The Waikato Times SATURDAY, AUGUST 19, 1939 HITLER'S RESPONSIBILITY

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20887, 19 August 1939, Page 6

The Waikato Times SATURDAY, AUGUST 19, 1939 HITLER'S RESPONSIBILITY

To (hose who have made a close study of the swiftly-moving drama in Europe, one of the most significant developments is that all initiative for either appeasement or war has been forced upon Germany. Herr Hitler’s failure to honour the pledge he gave at Munich—a pledge that raised the hopes of the world —is recoiling upon him. France, Britain and Poland say, “There cannot be another Munich.” Strong at last in arms, they demand that the peace shall not be disturbed. They await any move that Germany might make. If Germany offers violence they will resist, but if Germany offers an honest plan for the implementation of peace they will not be slow to respond.

The lesson of Munich has penetrated more deeply into the minds of the peace Powers than probably Herr Hitler himself imagined. And he counted upon continuing to deal with nations, which trembled at the approach of his might. He clearly underestimated the moral and physical strength of those who are now aligned against his aggression. France has received Germany’s indirect proposals for a conference of the Foreign Ministers of Britain, France, Germany and Italy with cold suspicion, and Britain’s attitude is almost similar. Thoughts have flown back to Munich, where just such a conference was called with its unexpected and tragic results. The latest move has roused the suspicion that Germany is again attempting to divide the allied Powers.

If Germany seriously desires the conference to assemble, Herr Hitler will find it necessary to establish his bona tides beyond question and banish the suspicion that Munich engendered. If he can do that the other Powers will meet him willingly. For all their firmness and determination, they have no desire to prolong the present strain for another day if they can see a reasonable prospect of real progress. Every day that the tension continues brings fresh dangers that the situation will, through some local incident, get beyond the control of responsible men. This “nerve war” and propaganda have roused the passions of the common people and the common soldiers. They have possibly even convinced the German army of its invincibility—a most dangerous obsession and one of the foulest products of the propagandist system. Herr Hitler’s difficulty is that he has without qualification promised Danzig and other territorial prizes to a people who by propaganda have been made hungry for conquest and the “vindication of their honour.” Can he now go back on that promise ? He can if he will. He 2ra become a national if not an international hero by establishing the peace which his own people, by the use of the same propaganda machine, could be made to regard as something far more desirable than war. But perhaps Herr Hitler’s conception of a heroic dictator is made of sterner stuff —of blood and iron and war. In any case the decision is in his hands. The indications are that neither he nor any other national leader is at the moment prepare ! to take the responsibility of plunging the world into war.