THE ANSCHLUSS

Taranaki Daily News, 27 July 1935, Page 8

THE ANSCHLUSS

CANNOT BE RENOUNCED. THE FUTURE OF GERMANY. London, July 14. Armaments will not satisfy Germany indefinitely, nor will the cancellation of some of the meaningless paragraphs of the Versailles Treaty justify the' effort and sacrifice which rearmament has imposed, states Professor Lewis Namier, the noted historian, of Manchester University, in the Manchester Guardian, when examing Herr Hitler’s policy. Professor Namier points out that Herr Hitler cannot fight Russia, as the Ger-man-Polish Alliance makes this impractical, and he would gain nothing from such a war. The writer says the talk of GermanPolish territorial rearrangements is moonshine, but Herr Hitler, himself an Austrian and backed by a tradition of allying the policies of Austria and Germany, can never renounce Austria any more than M. Poincare could have renounced Lorraine, his birthplace. Again, Vienna is a focal point on the Danube, and occupies an important strategic position in the politics of Central and Easter Europe. Herr Hitler cannot leave Austria outside the framework of his "Totalitarian State” because Austria is German. Indeed Austrian policy, before the advent of the Nazis, was union with Germany. Nevertheless, if the Nazis establish themselves in Vienna, the whole of Central and South-east Europe j would be aflame. This would destroy the political balance and threaten Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Rumania, who would be attacked by the surrounding Nazis, Magyars, and Bulgars. Italy then would be forced to think of her own safety. The tension that Herr Hitler has worked up in Germany by enormous armaments, universal drilling, and spiritual militarism, cannot unload itself in the mere expunging of the so-called “war guilt lie,” or the theoretical declaration that Germany is fit to hold colonies. Professor Namier says a storm is brewing that threatens Austria. “It will not be merely a local disturbance,” he concludes.