very serious fears as to the internal developments that will ensue upon the arbitrary and dictatorial stand he has taken up. These fears, too, cannot be confined to his domestic policy, for it is becoming increasingly evident that his ambitions are not bounded by the present German frontiers. There are manifest indications that he proposes to set at nought the Treaty of Versailles and the Covenant of the League of Nations, and is bent on restoring Germany to her pre-war glory. Already trouble has arisen with respect to the so-called “international free city” of Danzig, which, with a population 95 per cent. German, was set up under the aegis of the League primarily to provide the newly erected Polish Republic with an outlet to the Baltic. There would also seem to be uneasy stirrings in the Austrian remnant of the Hapsburg Dual Monarchy with a view to forming a union with Germany such as is specifically prohibited by the Versailles Treaty. Beyond this there are Franco-Italian jealousies, to say nothing of Russian machinations, in connection with Jugo-Slavia, Hungary, and neighbouruing States. Altogether, therefore, it can easily be seen that the international situation on the Continent is one of very considerable and widespread unrest such as fully justifies the anxieties that are just now gaining expression. On top of all this, of course, comes the weakening of the authority and prestige of the League as a result of its failure to control Japanese aspirations in the Far East.