Dr. Benes' Peace-Plan
The peace-plan outlined by Dr. Benes in his speech at Edin- burgh on Monday deserves fuller consideration than it can be given here, and we shall hope to recur to it. Its main elements are a Western Europe depending on Britain and France ; a decentralised and confederated Germany (with Prussia broken up to preclude its domination) within pre-1938 frontiers ; an Eastern Europe depending on Russia and the Czechoslovak- Polish confederation, which Dr. Benes described as already an accomplished fact ; Italy, weakened by the loss of her colonial empire ; a Balkan confederation, consisting of Greece, Yugo- slavia and Albania, possibly Rumania, and also Bulgaria, who should, if necessary, be compelled to join, on the ground that she cannot be left free to become for a fourth time a pawn of a Great Power ; a larger Scandinavian unit in close relations with both Great Britain and Russia. It is noteworthy that Dr. Benes envisages at least the possibility of the Czechoslovak confedera- tion being joined by Austria, Hungary, and perhaps Rumania, and he does not now (as he once did) completely exclude the idea
of restoring a Hapsburg monarchy if any country wants a Hapsburg king. There is much material for discussion here, as also-on the question, which Dr. Benes did not discuss on this occasion, of a European Council and its 'place in a larger world-
organisation. . •
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