GERMANY’S DIFFIDENCE

Southland Times, Issue 22511, 20 February 1935, Page 6

GERMANY’S DIFFIDENCE

The sneering reference to Germany by people in political circles in Russia is an indication of the firmness with which the Russians have turned again to France, repeating the diplomatic conditions of the pre-war days. From Russia has come the criticism that Germany’s attitude to the air pact is that of a nation wishing to impress bn the world its own importance, to suggest that the fate of the nations of the world depends upon its decision. Actually, of course, in the interests of general peace, it is desirable that Germany should be brought within the limits of this pact; but if the Germans decline to adhere to the arrangement, the immediate effect undoubtedly will be to strengthen the ties between France and Russia, and to give the British policy a stronger tendency in the direction of France. It is not much of an exaggeration to say that Germany under her

present rulers is suffering from a form of megalomania, but on the other hand it would be wrong to jump to the conclusion that while suffering from megalomania, Germany is of no importance in present-day affairs. Certainly the Nazis have encouraged the idea that it is only when they have threatened and indulged in warlike manoeuvres that they have obtained some modicum of justice at the hands of the neighbouring Powers. Hitler and his followers persistently hold up to the German people the picture of an illused nation which has at last revolted and is obtaining justice by virtue of its own strength. It must always be remembered that in the countries where censorship is backed by a Fascist organization, there is very little opportunity for any opinions and news other than that which the government desires to have distributed reaching the common people. The censorship of pre-war days is a mild affair compared with that which exists to-day in Germany, in Italy and in Russia, and, of course, even the radio is kept under rigid control. It is not surprising therefore, that the people in Germany are for the great part totally ignorant, not only of the world’s opinion of the Nazis, but also of many of the incidents upon which that opinion has been based. Government censorship is a terrible weapon. In its mildest forms, as we know it within the British Empire, it usually succeeds in making itself ridiculous by adopting the attitude that the intelligence of the entire population is that of a child of twelve; but in its most efficient from.it puts the people into an artificial atmosphere, raising sound-proof walls between them and the rest of the world, and so makes possible, evert inevitable, the development of a nation thoroughly self-centred, thoroughly self-satis-fied, and capable of being used to perpetuate the most extreme form of nationalism, and, therefore, the danger of international disturbances. The Nazi Government does not desire to appear before its own people as a government signing a pact which in any way reduces its strength, and as the Nazi leaders have insisted upon complete equality in arms, they do not relish touching anything in the form of an agreement involving armaments until their demand for equality has been completely satisfied. Where any other government might compromise, the Nazis must be careful to maintain “face.” Thus, the principal obstacle, so far as the Germans are concerned, is the Nazi Government’s mailed-fist programme, and though the Russians may call it a form of megalomania, the German diffidence is really the result of the Nazi Government’s fear to trust its own people with the facts. This, of course, has already been disclosed by its iron-clad censorship.