POLAND AND BELGIUM

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LIII, Issue 103, 2 May 1919, Page 4

POLAND AND BELGIUM

EUROPEAN TERRITORIAL CLAIMS.

WITH THE NEW ZEALAND DELEGAION.

(From Mr R. Riley, Official Journalist with the N.Z. Peace Delegation.)

. ■ PARIS, March 8,1919. The colossal work and responsibilities d the Inter-Allied Peace Conference may be indicated rather than gauged by a. summary of the scope and varied character of the almost innumerable claims heai*d by the Supreme 'Council of the “Allied and Associated Powers for territori al concessions and adjustments arising out of the war, the defeat of the Central • Power's and the consequent emancipation of many small nations in Europe, and the tangle of greed and tyranny iu past centuries.

The question*, of general settlement involved careful consideration of military, naval, political, ethnological, and ■. economic interests, and the tortuous way of the council wa§ strewn with pitfalls and delicate difficulties. The scope of the .elaims may be outlined under the following main geographical divisions —a list which in itself gives tthe unparalleled range of the great war:--, ? ; Territorial adjustments were sought in Westem Europe; South-Western Europe, and the Mediterranean, including the future of. Turkey and the settlement., of the important question of the controlof Constantinople, and the famods .Straits, the Turkish Empire in Asia Armenia, Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia, Kurdistan, Nejd; and Arabia), Perwa, Trans-Caucasia,, , Trans-Caspia, Africa (North, Equatorial, South-East, • South-West), Japan, Russia, arid- the South Pacific. In- the divisions of Western Europe and South-Eastern alone the council had a tremendous task, the claims of Poland, Belgium, Fiance, on the one hand, and on the othpr the claims of Italy, Jiigo-Slavia, . .AJbaJfla, Roumania, Greece, and Czecho-Slovwtfa > providing matter for half a dozen ordinary international conferences. To,-give anything like an adequate review of the varied and always interesting' demands for national rights and territorial adjust- ■ ments would require a few volumes and muck leisure to write them. -Here,' one can> give only a bald summary-ot tne - numerous claims. V

POLAND.

The claims of Poland were especially interesting for the reason that the position of this devastated, hut TJQW ,yery hopeful, country was umque, b«mg-a* the time it* claims were heard threatened on three sides; by the Bolsheviks on the east, by the Ukranian bands on the south-east, and by the Germans on the north-west, "he problem of the conference, therefore, wa, not only to settle the future of Poland by giving scope to, the. national aspirations of a liberated people with keen memories of a bitter past and lofty ambitions for a great future, but to orgams®jthemr.to resist menace in different forms, and particularly to keep the country from being submerged bv Bolshevism, -which, by .•the , way, was described on one occasion rat the Peace Conference as *-*» .. disease which only attacks hungry and conquer- ■■ ed peoples.” The Polish representative toiA'VSp&rnyg tale as regards the history of ro- v land, but brightened the picture with details of the spirited national movement. . That story must be told elsewhere, and , bv another writer. Enough) to say that the Polish nation - suggested- ihat the future of their country should be vmwed from the standpoint of..a Leagae.ot £i9r tions, and helped to govern itself and to oppose oppression. As tne question of -boundaries, the crucial issue turned upon the possession oi. Dantzig; it- hinterland, and the eastern frontiers. Poland must have %n outlet to the sea, or forever depend economically and pp l1 * ticaUv on Germany. The Polish claims -■ were referred a Special Commission.

BELGIUM

The territorial claims' of Belgium are the only claims which can be adequately summarised in a single sentence., Belmum claimed the revision of the treaty ot April 19, 1839. It wag thait treaty which fixed her territorial status, eet-nrUp her permanent neutrality, and sowed toe poisoned seed for the deadiy 1914 The Congress of Vienna shaded Belgium to Holland in order to.wat?-* buffer against Prance. Fifteen yew* later the Belgian Revolution 'th«f . Off 'Dutch rule and shook the foundatioiw of the treaty of 1815 'Then the Conference of "London sought to reconcile Belgian independence with the interests P i the five great Powers, and Preserve the balance of power, bat dufang negotiations Holland attained and vanquished Belgium. .The deprived her of Limburg, and part pf Luxemburg. The compensation wa*a guarantee of permanent which rested the whole of litical structure. It was built «n shifts ing sand, The recent war swept the loLwfcn. away. Oaly IFwaoe ««l Great Britain loyally fulfilled their obligations. Germany and Austria had ■ violated their treaty, and-. Russnacouhl ! not keep it because of troubles of her : oWn! go the balance of power had. beam i nT)Se t Belgium therefore appealed • aid to set up a strong and prosperous country with complete political and economic sovereignty l —a demand' ■ms - ahgUment with President Wilsons declaration to Congress on January 8, 1018. Belgium ‘sought, moreover, stability at the live point of »mjgsr Wf always threatened' like a The tepro* of Belgium also made specific claims in respect of the disposal and vereigntv over the Western Scheldt US' far as the sea. the canal and.port of Terneuzen. and certain Concessb.ns m. volving interests in Limberg and Luxemburg. These claims also were retorri.a to a Special Commission.