WAR WITHOUT BATTLES

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22517, 27 September 1938, Page 10

WAR WITHOUT BATTLES

Germany Advertises Her Strength DEMOCRACIES PLAY FOR TIME The German technique of "victory without war" is described in this article by a well-known American writer on foreTgn affairs. The opening stages of the present crisis are reviewed and the Anglo-French policy of delay is sympathetically "The far-away observer who demands action and swX decision as a sign of strength," says the writer, "under estimates both the dynamics of the Nazi movement and the weight of time as an -ally on the other side.

[By ANNE O'HARE McCORMICK in the "New York Times."]

NEW YORK, August 28

with time. This explains Whitehall's steady check on the less steady course of the Quai d'Orsay. Many Frenchmen complain that they are held back by the British, but this complaint is seldom voiced by responsible French officials; they want to be held back. When M. Blum was in power, for instance, he stood as firm against opening the frontier to Spain as M. Bonnet stands to-day behind British attempts to force a compromise in Czechoslovakia that will save France from the necessity —which she will not flunk if it arises—of going to the aid of her ally. Nazis Force the F*c-e This point is stressed because it is evident that the pace is now being forced. Germany is in a hurry. Lord Runciman was sent to Prague to string out negotiations between ' Czechs and Sudeten Germans. He has been there less than a month, and apparently he cannot keep the lid down any longer without reinforcements. Every sign, including a diplomatic demarche from Berlin to several governments, indicates that Germany is fighting to hasten a decision and break down the strategy of delay. It seems that Hitler, too, whose sense of time is well developed, recognises that time is not his ally. His demand for a speedy settlement of the Sudeten question explains many things —the publicity and scale of the army manoeuvres, the lack of support for Japan against Russia, the puzzle of Mussolini's attitude in risking a break with England rather than taper off intervention in Spain. It explains, especially, the headlining of Hungary. Hungary is im- ' portant as an exhibit of the Good Neighbour policy of Germany when the neighbours follow the German line. "If you believe," Germany says by way of Hungary to the recalcitrant neighbour on the east, "you can'have your frontier guaranteed, too—at some point to be determined. If you don't,- with Hungary strengthened by arms equality recognised by you, and better economic arrangements with us, you are more encircled than ever and your Hungarian minority will prove as j troublesome as your German." ~~)

The strangest conflict in history, the war to stave off war, gained momentum this week. Think of Europe as a many-fronted battlefield, as it is, and of all moves on that field' as attempts to gain ground with any form of attack short of military action, as they are, and it becomes clear that the new German technique of aiming at the target without firing the gun has reached a climax.

Spain and Hungary Two well-timed "diversions" have occurred: Franco's rejection of the British plan for evacuating foreign troops from Spain and the focusing of the spotlight on Hungary. These events are not meant to distract attention from Czechoslovakia. Rather they serve to emphasise and intensify the pressure on Prague. Staged against the background of marching armies, the display of new artillery, the well-advertised picture of a nation in arms and ready to strike, they also suggest, however, that the Reich is exerting every ounce of strength it possesses to win a victory without a war. It is concentrating a terrific amount of diplomatic, economic, and military effort to make a knock-down demonstration. Beyond this demonstration there is nothing more to do but fight, but if Germany wanted to fight, why stretch energy and resources to the limit simply to frighten? The threat is complete. The Germans have strained themselves to the utmost; gone to the very top, so to speak, to avoid going over the top. Governments in a Hurry All summer every movement of Great Britain and France has been negative, a movement of defence. All their actions, that is to say, have been aimed at delaying action. The central drama is no longer between forces working for peace and forces making for war. It has narrowed down to a play for time, for the postponement of the show-down. For the democracies it is sound strategy as well as good morals to put off to-day's war until to-morrow; there is always a two-to-one chance that the equation may change. The incalculable elements' —the winds of chance—work faster against the inverted pyramid than against a pyramid "with its base on the ground Dictatorships are governments in a hurry. Precarious as the life of one man, they cannot afford to wait. Checking the French The British and the French are not in a hurry. They have everything to gain, everything to save, by waiting. The faraway observer who demands action and swift decision as a sign of strength underestimates both the dynamics of the Nazi movement and the weight of time as an ally on the other side. The British describe their policy as an alliance

/ More Upsetting Than War . For the moment Hungary' *%as profited by the contest between the Czechs and the Germans. For the first time since the war the Magyar kingdom is important to her neighbours and the Great Powers. Hungary is a focal point in this war that is not war and yet is fought with every weapon in the armoury, and so many beyond the reach of military mobilisation that it is actually more violent, more demoralising to civil populations, and more upsetting to the order of the world than any conflict of armies.