GERMANY’S AIMS.

Evening Star, Issue 22450, 22 September 1936, Page 8

GERMANY’S AIMS.

Mb Lloyd George, having returned from Germany, is giving his views on Nazi aims and objects. He had an uncommon experience in the Fatherland. In a three-hour interview with Hitler, the Fuhrer did all the talking, and Britain’s war Prime Minister was obliged to accept the role, unusual to him, of listener. Though he is in the pciitiaal wilderness, and never likely to emerge from it, there is still a glamour about Mr Lloyd George, and anything he says is regarded with interest both inside and outside the House of Commons. Because of the anxiety and uncertainty of the international situation, and the disturbing remarks that fall from the lips of leading German statesmen from time to time, considerable importance will be attached to Mr Lloyd George’s impressions. It is true that the man who was going to “ hang the Kaiser ” has not been a success as a prophet, for before the war he ridiculed the idea that Germany intended to strike. Still, he is possessed of quick observation and much experience, and we may hope he is right when he says that Hitler profoundly admires the British people and that all classes of Germans desire British friendship. An evidence of goodwill was provided by the Fuhrer lately when he appointed as Ambassador in London Herr von llibbentrop, his personal friend and an Anglophile. In the course of an interview the new

representative at the Court of St. James denied that Germany had any intention of launching an offensive war. “ If Germany ever makes war it will not he with an Imperialist aim,” he said. The inference that is sought to be conveyed by Hitler and his Ministers is that Germany is arming herself for defence only, and Mr Lloyd George is convinced that she has no intention—in the meantime at any rate—of launching a campaign outside her borders. There is tension between Germany and Russia because of what Mr Lloyd George describes as Hitler’s fanatical hatred of Bolshevism. A bigoted Fascist himself, the Fuhrer obviously fears the penetration of Communism of the Russian brand, which he regards as linked up with Jewish intrigue. Germany had its experience of the Spartacists in the post-war years. They became powerful and endeavoured to overthrow the now republic, with the aim of setting up » dictatorship of the proletariat. The memory of those Spartacist risings and the support they were said to have received from the Soviet still lingers in Hitler’s mind and makes him suspicious of all Russian developments. It is unfortunate from the point of view of world peace that Franco-Russian friendship should be so pronounced, for with the accession of M. Blum to office the way might have been opened up for the removal of the barriers that separate France and Germany. The present French Prime Minister was probably the first man to speak against the. Treaty of Versailles and call it an act of sheer madness and injustice, and for ten years, almost until the day that Hitler assumed power, ha was Germany’s greatest champion in France for arms equality. Fears of Germany that seemed to have no real substance were responsible for driving France into the arms of Russia, and this at the moment stands in the way of any general friendly arrangement. Mr Lloyd George cannot forbear from making political capital out of the position. His remarks about European democracies not producing great leaders and the need of a strong executive in Britain have an obvious meaning. Nevertheless, the statement of his views may be considered good news, for evidently he has reached the definite conclusion that though the relations between Germany and Russia are acute there is no immediate probability of an outbreak of war. In the meantime Britain can put herself in a position in which her voice will have, a weighty influence in the councils of peace.