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Vol. 4 No..1O.
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P-I flURE POST
September 9, 1939
((And
N
~
A
Pleasant Smile, Please"
-
,
A
picture which
a
little while
ago no
one would have believed possible: Von Ribbentrop, champion ofAnti-Communism (left) 'and
Stalin, ruJer of Communist Russia, pose for the photographer after the signing of the Russo-German non-aggression pact
in
Moscow
on
the ,night of August
23. On
the right is Molotov, Russian Premier .and Foreign Commissar, who signed for Russia.
HOW ·IT HAPPENED
The
Russo~German
pact has changed the course of
worl~
politics. In a few days, the basis of Nazi
policy was reversed and the Anti-Comintern Pact disappeared. Here is the full story.
November 25, 1936
L
The
Anti-Communist Agreement between Ger–
many and Japan is signed in Berlin.
Von Ribbentrop, German An;1bassaq,or to
Britain', and Count Mushakoji, Japanese Ambassa–
dor to Germany, sign a document whereby their
two countries agree to "inform one another of the
activities of the Communist International, to
consult with one another on the necessary preven–
tive measures and to carry these through in
collaboration." Von Rj,bbentrop dectares : "Japan
will
not suffer the expanSion of Bolshevism in
Eastern Asia, Germany is a bulwark against
this
I
pestilence
in
the heart of Europe. Finally, Italy
will
cairy the anti-Bolshevik banner in the-.South!'
May 28, 1937
.'
Mr. Chamberlain becomes Prime Minister
and prepares to initiate a policy of direct negotia–
tion with the dictator countries.
I
November 6, 1937
'The 'Anti-Comintern Pact is
~d
in Rome.
Count Ciano, Herr von ,Ribbentrop, and the
Japanese Ambassador,
Mr.
Hotta, sign the new
, pact. An official communique in Berlin declares:
"The worldhas been shown unmistakably that three
gteat powers, and with
tpem
200,000,000
people,
are not prepared to cpme to terms, witlf Com–
munism nor to relinquish for political or other
,
.
considerations the vitally essential fight to combat
Bolshevism!'
The Russian
Izvestia
is blunt: "Fascismmenaces
all peoples. We do not desire war, but we do not
fear war and we are ready for war."
November 9, 1937
Mr. Chamberlain expresses a desire for
under–
standing with the Rome-Berlin Axis.
Speaking at the Lord Mayor's Banquet at the
Guildhall,
Mr.
Chamberlain says: "As regards our
relations with the tWo great Powers which are now
so closely associated in what is known as the Rome–
Berlin Axis, I
will
,only say this : It is the sincere
desire of His MajestY's Government to see thoSe
relations firmly established on a basis of mutual
friendship and understanding."
February 20, 1938.
Anthony Eden resigns
ajJice.
March 1-15, 1938
The annexation of Austria.
In the middle of February the Chancellor of
Austr¥t, Dr. von Schuschnigg, has been lprevailed
upon by Von fapen, Nazi Envoy to Austria, to
-visit Hider at Berchtesgaden. Schuschnigg has
arrived to find Hider in one ofhis mosttempestuous
moods. Hider has shouted at
him
his
demands
for the subjugation of Austria. After a couple of
ho~, Schti~chnigg
has been on the verge of
collapse. At
this
point Hitler has called in
his
generals from the next room and explained that
all
his
plans for the invasion of Austria are ready.
Schuschnigg has gone back to Vienna and
on March 9, . he announces a plebiscite for or
against
his
Government's policy. He declares:
"We want a free and German and independent
and social and Christian and a united Austria."
His
plans for a plebiscite are disorganised by
disturbances promoted by Austrian Nazis. The
Nazi Dr. Seyss-
Inquart,
taken into the Govern–
ment at the request of Hider, assumes power and,
on the evening of March
H,
announces that
German troops are marching on Vienna. On the
same night, Schuschnigg says in a broadcast: "We
have yielded to brute force, since we are not pre–
pa,ed in
this
terrible situation
to
shed blood." On
March
I3,
Austria is declared by law to be a
State of the German Reich. German Troops
pour in. The
.n~xt
day, Hider arrives triumph-
w
mYd,..,m.
~nHfl.
I I
P
r e
5 5 • C 0
m
938
o/A
s'''''''''''''''-
n e
I'lll3ny assures e
vernment of its
determination to respect the territorial integrity of
Czechoslovakia. But soon afterwards, the German
Press begins to attack the Czech treatment of the
German ,minority
in
Sudetenland.
13