The Stratford Evening Post With which is Incorporated “THE EGMONT SETTLER” (Established 1890.) THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 1933 German-Polish Relations

Stratford Evening Post, Volume II, Issue 220, 13 April 1933, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post With which is Incorporated “THE EGMONT SETTLER” (Established 1890.) THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 1933 German-Polish Relations

THE relations existing between Germany and Poland have become increasingly strained as the years have proceeded since the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. This is but a natural consequence of the decisions which were embodied in the Treaty.

Poland was reconstituted by the Versailles Treaty, and that involved the taking of Prussian Poland from Germany, thus depriving the Reich of a large area of agricultural land. Ihe Silesian problem, provided a more volatile cause for a conflagration in that the industrial north, which contained the manufacturing plants and mines developed by German capital and management, but manned by Poles, were handed over to Poland, but the northern portion of Silesia was not homogenous; it could not be separated from the southern section, which was retained by Germany. Good sense prevailed and a longterm economic treaty was arranged and the tension to some extent thereby relieved. The greatest potential danger caused by the Versailles Treaty arrangement was the constitution of what is called the Polish Corridor,

The Polish Corridor is a strip of land which runs right across North Germany, cutting off Northern Prussia from the rest of Germany. This strip of land is under the control of the Poles and has been given to them so that they shall have a means of access to (he Tree City of Danzig, on the Baltic Coast. As constituted, Poland could not be other than a land-locked Stats. To enjoy real State sovereignly which could not be effectively curtailed by any other neighbouring State, it was essential that Poland should have free access to the Sea. This is what is provided by the Polish Corridor. The Germans, however, rightly point out that in deciding such matters as the Silesian dispute and the Corridor question, opposite principles wove followed. The Silesian question was settled by the ap-ph-’ation of the ethnical principle; that is, the principle that sovereignty shall be determined by the race of people living in the area under consideration. But the principle of economic necessity was applied in lire case ot the Corridor, where the population is overwhelmingly Germanic. In short, in Geiman eyes, the principle which works to the detriment of Germany is the principle to be applied in any particular case. German’/ is therefore the aggrieved party, but Poland does not feel that she has received anything more than is her due.

1 he present tension has, undoubtdly, been caused bv the fear that the Corridor will be attacked by Germany, and tins has been aggravated by the ill-treatment of the jews in Germany. Poland, in l‘G I , had a Jewish population of 2.845,364, which represented iO. a per cent , of the whole population. Such n ianre percentage of the population being incensed by German “incidents,” are almost bound to be a feature of the relations of the two countries for some time to come.