Norwood High School - Tiot Yearbook (Norwood, MA)

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I6 YEAR BOOK The new emphasis is all on the system of government. Before the nation was exalted into a symbol of fascism or communism, it would have made little difference to ltaly how or by whom Spain was ruled, and Russia would not have felt that her prestige was involved in the outcome of a civil war on the lberian peninsula. But today ltaly and Russia are some- thing more than nations. As repre- sentatives of rival systems, they are interested in the affairs of their neigh- bors in many capacities. This compli- cates international relations. No gov- ernment could make a move one way or another in the Spanish situation without implying a choice, not between Loyalists and the Rebels, but between communism and fascism. As symbols, they divide Europe into opposing camps, and these divisions cut through national lines, through alliances, and through geographical barriers. They foreshadow the war all nations dread most-the war without frontiers, not country against country, but front against front-civil war on an inter- national scale, without rules and with- out end. ls this long-feared war about to begin? Only time can give the answer. The danger of war in Europe is great, but the danger is far greater in another part of the world-the Far East. The latest clash between the forces of Man- choukuo and outer Mongolia has been of so serious a character as almost to convey the impression that the war has already begun. According to the Japanese, there were more than a hundred such clashes last year, and everything seems to indicate that they are increasing rather than diminishing in violence. Does this mean that war is imminent between lVlanchoukuo and Mongolia? Vast issues depend upon the answer to this question be- cause the world knows that Manchou- kuou means Japan, and now knows also that Outer Mongolia means Russia. ln the historic interview which Stalin gave Roy Howard, it was stated that the Soviet Union would regard ag- gression against Mongolia as a casus belli. It is clear, therefore, that if Japan really wants to attack Outer Mongolia, the result will be war with Russia. Does Japan want this war? ln an attempt to answer this question, one has to consider briefly the motives that impel a nation to so hazardous a step as war. First, one may put greed, the desire for new territory, or expansion as it is called. Does this motive animate Japan? The answer must be yes, be- cause in the last five years the Japanese have deliberately invaded North China, and have completed the seizure of all Chinese territory north of the Great Wall. A second powerful motive is internal unrest-the fear of a social disturbance which might be counteracted by the patriotic fervor which war produces. A singularly dangerous experiment this, but one that has been tried before and may well be tried again. A third factor which makes for war is pressure of population when living conditions become so difficult that an outlet is necessary, ln japan all these factors are evident. As a result of a greatly-increase popula- tion, the living conditions of the Jap-

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CLASS OF 1937 I5 Q WAR CRISES IN EUROPE TODAY While industrial peace is settling over the United States, preparations for a gigantic conflict are going ahead rapidly in Europe and Asia. The English pro- gram calls for domination of the air with 7,000 planes, as well as an en- larged navy, which will control the seas. Russia is supposed to have the most powerful army in the worldg Ger- many is subordinating almost every- thing to armaments, and France is staggering under immense war expendi- ures. japan is still under the domination of military leaders and ltaly is prepar- build up all branches of the service. The policy of the United States will be and air squadrons as any other nation. The war to end wars appears now as vvar to extend War, as the armament ing to to make us as strong in ships race has begun again, For several years Europe has been marching from crisis to crisis, precisely as it did in the period between the affair of Tangier and the assassination of Serajevo, Thus the cre- ation of a new German army and navy shattered the peace of Versailles by a gesture as brusque as the landing of the Kaiser in Tangier in l905. Again in l934 the murder of the Austrian chancellor, Dollfuss, by a group of Nazi conspirators, precipitated a crisis as acute as that of Bosnia in l908. ln I935 the ltalian-Ethiopian war, brought about a situation as tense as that arising from the Agadir affair in I9I l. Finally, the current year has seen the development of the Spanish crisis, out of which it is evident there may, at any moinent, arise an incident as fatal to peace as the crime of Serajevo in I9 l 4. The Spanish revolt has caused more alarm in England and France than the ltalian crisis. Despite the fact that, at one time, war between England and ltaly appeared more than a possibility, it was, at all times, possible to settle the dispute. But, there is no possibility of any settlement of the Spanish revolu- tion. Either the Communists or the Fascists must win. The overshadowing issue is not na- tional, but international. ln the stormy sl-:ies of Spain are traced the crude out- lines of a contest-not for one country --, but for the mastery of Europe. For the first time the Fascist powers have been seen moving together. For the first time the shadow of two lnter- nationales instead of one, appears on the horizon, Hitherto Fascism has been the apo- theosis of nationalism. Mussolini has played a lone hand, with no further aim than the interests and aggrandize- ment of ltaly. Hitler has followed the same course in Germany. The policy of the dictators has been antagonistic rather than cooperative. Fascist ltaly blocked Nazi Germany in Austria, and during the 'Ethiopian campaign ltaly received no help from Germany beyond a frigid neutrality. ln Spain, however, though both signed hands-off agreements to prevent others from aiding the Madrid gov- ernment, they act as Fascist states in open sympathies with the insurgents. This solidarity is more striking than that of France and Russia on the other side because it is a new portent, the sign of a line-up never seen before.

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CLASS OF I937 I7 anese peasantry, and, for that matter, the Japanese worker, have become in- tolerable. Finally, there exists in Japan a military-naval clique whose influence is extremely great. They are restless men, whose ambitions are unlimited. It must not be forgotten that this power- ful section of the japanese leaders has a fanatical belief in the power and in- vulnerability of Japan. ln the last forty years they have fought three victorious wars, against China, then against Czar- ist Russiag and then against the Cier- mans at Tsingtao in 1915. That the China they defeated before the end of the last century was a mere shell, appears to escape them. That the Russia they defeated in Nlanchuria was utterly corrupt and inefficient, without adequate transportation facilities, and with comparatively small forces, does not enter their calculations. They for- get, too, that the small German colony at Tsingtao was very different from the Kaiser's armies which stormed through France in I9l4. Therefore, they have an incredible confidence in themselves, and it is this fact that makes the present situation so dangerous. It seems that war is almost inevitable in the near future-on one side, Japan, impelled by many motives, and, on the other, Russia, firmly determined to resist japanese aggressions. There is no further need of dwelling upon the dangers of war. These are evident, But what progress have the nations made towards peace? Through all the centuries of conflict, Europe and Asia have struggled against their tragic heritage of war. The struggle has not beeim without war. The arts and sciences, now Hourishing, now languishing, have survived. lmperishable contributions to the progress and enlightenment of man- kind have defied devastation. But the Qld World builds its temples in the intervals of peace, and rains destruction What hope may there be that Europe and Asia will not always turn from progress to killing? There is no hope. That hope is in America. It might almost seem that the Creator, despair- ing of the future of civilization in the hands of nations never far enough removed from war to know its futility, set apart another continent where men might learn to live in peace and security. Christianity, the greatest force of human happiness, appeared first in Asia and would have died there. Europe nourished the Christian inspiration, and preserved it for the guidance of future generations. But, Europe failed to free mankind forever, from the darkness of the feudal ages of which war is a relic, and thus failed its destiny. America is today what Europe might have been and may still be. America has become the greatest nation in the world, made so by the merging of races transplanted from a continent, Where it is the purpose of man to kill and be killed, to a land where men are content to live and let live, America is a new world, indeed-symbolical of new hope for the older nations of Europe. Europe must turn eventually from war for con- quest, war for revenge and war for the aggrandizement of relentless dic- tators. Europe must live as America is determined to live, free of hate, of jealousy and free of war! William Shyne '37