FRANCE AND GERMANY
Sm,—In view of the continued efforts of German propa- ganda to separate England and France, it may not be out of place to recall a conversation which took place in LOndon some three years ago between two Englishmen, of whom I was one, and Dr. Fritz Berber, the Nazi head of the Hoch- schiile ffir Politik in Berlin. Dr. Berber's close association with the leading figures of the Nazi party gave his remarks such a peculiar interest that I made a careful note of them at the time.
Dr. Berber was discussing Franco-German relations. He began by saying that Nazi Germany had no quarrel with France and was quite willing to be a good neighbour. But, he continued, this was dependent on one essential condition —namely, that the French should recognise that Germany was a great " dynamic " nation with a world mission, whereas France was no longer " dynamic " and her creative energies had passed their zenith. Dr. Berber embroidered his theme with references to the numerical disparity in population be- tween the two countries and to the confused internal situa- tion then prevailing in France. It was really absurd for the French to expect to retain an overseas Empire out of all proportion to their dwindling strength in Europe. France, said Dr. Berber in the calmest of voices, must reconcile herself to occupying the same parochial position that Spain had occu- pied behind the Pyrenees in the eighteenth century. If France, admitting " realities," would renounce all thoughts of a wider horizon and limit herself to cultivating her own garden, there would then be no obstacle to a lasting under- standing with Germany.
We waited in silence until Dr. Berber had finished, and then ventured to suggest that history had shown more than once that the French, when apparently divided and impotent, had a capacity for closing their ranks and snatching victory from defeat which was not exceeded by any other nation. We went on to inquire, with a certain polite irony which was quite lost on the Herr Doktor, whether the French them- selves were expected to agree with his definition of their future position in Europe. The reply was a shrug of the shoulders which said more clearly than any words : " If not, so much the worse for them."
It is this same Nazi mentality which now seeks to per- suade the most intelligent race in Europe that they are being sacrificed to English ambitions. We can hardly be surprised that the attempt is proving singularly unsuccessful.—Yours
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