Der Fuehrer - Hitler's Rise to Power (1944) - Heiden

690 DER FUEHRERGermany if Hitler fell; Germany, he said, had fulfilled her disarmamentobligations; the other nations' failure to disarm was an 'infamy,' the'most flagrant example of breach of faith in history.' Passionateaccusations against Germany were also heard, for instance, from LordAlfred Duff Cooper, a member of the cabinet, and from WickhamSteed, former editor-in-chief of the Times. But the editors of the Timesprobably expressed the mood of the average Englishman in an article,published on October 18, which violently attacked the military spirit ofthe new Germany, yet added, referring to Hitler's speeches: 'In theGerman case thus set out there is much that is undeniably true, andsome of the grievances are well understood.'The absence of a world coalition for the defense of collective securitybecame overwhelmingly evident within a very short time. In the UnitedStates, Hitler's step was defended by the Hearst press, which sounded awarning against America's becoming entangled in European affairs; inGeneva, Norman Davis, the American delegate, declared on October 16,upon instructions from Washington, that the United States was 'in noway aligned with any European power,' and that such unity of purposeas existed had been entirely on world disarmament matters. TheWashington correspondent of the London Times stated that theRoosevelt administration clearly wished 'to withdraw firmly and at oncefrom any position even of seeming solidarity with Great Britain andFrance' — except in their opposition to rearmament.The world, even Europe alone, would have certainly been strongerthan Germany, but there was no Europe. On November 7, WinstonChurchill said in the House of Commons: 'We should not try to weakengreat powers [he meant France] which are or which feel themselves tobe in great danger. . . .' But this was only in order to prevent Englandfrom becoming involved in a European war; we should not, he went on,'thereby expose ourselves to a demand that we come to their aid. . . . Weshould forthwith recognize that our role in Europe is more limited thanhitherto. Isolation is utterly impossible [cheers], but we ought topractice a certain degree of sober detachment from the European scene.. . . We should be able in any case to maintain our neutrality — a neu-