Germany and the League In a speech which he delivered
at Munich last Sunday the German Foreign Minister defined the attitude of Germany towards collective security at the League of Nations. It is all to the good that such a question should be authoritatively discussed, and though Baron von Neurath's general outlook is very different from that of the Party extremists he is not likely to express views which are not those of Herr Hitler. The speech as a whole encourages little hope of German co-operation with other States in the international field, for Baron von Neurath contends that it is in the German interest and the general interest for Germany to deal with every concrete international problem by methods suited to the specific case. To say that is to say precisely nothing, except that Germany disbelieves in the acceptance of a general code of principles to govern the conduct of States. How far her disbelief, and her preference for -bilateral agreements, goes is not clear ; she is still, for example, bound by the multilateral Kellogg Pact, and she has not violated it, though she may have condoned its violation by others. It is the fashion, or perhaps the mot d'ordre, in Germany to decry the League of Nations, though Herr Hitler has made more than one reference to its reform—which presupposes its existence—but it is idle to hope for settled peace in Europe without some institution round which common consultation, and in certain fields common action, can crystallise.
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