BELGIUM: Entanglement

Many have been outside protests against the iron ring of military alliances which France has forged around herself. But almost the first protest from within the iron ring was heard last week in Brussels. To assembled reporters Emile Vandervelde, Socialist leader, onetime Foreign Minister (1925-27), announced:

"Abolition of the Franco-Belgian military accord of 1920 is vitally important in forwarding the cause of international disarmament and world peace. While the accord contains no secret clause, there is danger that Belgium . . . might eventually be entangled in armed conflict against her will, consequent upon events happening either along the Polish or Italian frontiers. . . ."

Editors the world over paid attention.

The Guarantee of Belgian Neutrality, famed "Scrap of Paper" of the War, was signed by Britain, France, Prussia, Russia and Austria in 1839. By it Belgian neutrality was not only guaranteed but independent Belgium was forbidden to enter formal military alliances. The Scrap of Paper quietly disappeared in the Treaty of Versailles. By the 1920 Franco-Belgian Agreement, French officers are present at Belgian maneuvers and General Staff conferences. French military engineers are being consulted in the plans for a great line of fortifications which Belgium is laying down across her eastern frontier. The advantages of this agreement against possible German invasion are obvious, but in recent months more and more serious Belgians have come to realize that France's next adversary is far more likely to be Italy or Soviet Russia than Germany, that under the present alliance Belgium would be dragged into such a war whether she liked it or not. Even so, few Belgian observers saw much likelihood of M. Vandervelde's proposal succeeding last week. To the average Belgian a war with Italy is a hypothesis for the newspapers, a war with Germany is a continuous personal threat.