Germany and Italy The visit of the Italian Foreign Minister,
Count Ciano, to Berlin has aroused enthusiasm in both countries concerned, particularly Italy, which stands more in need of friendships in Europe than Germany does. Whether any definite agreements are in prospect is doubtful ; if they are the concessions will probably come mainly from the Italian side. But in the main the meeting seems designed as a demonstration to impress on Paris, and to a lesser extent London, the possibilities of a Nazi-Fascist combination. In fact the two countries have little in common except a certain attitude of mind. Italy by no means shares Germany's fear and hatred of Bolshevism, and Italian and German interests in Central Europe are not going to be easy to reconcile, in spite of the attention now being devoted to them. On the other hand, there is some danger that both Italian and German opposition to Mr. Eden's plans for a new Locarno agreement may be stiffened up, and the arrange- ments announced for exchange training courses for youth leaders in the two countries is a new, interesting and, in this case, not very desirable departure in international relations. Berlin and Rome moreover agree regarding the Spanish situation. But Germans and Italians are not calculated to make good bedfellows. On the German side any rapprochement springs much more from oppor- tunism than from admiration or respect.
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