The Press WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1938. Hitler Speaks Again

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22518, 28 September 1938, Page 10

The Press WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1938. Hitler Speaks Again

Herr Hitler’s speech on Monday night presents the same curious mixture of sounding fury and cold and minute calculation as his speech at the Nuremberg rally. When the head of a Great Power rejoices in the imprisonment of a blameless and patriotic Austrian statesman, when he speaks of the democracies of the world, Great Britain included, as “bloodthirsty monsters,” when he accuses Dr. Benes, perhaps the ablest and most moderate statesman in post-war Europe, of a desire “to exterminate the Ger- “ man race,” Englishmen are inclined to believe that they are dealing not with a rational human being but with someone whose motives lie in pathology rather than in politics. But it is a superficial impression. Every excess in the speech at the Sportspalast is a calculated excess, designed either to produce a certain emotional effect on his hearers or •to influence certain governments in a certain way; careful reading will show that it is the culmination of a series of carefully-planned and successful moves. The first point to be noted is that the negotiations, with the British and French Governments have afforded Herr Hitler an opportunity, of which he has made full use, to state the issues in a manner highly favourable to Germany. The justice of partition, says Herr Hitler, has been accepted by the British, French, and Czech Governments; the German memorandum is “ nothing but the realism of what Dr. Benes “ promised rejection of the memorandum therefore means that Dr. Benes did not act in good faith when he accepted the Anglo-French scheme. This is a falsification of the situation so adroit that it is almost impossible to overtake. The truth is that the territory which Germany has demanded includes more than \fchat can reasonably be regarded as the Sudeten German areas and that Czechoslovakia is in effect being asked to disrupt her system of communications and to leave herself militarily impotent in the midst of a Europe now on a war footing. But the truth can only be demonstrated by means of detailed maps and can only be understood by persons with some knowledge of the topography of Czechoslovakia; Herr Hitler’s quarter-truths, expressed in the few clear and brief sentences, have travelled round She world in a few seconds and cannot be overtaken by the real and complex facts of the situation. In the war of self-justification, Herr Hitler has won a clever victory. The second point to be noted is that, although Herr Hitler has pitched his demands high and made them in peremptory language, he has also made Europe and the world an offer nicely calculated to appeal to those who hold that, if Germany is allowed to expand naturally., she will in time become a peaceful member of the community of nations. That offer is nothing less than the final renunciation of all territorial demands in Europe. “It is the last territorial “ demand I will make in Europe, but one I will “never-give up.” This'must be read in conjunction with the important references in the speech to the settlement with Poland. From [the end of the Great War until a few years ago the Polish Corridor, separating East Prussia from the rest of Germany, aroused more national resentment among Germans than any other territory lost at Versailles. After the death of Pilsudski, Germany arid Poland entered a phase of uneasy friendship, the product rather of diplomatic convenience than of any true community of interest. In the last year or so, moreover, the Polish Government, alarmed at the prospect of being crushed between Germany arid/ Russia, has taken the lead in the attempt to form a neutral bloc in Central and Eastern Europe. Herr Hitler’s sudden decision that the Polish problem is “solved,” and the implied renunciation of all claim over the Polish Corridor, can only mean that in the present crisis he regards an active military alliance with Poland as of even greater importance than the Berlin-Rome axis. Poland, it must now be assumed, has given up her quest for neutrality and become-a partner in Germany’s designs of aggression. The strategic advantages of such an alliance, emphasise the extraordinary difficulties of military co-opera-tion.-among- Czechoslovakia’s allies and potential allies. This consideration, melancholy as it may seem, is the chief justification for anticipating a peaceful putcome of the crisis. If Great Britain, France, and Russia choose this moment for an attempt to halt German aggression, they will go into war with the dice loaded heavily against them. The other consideration favouring peace is that, notwithstanding the unreasonable nature of some of the demands in the German ultimatum, the gap between what Germany has asked for and what Czechoslovakia has agreed to concede is not such a large one. Signor Mussolini’s inelegant conviction that Europe will not “ set itself on fire to cook a rotten egg may come near to the essence of the situation. Even a dictator will hesitate to precipitate a war over a point of procedure.