Delbos and the Key to Peace

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 60, 3 December 1937, Page 11

Delbos and the Key to Peace

"SENEX").

CENTRAL EUROPE Signs of Alignment Against Berlin and Rome FAR-REACHING CHANGES

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In the cabled reports of the progress oi the diseussions between Britain and France this week there was a significant reference to the fact that M. Delbos, the French Foreign Minister, is about to set out on a tour of Central F :rope. In the present state of affaira it will be a visit'of the utmost importance, for it is in that region that the key to a Continental peace is to be found. Almost unnoticed amidst the rumble of war in Spain and China, far-reach-ing new tendeneies are to be found in Central Europe to-day. Not long ago it seeined likely to'become a preserve of Herr Hitler, under the Eome-Berlin understanding which gave him this sphere of influence in return for his recognition of Italy's paramount position in the Mediterranean. Signor Mussolini did not altogether want to fmd himself in this position, but events, in the shape of the Ab.vssinian adventure, did it for him. The unexpected opposition ' to this war of conquest left him with a wealc flank, and he bought off Herr Hitler in terms favourable to the Fuehrer. It was a political fait accompli which reinforced the previous economic p'enetration of this region by Germany, and it has resulted in still further gains. Conditions along the Danube were depressing. Bitterness arising from the peace trqaties remained strong. Cooperation between victor and vanquished was unthinkable. Austria was a sort of Italiah protectoTate. Hun* gary was mourning her lost provinces, statues to which s.tood in every city. Czechoslovakia was fighting desperately to retain her-unity in face of a determined onslaught by the Sudetic Germans. Poverty— rTSiit Hope. But' to-day things have chahged. There is still poverty along the Danube, but there is hope. Austria and Czechoslovakia mediate an accord which . Germany and Italy have . not been able to kill. Their agreement is now merely a matter of time. ; In Hungary and Yugoslavia xecent advances by Italy have been received coolly. This is most important, for only so long as Hungary remained unxeconciled to the post-war world and uilwiliing to co-operate with her neighbours, could the formation of some sort of a Danube bloc be prevented. Hungary 's determined attitude that there must be revision of the peace treaties meant the creation of two camps, and it meant a break in the lines of any possible Danube agreement. Moreover, there was a- trade war between Hungary and Czechoslovakia which cut across the normal course of their trade relationships, which were that the Czechs were Hungary 's best customers and also sent more goods to her than any other country. The work of the persistent Dr. Hodza, Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia, who has- not hesi tated to deliver public speeches in praise of Hungarians, is having its eJlect. ; In short, there is a new solidity ahead in'-the Danube region, in place of the old situation in which the League of Victors (Little Entente) armed itself to liold its gains against the challenge of the defeated nations and their friends. The importance of a Danubian understanding which would bring these countries into line can hardly be over-estimat'ed. The total population of the Little Entente plusAustria and Hungary is 65,000,000, only 5,00Q,O00 short of .the population of Germany, and much ■ richer, as a balanced economic unit, than Germany is to-day. In fact, a Danube coalition would mean that neither- Germany nor Italy, as a single unit, could manage to manipulate the coalition States. It would mean that there would be a new political entity m Central Europe, with every interest to preserve the peace, and with sufficient power available to protect its member States from attack.

Danube Coalition. Naturally, the making of such a coalition will be no easy task, but the fact remains that it is to-day within the realm of possibility. Austria will shortly be within. the ambit of the Little Entente, and Hungary is being driven in that direction by her fear of Germany. Already there is a tentative agreement in existence between the Little Entente and the Hungarian Government, one drafted at Geneva recently, and aimed at guaranteeing the position of the Hungarian minorities in the Succession States. That is a great advance from the position in which Hungary would not admit the right of those Succession States (which rose from the ashes of the old Austro-Hun-garian Empire) to keep these minorities. It is into this promising atmosphore that M. Delbos, the French Foreign Minister, is shortly to go, armed by the understanding which has been reached between Britain and France and aided by the salutary influence of Britain 's rearmament, the echoes of which have resoundcd throughout the Danube States. To-day, the Centrul European countries anxiously sean the western sky for signs of that eastward march which Germany has claimed as her historic mission. They are seekir.g for guarantees that in such march their own identity will be preserved — and they have ample evidence before them of the way of largo European States with the identity of little ones. They have L-ca absorbed before and are determined not to be swallowed up again. That is the key to the revolt of Hungary and her repudiation of Germany once she discovered to strength of the

lsazi propaganda in her midst. That is the reason for Austria's acceptance of the Czechoslovakian lifeline. That is the reason why the Czechs', themselves weighted down by a German (or Austrian) minority of apout one-fifth , of their population, a minority which has been imperfectly bought of£ by an agreement to give greater concessions made last FelSruary, have been promoting the new Danube bloc. It is an opening for a statesmaU to score a diplomatic triumph of the first xank.