Poland and the Axis Count Ciano's visit to Warsaw this
week has coincided with an outburst of popular feeling against Germany through- out Poland. Th.?. Italian Foreign Minister's purpose has been to impress once more on Colonel Beck that Poland's real interests arc identical with those of the Axis, especially in colonial policy ; but though Poland is willing and anxious for collaboration with Italy, her support of Axis policy is limited by the value she places on her treaty agreements with France, and by popular feeling in favour of co-operating with the democracies. Such an attitude is not incompatible with Italy's desire to find in Poland and in Hungary allies which may help her to counterbalance Germany's overwhelming influence in the Axis ; and it may be said that for Italy as well as Poland it would be fatal to push the claims of the Axis to the point of war. The anti-German demonstrations were the result of Nazi attacks on Polish students in Danzig ; they developed into demonstrations against the policy of Colonel Beck, and demands for reprisals against the Nazis. Axis policy in Central Europe has still, despite great successes, great obstacles to overcome ; the greatest perhaps is popular feeling against totalitarian tendencies in foreign and domestic policies. Such feeling should be exploited to the utmost by the democratic Powers.
