NAZI TERMS REJECTED

Southland Times, Issue 23948, 14 October 1939, Page 5

NAZI TERMS REJECTED

BRITISH REPLY TO HITLER

Allies’ Conditions For Peace CZECHS AND POLES MUST BE FREED CLEAR STATEMENT OF ISSUES (British Official Wireless) RUGBY, October 12. “It is not alone the freedom of small nations that is at stake,” said the British Prime Minister (Mr Neville Chamberlain) in his speech to the House of Commons. “There is also, in jeopardy the peaceful existence of Great Britain, the Dominions, India and the rest of the British Empire, France and indeed of all freedom-loving nations. Whatever may be the issue of the present struggle and in whatever way it may be brought to a conclusion, the world will not be the same world we have known before.

“We seek no material advantage for ourselves. We desire nothing from the German people which should offend their self-respect. We are not aiming only at victory but we are rather looking beyond it to the laying of the foundation of a better international system which will mean that war is not to be the inevitable lot of each succeeding generation.

“I would sum up the attitude of his Majesty’s Government as follows,” said Mr Chamberlain: “Herr Hitler rejected all suggestions for peace until he had overwhelmed Poland as he had previously overthrown Czechoslovakia. Peace conditions cannot be acceptable which begin by condoning aggression. “The proposals in the German Chancellor’s speech are vague and uncertain and contain no suggestion for the righting of the wrongs done to Czechoslovakia and Poland. Even if Herr Hitler’s proposals were more closely defined and contained suggestions to right these - Tongs it would still be necessary to ask by what practical means - the German Government intends to convince the world that aggression will cease and that its pledges will be kept. “Past experience has shown that no reliance can be placed upon the promises of the present German Government. Accordingly, acts and not words alone must be forthcoming before we British peoples and the French, our gallant and trusted allies, would be justified in ceasing to wage this war to the utmost of our strength. Only when world confidence is restored will it be possible to find—as we would wish to do with the aid of all who show good-will-solutions of those questions which disturb the world and which stand in the way of disarmament, retard the restoration of trade and prevent the improvement of the well-being of the peoples of Europe. PROOF OF SINCERITY WANTED “There is thus a primary condition to be satisfied. Only the German Government can fulfil it. If they will not there can as yet be no new or better world order of the kind for which all the nations yearn. The issue is therefore plain. Either the German Government must give convincing proof of the sincerity of its desire for peace by definite acts and by the provision of effective guarantees of its intention to fulfil its undertakings or we must persevere in our duty to the end. It is for Germany to make her choice. “I am certain that all the peoples of Europe—including the people of Ger-many-long for peace, a peuce which will enable them to live their lives without fear and to devote their energies and their gifts to the development of their culture, the pursuit of their ideals and the improvement of their material prosperity,” Mr Chamberlain continued. “This peace which we are determined to secure, however, must be a real settled peace—not an uneasy truce interrupted by constant alarms and repeated threats. “What stands in the way of such peace? It is the German Government and the German Government alone, for it is the members of this Government who, by their repeated acts of aggression, have robbed all Europe of tranquillity and have implanted in the hearts of all their neighbours an ever-present sense of insecurity and fear. I am glad to think that there is complete agreement between the views of his Majesty’s Government and those of the French Government.

“The members of this House will have read the broadcast sj- ch of the French Premier (M. Edouard Daladier) on Tuesday. ‘We have,’ he said, ‘taken up arms against agression. We shall not lay them down until we have sure guarantees of security—a security which cannot be called in question every six months.’ Advantage has also been taken of the presence of the Polish Foreign Minister—whom we are glad to welcome to this country—to consult with the Polish Government and I am happy to say that we have found that an entire identity of views exists between us.”

Mr Chamberlain began his reply to Herr Hitler’s speech by recalling that, when the Russo-German Pact was announced, and it was then suggested that some peace proposals were likely, he had said that if peace proposals were made, they would be examined in consultation with the Dominions and France in the light of relevant considerations. This had now been done and he proposed to state the position of the British Government. He recalled the background against which Herr Hitler’s proposals had appeared and referred to the correspondence with Germany at the end of August about Poland. It had then been stated that it was evident that the situation was dangerous but that Britain believed it should be possible to arrive at a peaceful solution if passions were not deliberately stimulated. “Britain then felt quite certain that the German Government could, if it desired, influence its friends in Danzig in such a way as to bring about a relaxation of the tension and so create conditions favourable to calm and sober

negotiation,” the Prime Minister continued. “It should be remembered that Herr Hitler had expressed a wish for improved Anglo-German relations as soon as the Polish question was settled. The British Government replied that it fully shared his wish but that everything turned on the nature and method of the settlement with Poland. It was pointed out that a forcible solution would inevitably involve the fulfilment of Britain’s obligations to Poland and Herr Hitler was urged to enter direct discussions with the Polish Government in which the Polish Government had already expressed willingness to take part. As everyone knew, these efforts on the part of the British Government to avoid war and the use of force had been in vain. “We pointed out that a forcible solution would inevitably involve the fulfilment of our obligations to Poland and we begged Herr Hitler to enter into direct discussions with Poland, discussions in which Poland had already expressed her willingness to take part. As everyone knows, these efforts on the part of Britain to avoid war and the use of force were in vain. “Again, in August last the President of the United States (Mr Franklin D. Roosevelt) made an appeal to Herr Hitler to settle his differences with Poland by pacific means in order to prevent war from breaking out in Europe. At about the same time King. Leopold of the Belgians, Queen Wilhelmina of Holland, the Pope and Signor Mussolini all tendered their good offices, but equally in vain. “It is evident now that Herr Hitler was determined to make war on Poland and that whatever sincerity there may have been in his wish to come to an understanding with Britain it was not strong enough to induce him to postpone his attack upon his neighbour. “On September 1, Herr Hitler violated the Polish frontier and invaded Poland, beating down by force of arms and machinery the resistance of the Polish nation and its army. “As attested by, neutral observers, Polish towns and villages were bombed and shelled into ruins and civilians slaughtered wholesale in contravention,

at any' rate in the later stages, of all the undertakings of which Herr Hitler now speaks with pride, as though he had fulfilled them. “It is after this wanton act of aggression which cost so many Polish and German lives—sacrificed to satisfy his own insistence on the use of fnr?e- that Herr Hitler now puts forward his prothere existed any expectation that Herr Hitler’s proposals would include some attempt to make amends for this grievous crime against humanity, . a crime which followed so soon upon violation of the rights of the Czechoslovak nation, it has been doomed to disappointment. The Polish State and its leaders are covered with abuse. “What the fate oFthat part of Poland which Herr Hitler describes as a German sphere of interest is to be does not clearly emerge from his speech. It is evident, however, that he regards it. as a matter for Germany’s consideration alone, to be settled solely in accordance with German interests. RESTORATION OF POLAND “The final shaping of this territory and the question of the restoration of a Polish State are in Herr Hitler’s view, problems which cannot be settled by war in the west, but exclusively by Russia on the one side and Germany on the other. We must take it, then, that the proposals which Herr Hitler puts forward for the establishment of what he calls the certainty of European security are to be based on the recognition of his conquests and of his right to do what he pleases with the conquered. “It would be impossible for Britain to accept any such basis without forfeiting her honour and abandoning her claim that international disputes should. be settled by discussion and not by force,” declared Mr Chamberlain. “The passages of the speech designed to give fresh assurances to Herr Hitler’s neighbours, I pass over since they will know what value should be attached to them by reference to similar assurances in the past. “It would be easy to quote sentences from his speeches in 1935, 1936 and 1938, stating in the most definite terms his determination not to annex Austria or to conclude an anschluss with her, not to fall upon Czechoslovakia and not to make any further territorial claims in Europe after the Sudetenland question had been settled in September 1938. Nor can we pass over Herr Hitler’s radical departure from the longprofessed principle of his policy and creed as instanced by the inclusion in the German Reich of many millions of Poles and Czechs in spite of his repeated professions to the contrary and by the pact with the Soviet Union concluded after his repeated and violent denunciations of Bolshevism. This repeated disregard of his word and these sudden reversals of policy bring me to fundamental difficulty in dealing with the wider proposals in the German Chancellor’s speech. The plain truth is that, after our past experience, it is no longer possible to rely upon the unsupported word of the present German Government. “It is not part of our policy to exclude from her rightful place in Europe a Germany which will live in amity and confidence with other nations. On the contrary, we believe that no effective remedy can be found for the world’s ills that does not take into account the just claims and needs of all countries. “Whenever the time may come to draw the lines of a new peace settlement his Majesty’s Government would feel that the future would hold little hope unless such a settlement could be reached through the method of negotiation and agreement. "It was not therefore with any vindictive purpose that we embarked on this war, but simply in defence of freedom, CHANGES INEVITABLE “Looking to the future, we can see that after this war deep changes will inevitably leave their mark on every field of men’s thought and action and, if humanity is to guide aright the new forces that will be in operation, all the nations will have to play their part.

“The British Government knows all too well that in a modern war between Great Powers the victor and the vanquished must alike suffer cruel loss,” concluded Mr Chamberlain. “But surrender to wrong-doing would spell the extinction of all hope and the annihilation of all those values of life which, through the centuries, have been at once the mark and the inspiration of human progress.”