The Times MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1937 Menace of War

Manawatu Times, Volume 62, Issue 26, 1 February 1937, Page 6

The Times MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1937 Menace of War

The British Empire, open to the menace of attack from the air and simultaneous attack on its vital communications, was in a more dangerous position than it had been in for the last 300 years, said the Marquess of Lothian in a speech in the House of Lords. The only people who did not seem to be talking about this were the British themselves. The first thing they had to ask themselves was whether they could preserve—and if so, under what conditions —the British Commonwealth of Nations, which was one of the great things worth preserving in the world. He was quite convinced that they could not do this and take on the functions of maintaining peace throughout the whole of a Europe divided by nationalism, Communism and Fascism. If they did that they should destroy the British Empire. The real danger of war in an armed world arose over events the consequences of which nobody could control. In every country in Europe flic General Stalls were being asked what they were preparing to do in the event of their countries becoming involved in a war started by another country. Let their lordships look at the effect of the Franco-Kussian Treaty on the military mind of Europe. Nobody knew what it mount and everybody took it that in certain eventualities there would be simultaneous action by Russia and France against Germany either in attack or resisting attack. The German General Staff was saying: “Can you assure us that if there is a war in the East wo shall not be attacked iu the West? If we have to face a war on both frontiers at the same time we must begin in the west. ’’ That was the .central issue which precipitated the war in 1914. Collective security could not be made effective in a rearming world with four nations outside the League.