HOW WHITE WAR IS WAGED

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23339, 6 May 1939, Page 4 (Supplement)

HOW WHITE WAR IS WAGED

Duhamel's Reflections

By AUGUR

THE reputation of M. Georges Duhamel as a novelist of the first rank is well established, but his appearance as a writer on politics will' interest'his many admirers. He brings to the new task all the gifts of style and insight that distinguish his novels. , His book, "The White War of 1938," contains "a precise record of my own reflections" during .the period of the Czcclio-Slovakian crisis from May to October last. What passed through his mind then and the precision -with which he sets his thoughts down should assist to clarify the issues for tho less logical Englishman. He does it with a stark simplicity, a gift for language, and a high idealism, that aro most impressivp.

Many .will thank M. Duhamel for coining tho phrase, "The White War," defined by him as follows: — Two Kinds of War "Wo know that there exist two kinds of war: red war and white war. To Wage a white war it is not necessary to fight; it is sufficient if one partly reveals one's hand, if one makes the world think that one has a large number of aeroplanes, guns, tanks and fortifications. "The naval side of the 1914-18 war was, apart from a few inconclusive actions, for a long time a white war, a mere war of tonnage. "From May to October, 1938, a great European nation waged against other nations a veritable white war. Czechoslovakia finds itself in the first rank of the defeated in this last war. Dismembered, and held to ransomj she has been treated like one vanquished in a red war,' a bloody war.". . That puts into words something that people nave felt but have not been ablo to express so neatly. Part of' a white war is what M. Duhamel calls "insult-politics," a brand of politics New Zealanders ma.v have seen on a lower plane than the international. This is liow M. Duhamel describes the art:—

Insult as a Technique "Some controversialists now use inBtflts as a deliberate technique. In doing this they no doubt obey a deep and irresistible instinct; they do not hkQ logical discussion or reasoning. They have neither the taste nor the time to seek arguments and proof?. They open wide their mouths and vomit insults. "Primarily, I think, this is a means of relieving themselves. They get rid of abuse as of phlegm. Even if they experienced no relief or satisfaction in the act of spitting they would persuade themselves that they had benefited. "The abuser, particularly if he is gifted with a biting tongue and an aptitude for novel expression, soon finds followers and supporters; ho soon gathers an audience. Most men experience a violent desire to burst into abuse, but they lack the necessary talent. Tlio desire to insult works inside them liko a captive beast unable to find escape. Thev repeat the "insults of those more gifted, as thev are unable to relieve themselves without help. They soon develop tho absorbing habit of reading the words of professional abusers; they go to listen assiduously to the exponents of. the oratorical insult. . "These frustrated spirits experience a sadistic sensation ol" deliverance in listening to the perorations of the abusers and in reading their writings." "The "White "War of 1938," by Georgres Duhamel, a translation from the French. (J. ! M. Dent and Sons.)