WARFARE BY LIES
CLEAR and unexceptionable though the statement of British policy by Lord Halifax in the House of Lords last week was, Opposition critics in this country, who fixed their attention on one half of the speech to the exclusion of the other, compelled the Foreign Secretary to restate his case in the same place on Monday. That perhaps is no bad thing, for the essential features of British policy cannot be too often or too unequivocally proclaimed. Abroad they are being deliberately misinterpreted. Pursuing tactics completely divorced from all moral principle, Herr Hitler and Dr. Goebbels have made the encirclement lie the basis of their domestic policy. Germany, they protest, compelled by the pressure of of population to acquire new riving-space—regardless of the fact that it is space belonging to and inhabited by some other nation—is being ruthlessly and methodically frustrated by a Great Britain assiduously bent on forging military alliances with a view not merely to hemming Germany in but (according to papers to which the wildest allegations are not repugnant) to committing actual aggression against her.
That lie, for such it is, and no less uncompromising description should be applied to it, is unquestionably having its effect in a Germany from which truth is in the main being successfully excluded. That is the problem the British and other democratic governments have to face. If truth can be matched with lies in fair field no one need fear the issue. Nine-tenths of the German people desire war as little as ten-tenths of the British people do. But any German will be as ready to fight as any Briton would in like case if he can be convinced that a concerted attempt is being made by a ring of enemies to stifle his country and deny her just claims. And if truth is excluded and lies are diligently enough disseminated it is not impossible to convince him of that. In such circumstances speeches like Lord Halifax's can have only a limited effect in Germany, for they circulate there only subject to such suppressions and selections as may make them actually serve Herr Hitler's ends. None the less, truth does in some degree penetrate into Germany in various ways, and there is a world-opinion which even Germany's present rulers cannot completely disregard. It is, therefore, of the first importance that in non-Axis countries, particularly those bordering on Germany, Britain's adhesion to a twofold policy—of resolute resistance to aggression combined with readiness for honest discussion (the adjective must be emphasised) at any moment—should be made clear beyond possibility of misconception.
Some of the Government's critics in this country are unconsciously helping Herr Hitler considerably. There could be no justification for arousing suspicion in Paris and Moscow by protesting that when Lord Halifax declared himself ready to negotiate in certain circum- stances he was reverting to a discredited policy of appeasement. No one has ever accused Mr. Cordell Hull of tenderness towards Germany, and it is a not uninstructive coincidence that on the day when the British Foreign Secretary was declaring that if the threat of resort to force were abandoned the whole weight of this country would be thrown in favour of fair settle- ments by negotiation the American Secretary of State was inviting the Axis Powers to enter into trade agree- ments beneficial equally to themselves and to the United States. It is a peculiar satisfaction to be assured that in respect neither of military preparedness nor of pre- paredness for negotiation is there any difference of opinion or policy between the two democracies linked by the Atlantic. For them and for every State asso- ciated in the so-called peace bloc a settlement by negotiation of any claims that may be preferred is the supreme objective, and resort to arms no better at best than a disastrous last resort.
Herr Hider knows that. Dr. Goebbels knows it. But the German people must not know it. They must be fed on a ceaseless stream of lying propaganda and con- vinced that their country's enemies are denying it Lebensraum—living-space. The manipulation of the legend is fantastic. Lebensraum is needed for the population, and an adjacent country is annexed. But that increases the population, so fresh Lebensraum must be sought. The claims of 85,000,000 Germans to Lebensraum cannot be denied, declares Dr. Goebbels. Originally it was 66,000,000 Germans. They secured new Lebensraum in Austria. But that brought the population to 73,000,000, and Czecho-Slovakia was " acquired." With some 86,000 square miles (nearly half the area of the Germany of 1937) added, the demand for Lebensraum is more insistent than ever. Where are these calculated and transparent pretensions to end? That they shall not end in more annexations Great Britain and France, Poland, Russia and Turkey are resolved. If Lebensraum is otherwise interpreted, if Germany claims that she cannot live without free access to European markets, and is ready to treat trade as trade and not as an instrument of political domina- tion, then her claims can be discussed and a fair settle- ment should be perfectly attainable. That is a truth that must be given currency in every country where truth is free, and be conveyed by any means possible to as many of the German people as can be reached.
That necessity raises the whole question of the war of truth with lies. Lies, suppression of truth, sugges- tion or assertion of what is false, misrepresentation in any form that may prove serviceable, are the chief instru- ment with which the German and Italian Governments mould their peoples to their purpose. In attempting to contend against that from outside we are under an immense handicap, though more might be done than we are doing. But German propaganda is not for home consumption only. In countries friendly to our own like Portugal and Egypt and Iraq, radio talks, a subsidised Press, visiting lecturers and a variety of other agents and instruments serve the unalterable purpose of bring- ing this country into disrepute and justifying Germany's claims and aims. Thanks perhaps to our native tolerance the Government is far too apathetic in the face of what is in reality a grave danger. It is in this field that the first dispositions for war are being made, and unless the German moves are countered she will win for her- self a position favourable enough to encourage her in some new and fatal aggression.
That is the case for the institution here and now of a Ministry of Information that will co-ordinate the few existing, and evolve many new, agencies for the proper presentation of British policy and British aims to the peoples of the world, including the Germans and Ita!ims. It will start under an apparent disadvantage, in that it must confine itself resolutely to facts, while the totalitarians know no such restriction, but it has teen shown already in Germany that propaganda which ignores truth defeats itself, whatever temporary vitality new mendacities may impart. No public department could have a more delicate task to discharge, or need to draw more largely on specialised experience, than a Ministry called on to measure itself against Dr. Goebbels and his Italian counterpart. Some current rumours re- garding the Government's intentions in this respect are alarming. This is no task for professional diplomatists, or for men successful in pushing sales of soap. Not even journalists are necessarily equipped for the task, though it is in line with their life-work. But individuals do exist with the required insight and flair and an integrity of character impervious to the insistent temptation to fight lies with lies. Their services are urgently needed, and it is to be hoped that someone in the Cabinet knows where to find them.
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