EUROPE TO-DAY

Stratford Evening Post, Volume II, Issue 371, 30 September 1933, Page 3

EUROPE TO-DAY

A-;NEW- SURVEY The Return of Danger Drift 6£ Refrfedy? 10l FIRST-—FACE THE TRUTH .(By SISLEY HUDDLESTON) By the afihimivof 1913 Europe was dell * Vf&Uely headed for catastrophe.; Germany, complaining of ji- encirclement* increased its peace-time army, and France, in military service law. Russia distri- *&■ buted; "to prepare public opinion for. participation in 'fe the'^iSrwlwcli.'may ■arise." There was support for Russia's ammay arise. ..feitfon-of ifc'unibn'df-Sl&ys i ma THpJ'e. Entente and the Triple <&; compact and palanctcg groups,, looked to the Balkanic to-jjp ' J WMH; -eyes- to' see._ : ' l^/ 1 groaned aloud. There was in 'O. France intenlV and systematic propaganda on both sides; the .$ to, arouse the spit-it of patriotism, the Left fatuously M assuring} the peoplethat nothing could, and nothing would, hap:||l!»*». The stage was set, the traditional three knocks were given, b and Europ* waited.breathlessly for the signal to pull up the* 8 cmum:tmki#k*l\wMHk fehg delayed. ' )iU{

M Years After tKThe." between, -the. situa6|n of Eurobjj twenty years ago! ami 'TIB; Europe today are »fejf3^^/^ut'*^9 ( , are the- resem,ieeis. lii, t,.. 4<i, : iswse¥] in 19 i 3 id •have,Called,to' discern the om. r'.: v 33isjiM^ • toejy \ri%ed; to believe comfortable i£3*C instincts/ favoured ol ia.ciiitj:.' It is easier to, hope" ;: th£ h£§t. to* prepar& for t% I .fafb.vfa M wW tlvau people 'of, peril. The H!r ii/ATn«' /vf 'iriftflj-lnii' ia'. far more. & happen ajpb.;' Jfc#s 'cal; asa^ioa. ;t - Why^hot? a ,wi> ■ Bobh-poobing , T b;ftsies,'. If we .Would only i.leas3js.', of; ojm», own. time, * ; MVJS }HtX4- danger; ■ hut, Europe today Ae«iip4jl|Hfttiil picture,#>ff" contented* cdi#)piee tfeftt ph,: peace? ,The difflcult. ■,,# ■.;,-;. .tip tbe'twerify years came war overwhe&»iu«i :it■..•'tetfc Europe ,ex-sanguine. military, truce was eiveni the name of peace- treaties. The. Continent-was cut up. The X9th centum strove, for unifi--cation,, but> in, the iOfch cor.tury nattonalities were multiplied, and the Whole the: one" iaiqe,; to consolidate the unilateral,, arrangements,/ and, cm the othi* side, to destroy thenu, One half of Euiogfe is coeipcivey andtha, other halt-rebellious. Tnisi is rhc fundamental faoibi ia; Europe., toj4-iy._ It is, useless. to hide, it' under pacific declarations. ■•'■'.'' . -4 *' *>, ■■ ■'■■■■'.■•;.-' •- ii. "&-■ , ClaU»uintfvaii«lvaef,end,ahts The? ljnes, fluctuate and itTis not. fei'wfp willbe with Whom. Tf#e' : e **a t n y. moves and counter moves, and there will be otherfc As at' the* beginning of this century; the alignments are uncertain, Europe, is, still fluid; ii •would' be fatal mos» It irnco fixed. The crystallisation '6t alEahoes is not yet'complete. Whien "it Is, if ever if Is, it. will be possible to predict, jyith Euclidean ceriftttftfe, the precise ife ture;of the" oonttict; whtich will.loom. ThougV renchieid that B tagft-r«nd if diplomacy, influenced by as well ; as the polticiana, '■■¥pssß? its., business, we will never' reach that stage-—there is a feverish'•''activity; which is altogether aioart'from the activities of interna 1 niindelfc .meju.;. an act tative formation,?? European combm--♦4*** -"Tha" Hriuntries attract and re. ; tfreyr'stWtm f?ee in their liq~ however, the "dynamic" di&tlntit- frohi the "^tic;' Ndrth' to L tajy *? tri and HufTtwy.: a»d (**- Many, though ?.nlgafia must not be forkotten; while ftoin West. iH§ horiaftntal' line extend*. sr«w France ,to Poland and the Little Eiii#te. The»e. are the nations' °f the no*<Obstante, versuis, the nations ot t Jtte; BtiStu& atiOv These are the 'lis-' WtUsfi&tfvnflttonst against the satis. fi«4; ace the revisionists faciaff- ttoe 4fin revisionists. Tjiat l isivKofW today, expressed. ilmple* ThweVal?©'. contradictory inter|«fc passions, in both In two directions;,.there are qunhfi. citfmtff«i*cl modificatipns. and reserya., £ffiwf C raim--the terms orthei is stated There! )Ue intrigue?, and . speculations and

against the better feelings of 1919, but-a reaction against the Europe, of the clerks of the Middle Ages, against the Latin scholars, against the whole body of European culture, which transcended the prejudices of sovereignty, and remained single, despite the tumult of princely conflicts. Thero is a good side to nationalism in that it takes men beyond the narrow circle of themselves, and binds them to their fellows in tongue and tradition. But there is a deplorable side in that it restores the individual egoism and extends it in group form, and with the will to association goes the will to antagonism.. , Yet we must not underrate or dis. courage the efforts which men ol goodwill are making, and will con. tinuc to make, to bring a sense ol unity to a Europe which has hitherto, obstinately optwl for disunity. The discourse of Fichtte to the German nation is answered by Renda witb his discourse to "the European nation." The methods of pacifists have too often been erroneous, particularly in that they assumed the political symbols of unity could come before, and as a substitute for, the spirit of unity. But their aim is right, and it! must ultimately prevail, unless Eu„ j rope is to plunge into another bloody I adventure, which will end still moris j desperately than. the last. I It is'the possibility of this; incredible outcome of the seething and bubbling ol;. thd;ca,uldron of nationalisnwj 'that is troubling all observers] in Eu„ rope who are not wilfully optimistic;,; thati'js' to ; sa l y,'ioblivious of the plain facts.

To close 'our eyes to truth, is folly: Today the situation of Europe, twieiity yours after, is fully as precarious as in 1913. There are fiercer Ebullitions, there are quivering premonitions' of an explosion. Those of ua -who remember 1913 are alarmed. Is not the generation which has grown up since 1913 —for a generation: then hardly born, and now knowing nothing or little of the war, is' adult, and is called" upon to play its shaping part in European affairs —equally alarmed? It ought to be. Throwing doAvn the verbal screen which has been used to hide realities let. us cast our glance over the Europe of today. Wie shall find that each nation has a good case, but it is not enough to have twenty good contradictory cases —it is necessary to bring thorn into consonance with iciach other. And to that end? Alliances and conferences' fail to reach down to the root cause of the Eurpean division and cannot suffice.

manoeuvres, -winch are hard to fol- , low, which may be deceptive, which alarm, and which allay alarm. HI. European Ideals and the New Repudiation There are —supremely—imponderables. Diplomacy differs from chess, to which it has often been likened, in ■^hftt>it } .|s board which will n6tj keep s'till,' and with pieces which are Often invisible,. . . . ■Btfti'it.- is- etekr;' even on the most cursory examination of Europe today, «;tji^t;,there i,s no." progress towards 'those new United States of which Justinian, Charlemagne, the German*s#*'Emperors, Innocent 111., Charles. Quint i Napoleon (and shall wa add, Victor Hugo and Monsieur Briand?) dreamed...... Julien Bonda, a French "JQsqpjifcr ofy distinction', .attributes in the past—and, we may ■ '&s§? in the'/present—not;• so' much to as to; the ruled; Europe h6a/never wanted to' be a'nation. It, joined its forces in a crSifinon 'cause—such as the . Crusades -r-'but it has never been conscious of its! "Europeanity." It is not enough that Europe should exist under necessity, for a longer or shorter time; it is of vital importance that; the idea of Europe should exist. Can tho idea now be said to hav'ei any. substance and validity? The word is uttered of tenor than before; union has been preached since 1919 .fwiCh remarkabi'ei persistence and eloquence. There are organisations which are, in "the. scope of their intention, not only European, but universal. All the ritual of union has been perform, '©d. "We have been told, not as doctrine, but as realisation, that the world—and, therefore, in at least na great a degree, interdependent, and that national indepisfnd. ence is an, anachronism. We have been told, interminably that solidarity is synonymous with salvation, z IV.

TJiO'Jwania of. Nationalistic Autarchy ".: Yet suddenly shifting our gun from) ■one* "shoulder to the'*other, w'ei are now belauding the panacea of nationalistic autarchy. Everybody is using the* term on the Continent. It is even used in tho United,;/3tat(es. Cultivate fouivgarden, ndvisibd-Volt-oafa. Look after ourselves, say the European nations. And they let 'practice precede ptiacept. There is,, even in, the lan_ l.i'uage lifchicb. is .becoming current, a i •"ji'erteWal of scorn-, for the idealism of .the past century, which was given a fresh short lease of life after tho war. Foolish or not, European nations' are trying to be self contained — even Austria, which was pronounced moribund when amputated, wants to live single. :• Never were tho tariff .barriers so high or so numerous. Never were there so many restrictions.on the flow ,of money. Never were there so. many buifcs for travellers. (Germany acta, ally makes travel in Austria prohibit ' Mv6ly costly, but only in degree). Never. ,jm&"* '••tbaco. such an obwession with frontiers. Never wiere so many claims put forWard so imperiously. Never were warlike preparations so deliberately menacing. Never was there more ill-will, suspicion, hatred; never were there j more vociferous irredentists; If the | .smnjlcr nations seek to be vastly, %ms% of themselves, and violently -..separate themselves from others in »t|fePyearning for,self identification, some of the greater nations have | revived the most extreme theories of racial purity. The Orpingtons proclaim, themselves 'superior to the Wfyandot. tes». and will not scratch the same sdili ' ■ ,A YbVere is a bitter irony in the con. trwst between international doctrine aft IF national egoism; "the diabolical mischief is that we' are . heading again in the. direction of disaster. v Another Great Awakening - r All this is a reactifm not merely'