THE TABLET A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER AND REVIEW

ESTABLISHED 1840

VOL. 173 No. 5169

REGISTERED AS A NEWSPAPER LONDON, JUNE 3rd, 1939

SIXPENCE

IN THIS ISSUE

ELECTIONS IN HUNGARY

The Setting of the Struggle for Nazi Control

A LETTER FROM MADRID : THE CHURCH AND THE v i c t o r y

From Our Madrid Correspondent LABOUR IN CONFERENCE

Thoughts after the Southport Meeting

THE CANADIAN BISHOPS AND THE KING

Full List o f Contents on page 704.

THE WORLD WEEK BY WEEK The Soviet Manœuvres

M. Molotov has declared th a t the Soviet Government cannot undertake to co-operate in guaranteeing the security of eastern Europe unless the Franco-British guarantees are extended “ to the three countries on the north-western frontier of the U .S .S .R .” These three countries are, presumably, Latvia, Esthonia, and Finland, and since this is apparently a sine qua non of any agreement with the Soviet, British diplomacy may be expected to make immediate approaches to their Governments. But it is difficult to see how such guarantees could be implemented. German naval strength is sufficient to prevent any British landing on the Baltic coast ; the doubling o f the width of the Kiel Canal, announced by Herr Hitler in February, will give the Germans effective control of the entrance to the Baltic, regardless of whether Denmark is able to preserve neutrality, and the island of Heligoland is very strongly fortified. Speaking of Reason to the Danes

The Danish Pact o f non-aggression with Germany was signed in Berlin on Wednesday; and, as a sort of gesture to the other Scandinavian Governments, which declined the offer made by Herr Hitler on April 28th, and wanted Denmark to decline too, the newspapers simultaneously announced the arrest o f two prominent Danish Nazis, members o f the group led by Wilfred Petersen. Denmark, owing to her special geographic and economic circumstances, had to choose between dependence on Britain and dependence on the Reich. I t has seemed discreet to conciliate the Germans, but Denmark will make every effort to maintain neutrality. Finland, like Sweden and Norway, is resolutely ■determined to be neutral, so the British attempt, at the behest of the Soviet, to involve th a t country in the new European system of security may not be easy. The Baltic States

The three Baltic States, Lithuania, Latvia and Esthonia, are similarly anxious to maintain neutrality so far as possible, owing to the dangers o f their geographical and economic positions. Their position is difficult, but it has been considerably simplified during recent months. The policy o f Lithuania is no longer complicated by the two problems which made it difficult in the post-W ar years, even after the formation in 1934, on Latvian initiative, of the Baltic Entente, for the Kaunas Government to maintain the same discreet aloofness as those o f Riga and Tallinn. Memel is now finally German, and Vilna is finally Polish. Again, the definite alignment of Poland with the Western Powers makes the position o f the Baltic States easier. Until a year ago, when Lithuania and Poland resumed diplomatic relations and German policy began seriously to threaten Poland, it was always possible that the solution o f the question o f the Polish Corridor would be found in a Polish-German agreement by which the Poles would abandon the mouth o f the Vistula and find their outlet to the Baltic on the Gulf o f Riga, as they had in the eighteenth century, before the Partitions. Pilsudski always looked forward to the reunion of Poland and Lithuania. The Heritage of Brest-Litovsk

The Baltic States owe their post-W ar independence to Germany, ra ther than to the Allies. I t was the Germans, by the Treaty o f Brest-Litovsk, who detached them from Russia. I t was the right flank o f the great Russian advance on Warsaw, in 1921, which first threatened their independence. They acquired a mistrust of Poland when Pilsudski seized Vilna, and then led his armies southwards into territories never intended by the Allies for Poland. I t is true that in the event o f a Polish-German war the Germans might be expected to invade the Baltic States with the purpose o f out-flanking Poland ; but it is equally true th a t the Poles might cross the frontier of Lithuania first in order to anticipate such a move, and, once there, might not easily be persuaded to retire. That is the present dilemma o f the Baltic States. Each of them contains a powerful, if small, minority, whose influence