The Rhineland.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 16436, 1 February 1919, Page 8

The Rhineland.

Marshal Foch's intention to occupy the 6trasburg sector on the right' bank of the Rhine, which hns so greatly irritated the Germans, means the establishment of a fourth area in which Allied and American troops will control a bridgehead. The other three, which have been in our occupation for a month or more, are the bridge-heads of Cologne, Ooblonz, and Mainz, tho area in each case extending eastward from the river over a radius of some ID or 20 miles, of which about six miles is- covered by the neutral zone established down the right bank of the river. The Marshal's latest step will strengthen the watch on the Rhine which is being kept by the troops

under his command, and will naturally improve their position in the Rhineland. It is doubtful whether we have, as a people, realised fully what the surrender of the Rhine, temporarily or permanently, means to Germany. It has, as a recent writer in the London "Times" says, always been one of the great geographical landmarks of Europe, its most important river, and the deepest and most fundamental source of German pride. "Ever since the "Cajsars the Rhine has had a full and "crowded history. It has always been "civilised and until lately the source " of civilising influence. It has been " tho cradle of noble architecture ana "art; the home of religion, learning, " and beneficent invention; tho " and background of a thousand " legends and romances j the most "northerly as well as ono of the "richest of the nurseries of the vine;

"a flourishing industrial area, and a "popular holiday resort."

It is rather a "far cry" from Caesar's legionaries to the ten-pound holiday trippers of England's industrial cities, and yet the latter are today exercising an influence on the minds of the Rhinelanders that may affect the future government of the whole territory. There is a strong movement therein for the establishment of a Rhenish- Westphalian republic. and this springs in part, we ore assured, from a shrewd suspicion that the British and American tourists wliu have in the pa.:t contributed so greatly to the material prosperity of the storied Rhineland will return much more roadily to their favourite travel routes, if the country becomes a republic apart from the hated Prussia. This, however, is only one of numerous movements which are complicating tho political situation in the Rhineland. One party wants it to bocomo a portion of a great republic, which would include all Germany and Austria, with Berlin as its capital—a scheme which will undoubtedly die still-born. Another section are said to favour the annexation of the territory by Franco. The strength of tbo party is not mentioned, but its mere existence shows that the whole of the Rhinelanders would not object to German rule ceasing on the right bank of tho river. There is r.ven a small section that has expressed a desire that when tho proposed republic is established, it should be affiliated with the British Empire!

No one can say yet what will bo the future of the occupied territory. Marshal Foeh has declared that the llhinc ' : must bo the barrier to protect "civilisation from Germany," which means that tho district will not go back to German control for a long time, possibly never again.ji The Foreign Affairs Committee /of the Chamber of Deputies has expressed an opinion in favour of a long occupation, and perhaps, after that, the creation of a neutral autonomous State. In the meanwhile, the residents would have no political rights or representation in Germany, and the Allied authorities would supervise their administration. Tho inhabitants, it may be said, or at least a large proportion of them, do not resent the Allied occupation of their land, but appear, on tho other hand, to welcome it as a safeguard against Bolshevism. Tho latter is an unpleasant force of unknown possibilities, whereas they soon learned that the Army of Occupation intended no harm, so long as the inhabitants behaved themselves.