TWENTY YEARS AFTER

In England more than in any other country is the similarity between the policies of 1914 and 1934 evident. Once again, as in the days before the Great War, the traditional British policy of isolation has been abandoned. Daily cooperation with France and her allies is becoming more open. Stanley Baldwin's speech last spring stating that the frontier of the Empire is now on the Rhine was the first unmistakable sign of the changed atmosphere. More recently the provision of British troops for service in the Saar and the vigorous policy pursued at Geneva by the Lord Privy Seal, Captain Anthony Eden, have merely emphasized the new policy. England has definitely re-entered European politics.

Now, as in 1914, the policy of alliance with France has been adopted reluctantly. The militarism of Hitler, like the navalism of Wilhelm, has frightened the islanders from their feeling of security. The reorganized German airforce has been an especially powerful stimulus in this direction. The sympathy felt in England for the defeated Central Powers has finally given way to an angry defensiveness. No alliances have been signed, but unofficial agreements certainly exist, and experience has shown that ententes cordiales are as binding in time of crises as formal pacts.

This reversion to the old diplomatic alignment is accompanied by a parallel in internal policy. Except in the City of London itself, gone are the socialist days of the '20's. The Conservative Party has maintained its strength since last year. Reform has been forgotten and, moved by a vague fear--a feeling of uncertainty--Englishmen have shown themselves more and more willing to entrust complete control of affairs to the government. Thus the so-called coalition government of Ramsay MacDonald, like the liberal ministry of Herbert Asquith, waits and prepares.