THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1938 CZECHOSLOVAKS DEADLOCK

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23143, 15 September 1938, Page 12

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1938 CZECHOSLOVAKS DEADLOCK

Feaks lest Herr Hitler's speech at Nuremberg might lan the smouldering racial fires in Sudetenland have unhappily proved to be well grounded. Passions have flamed and been expressed in riot, arson, robbery, murder and sudden death. To attempt to apportion the immediate responsibility at this distance would be vain, but note should be taken of the impression of one trained observer that violent acts by the Sudeten Germans appeared to have been concerted. Faced with such gravely disturbed conditions in Sudetenland, the Prague Government had to act quickly and chose to proclaim a state of emergency, or, in other words, to declare martial law. The British Administration in Palestine, hard-pressed as it is, has not yet declared martial law, a fact illustrating the length to which, in a matter of hours, disorder must have gone in Sudetenland, so that the able politicians in Prague were caused to play the last card of government. They would be reluctant to use this extreme measure because it provides a pretext—one perhaps deliberately sought—for the Sudetens to raise the cry of military oppression, to protest that Prague is unfit to govern, and to appeal to the Big Brother across the frontier who, at Nuremberg, assumed the role of their protector. One hopeful feature, in spite of the wide opening thus imade for Berlin, • is that a German Government spokesman says "the crisis is still one which only directly affects the Sudetens and Czechs." On the debit side is the fact that the Sudetens have broken off negotiations for a settlement until Prague lifts martial rule and, in effect, abdicates its responsibility to keep order in the affected areas in favour of the Sudetens, who are themselves suspect of creating disorder. Prague refuses to oblige by virtually handing over to the enemy. On the other hand the Sudetens have many good precedents for refusing to negotiate under military durance or, as they put it, for asserting they "are unable to negotiate freely and unrestrictedly." The deadlock in Czechoslovakia at present is complete. The manifest dangers of the existing situation, with two excited peoples facing each other and each confident of the assistance of big backers in the form of Great Powers —these dangers need no emphasis. If there were some hope of a settlement, it would certainly quieten the emotions on both sides. But negotiations have been ruptured by the Sudetens and the conditions they make for resumption are neither accepted nor rejected by Prague, but are simply not recognised. Such a condition of suspense at high tension cannot endure for long. Nerves will crack. They know it in Czechoslovakia, the watching nations know it too, and so does Berlin. In these anxious hours, when statesmen are desperately casting about for some way to overcome the deadlock, it may be significant that Germany is inserting a plea that the Sudetens be granted the right of self-determination, which in practice would mean the secession of Sudetenland and its 3,250,000 Germans to the Third Reich. By a coincidence probably equally significant this way of escape from "war and disorder" is pointed out from Rome. At the same moment Tokio hastens to make her support of Germany menacingly clear. The setup appears convincing, even if its ostensible power may be doubted. At least a strong clue is offered of what would satisfy Germany, and her puppets, the Sudetens. The strongest indication of all fell from the lips of Herr Hitler at Nuremberg: "Germans demand the right of self-determination. Dr. Benes will not give mere gifts but rights." Now the Sudeten leaders have discarded the Karlsbad demands and are reported to be advancing this new claim. It happens to be the one claim above all that the Czechs are convinced they cannot concede and survive.

y ' I To concede self-determination to the Sudetens would leave Czechoslovakia naked and defenceless. Her natural frontier of mountain and forest, and her elaborate defensive system, would pass to Germany. The barriers would be down and the keys of the fortress delivered over to Herr Hitler. Czechoslovakia could not survive except as the economic and political vassal of Germany. But self-determination for the Sudetens would also mean granting the right to other minorities, probably involving the hiving-off of the Poles in the Teschen area and the Hungarians in Slovakia north of the Danube. Nor could the disposition of Slovaks and Ruthenians be guaranteed in such a racial general post. Rather than grant the Sudetens self-determination, which means dissolution for Czechoslovakia, the Czechs will go down fighting, unless their friends among the Great Powers should prevail on them to self-betrayal for peace. It is extremely doubtful whether such counsels would prevail or whether they would even be offered. The integrity of Czechoslovakia represents more than is conveyed by her population or her area. She stands as the last outpost of democracy in the dictatorial flood covering Central and Eastern Europe and as the last barrier to the German drive down the Danube to the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. There is the situation as it presents itself to Czechoslovakia and to the world—the immediate scene lit by passion, no present hope of settlement except on seemingly unacceptable terms, every nation armed to the teeth. The outlook could scarcely be blacker except that —heartening thought—all parties still hold back ! from war.