The Southland Times. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 1938. The Dismemberment Of Czechoslovakia

Southland Times, Issue 23674, 24 November 1938, Page 4

The Southland Times. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 1938. The Dismemberment Of Czechoslovakia

After the signing of the Munich Agreement the democracies entered a period of bewilderment while their leaders groped for new policies and the people adjusted themselves to a disturbing outlook in world affairs. Then came a wave of anti-Semitism in Germany, ostensibly in response to the assassination of a German embassy official in Paris. World opinion was aroused. Protests were made in Britain and in the United States. The Nazis replied by protesting against the protests, their spokesmen going as far as to accuse the democracies of antiSemitism, apparently because they were in no great hurry to shoulder the expense and difficulties of a situation created by the Jew-baiters in Germany. While the thoughts of British, French and American people were occupied with the latest ordeal of the Jews the delimiting of the Czecho-German frontier was being carried out with rutliT less thoroughness on one side and helpless acceptance on the other. It was reported yesterday from London that an agreement had been signed in Prague. In a little while the full details of what has been happening in Sudetenland and the neighbouring districts will be available; and unless there are new Nazi excesses to 'arouse anger and dismay among those who still believe in international justice there may be time to realize the full implications of a bloodless victory.

According to yesterday’s message the rectified frontiers have added 60 villages and a population of 50,000 to German territory, although npthing has been said to indicate if these are the total gains additional to those outlined in the map presented at Munich, or if—as seems more likely—they represent the latest step in a process of nibbling that has been going forward ever since the agreement was signed. There seems little doubt that the present extent of Sudetenland exceeds the boundaries outlined in the Godesberg demands. Even if the Munich map were strictly adhered to, Czechoslovakia’s losses would be far greater than most people realize. It is assumed by many who lost nothing except a few heart beats and a few hours’ sleep during the crisis that the Czechs have come out of their trouble fairly well. After all, it is argued, there are still almost 9,000,000 Czechs, and they have quite a large territory in which to build up their new State. But this is only part of the story. Before the crisis Czechoslovakia was a model democracy with an economy admirably balanced between agriculture and secondary industries. Now the State has been deprived of some of its most fertile, lands—in spite of the fact that henceforth it will have a predominantly agrarian population; it is almost completely without basic industries, coal and coke supplies, and is forced, in the north and south ranges, to rely for communications on roads and railways that pass twice through German territory. According to a writer in The New Statesman and Nation about 50 per cent, of Czechoslovakia’s productive forces (measured in h.p. of motors, factories, etc.) has gone to Germany, “and almost 90 per cent, of its fuel resources of all kinds has gone either to Germany or Poland.” The Economist estimates that skilled workers in the districts ceded to Germany and Poland number 762,521, “or 33.3 per cent, of the country’s total, but explains that the districts to be ceded “are almost certainly larger” than those from which the figures are taken, so that the estimate is extremely conservative. Moreover the surviving industries are faced with difficulties that cannot -fail to lower their'output and must ultimately lead to serious losses in business and employment. Czechoslovakia is expected to lose about 50 per cent, of her export capacity, chiefly because the remaining industries will be cut off from accessible and cheap raw materials and fuels and will now have to import these essentials from “foreign”/territory that recently belonged to the Czechs. Finally, as if to add a last emphasis to the process of dismemberment, it was reported yesterday that Germany has gained “permission” to build a motor road from Breslau to Vienna, which means that a corridor 60 metres wide will be cut right across Czechoslovakia. The new State, under these conditions, will find it hard to create frontier defences, even if it could afford the expense. The guarantees provided by Britain and France will soon apply to a small country that can scarcely fail to pass completely under Nazi influence. It is not too much to say, indeed, that credits extended to the Czechs will be roundabout gifts of foreign exchange to Germany. The cession of Sudetenland has been carried out with increasing attention to economic values and a decreasing attention to the ethnological facts that provided the initial motive for the campaign. It has changed the map of Europe and created ideal conditions for further changes in the future.