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From New International, Vol. I No. 3, September–October 1934, p. 96.
Transcribed & marked up by Einde O’Callaghan for ETOL.
UNDER the title Poland, the USSR and the Reciprocity Pact, the Moscow correspondent of Le Temps, spokesman of the French reaction, writes in the issue of August 5, 1934:
“With Stalin, two fundamental principles have triumphed in the Soviet Union: at home, the principle of the construction of socialism in a single country; abroad, the principle of the peaceful coexistence of the two capitalist and communist worlds. At the present time, the policy of the Kremlin in no way seeks to bring the revolution to the four corners of Europe. It is perfectly well known here that a policy of revolutionary expansion would engender against the Soviet Union a unification of all the other countries and that the relationship of forces would be disastrous for Moscow.
“The Soviet Union, today and for a long time to come, is, as far as one can foresee in politics, a factor of stabilization. It aims to preserve the territorial status quo.
“On the other hand, in order to calm Poland’s very legitimate apprehensions, one may have in mind a military support other than the sending of troops. The aid once given by Soviet Russia to Kemalist Turkey against Greece, in the form of munitions, raw materials and subsidies, is an example of the possibilities of military collaboration excluding any occupation of territory. Let us add thereto aviation, the cooperation of which would be of the same order. As may be seen, a technical agreement could be established, and that is the business of technicians. In any case, Poland must take into account the genuine danger which threatens it, namely, that of German expansion towards the East, the Drang nach Osten against which the Polono-Germanic non-aggression pact constitutes but a feeble barrier. Poland must choose; and should it insist upon its negative attitude, the pact of mutual assistance might well find a formulation outside its ranks. It appears to us that Poland, isolated in an unattractive tête-à-tête with Germany, is at this very moment preparing its turn-about-face. But it will try to extract concessions in various fields as payment for its inevitable reversal.”
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