HEART OF EUROPE.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVI, Issue 108, 7 April 1936, Page 14

HEART OF EUROPE.

CZECHOSLOVAKIA TO-DAY. THE DANUBIAN COMPLEX. The special correspondent of the London Times writes:— A journey to Czechoslovakia by road through Germany brings home more vividly even than the map the exposed position of this State in a Europe overshadow'ed anew by the threat of war. Around Dresden, a bare hour’s run from the frontier, a bare hour’s flight to Prague, the signs of highpressure rearmament abound; great aerodromes and barracks, manifold uniforms, marching men. This is one sector of one frontier. Neighbours who profess to lie aggrieved are pressing on three sides. The windows of the old Castle in Prague, where President Benesh now sits among the painted Hapsburgs, look across the roof-tops to the fortifications and to slender pencils pointing obliquely at the sky. These are antiaircraft guns, the symbol of the vital task that confronts the young successor of the ancient Czech State, in the second decade of its existence: to maintain its national freedom. The map shows, as M. Benesh once said, that the geographical position of Czechoslovakia is dangerous for Europe because this State is the key to the post-War structure of Central Europe. Of the peace treaties little but the frontiers remain.-* If these are to be challenged Czechoslovakia stands first among the potential sufferers. Aggression would, in the Czechoslovak view, mean an immediate war LITTLE ENTENTE UNITY. All past efforts to stabilise Central Europe from within by promoting better relationships between the successor States of the Hapsburg Empire have failed. The present hope is to begin by improving relations between Austria and the Little Entente States. Sanctions preclude any present approach to Italy, and the implacable revisionism of Hungary seemingly prevents any progress in that quarter. Only one potential obstacle offers from Austria, in the Czechoslovak view—a Hapsburg restoration.

For Czechoslovakia alone the Hapsburgs might seem a lesser evil than the German absorption of Austria, which would leave her isolated among unfriendly neighbours, and German' propaganda indefatigahly whispers this to Yugoslavia, the implacable opponent of the Hapsburgs. But in fact Little Entente unity is for Czechoslovakia the dominant consideration—fortunately, for the Little Entente, with its pendant the Balkan Entente, is a stabilising force in an unstable Europe. Present dangers might be graver if the Danubian and Balkan States were all playing lone hands. These three States together make a substantial group. Their joint strength largely produced the Balkan Entente and the betterment in Yugoslav-Bulgarian relations. Meanwhile, Czechoslovakia is strengthening her defences against the daunting odds that aggression would mean. The mutual aid pact with Russia is a reality. Soviet air officers have been examining Czechoslovak ground organisation and supply arrangements in case an attack on Czechoslovakia should demand the fulfilment of this pledge. German hostility to this pact is vehement.