Do Sanctions Mean War ?

Manawatu Times, Volume 60, Issue 245, 17 October 1935, Page 6

Do Sanctions Mean War ?

A statement by Lord Hardinge, the famous British diplomatist, that “sanctions mean war” was recently taken up by Lord Cecil in a letter to the London Times. Surely that statement requires qualification, says Lord Cecil. When Britain rejected' imports from Russia in her controversy over the imprisonment of English engineers no war resulted or was even thought of. When, after the murder of King Alexander and Queen Braga in Serbia, Britain withdrew her Minister no suggestion of war followed. I would rather say that “certain forms of sanctions may mean war.”

That is to say that the consequence of the imposition of sanctions may be it declaration of war by the country on which they arc imposed. Whether that would be so depends on a number of things—e.g., the nature of the sanctions, the chances of their being successfully resisted,, and, above all, the power of those who impose them, since imposition by all or almost all of the Powers of Europe would certainly not be resisted by war. No one, Lord Cecil concludes, suggests that Britain should act alone.