The Press THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1938. Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Russia

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22513, 22 September 1938, Page 10

The Press THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1938. Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Russia

During the last week or so the nature of the dispute between Germany and Czechoslovakia has undergone a significant change. At the beginning of this month the issue, as far as the public was aware, was solely the status of the Sudeten Germans. The first hint that another issue was being introduced was the statement in Herr Hitler’s Nuremberg speech that Czechoslovakia had been established as a base for the bombing of German industries in war. Since then the German press, which is so closely controlled that it is a useful indicator of what .the National Socialist leaders are thinking, has referred with increasing bitterness to the supposedly close relations between Czechoslovakia and Russia and to the possibility of Czechoslovakia being used as a base for a Russian attack against Germany. The purpose of this agitation is obvious enough. Encouraged by the initial success of its effort to browbeat Europe into accepting the transfer of the Sudeten German areas to the Third Reich, the German Government is now hoping to kill two birds with one stone —to seture by means of one agreement the “ liberation ” of the Sudeten Germans and the French-Soviet-Little Entente system of defensive military pacts. The international guarantee of the new frontiers of Czechoslovakia, which is being proposed as the accompaniment of cession ot the Sudeten German areas, can take the form of a neutralisation agreement such as has been applied to Belgium or of the Western Pact of Locarno guaranteeing .the frontier between France and Germany. An agreement of the first type obviously involves the cancellation of Czechoslovakia’s military alliances with France, Russia, and the countries of the Little Entente. The German Government can be expected to press hard for neutralisation, since it would prevent Czechoslovak territory being used for the passage of Russian troops in time of war, would complete the destruction of the Little Entente, and would weaken the position of France in Central Europe. For the same reasons, the Czech Government and its allies are likely to prefer the Locarno type of agreement.