THE FORESIGHT WAR by Anthony G Williams

of other nations to absorb large numbers of refugees when they were themselves still suffering from unemployment.   The Jews’ favoured destination of Palestine was no help to the British who had been given a mandate by the League of Nations to manage the country; violent clashes with the resident Palestinians were intensifying.  
         Then on March 10th, less than two months ago, the Czech crisis had erupted again.   Dr Tiso, the Slovak premier, was arrested on orders of Dr Hacha, the Czechoslovak president, for attempting to establish an independent Slovakia.   Tiso visited Hitler a few days later; as a result, Hacha was invited to meet Hitler and forced to sign documents turning the Czech lands of
Bohemia
and
Moravia
into German protectorates.    Prague was occupied by German troops on March 15th.   Czechoslovakia had finally been dismembered.  
         Last of all, the long and bitter Spanish Civil War had finally ground to a halt on 31st March with the capitulation of the Republican government to Franco’s forces, much to the jubilation of the supporting Italian and German governments.
    Don was jolted from his thoughts as Chairman impatiently cleared his throat.   ‘Yes, I haven’t noticed any changes in the pattern of events so far.’
    ‘Good.   Now Czechoslovakia’s out of the way, Hitler’s beginning to shape up to Poland.’
    Don nodded.   ‘I read of his Reichstag speech the other day, denouncing the non-aggression pact with Poland and calling for the annexation of Danzig.   On top of his demand for the return of German-speaking regions of Poland, he’s on course for an invasion in September.’
    ‘Is there nothing we can do to warn the Poles?’   Don was amused to note that Creamed Curls had somehow retained his hopeful optimism.
    ‘They know about the danger, all right,’ said Military Man, ‘I was over there the other week with the military attaché.   The trouble is that they are banking on their alliance with France to deter Germany, or if the worst comes to the worst, they think they can hold out against the Germans until the French can come to their aid.   Unfortunately, they don’t appreciate the speed of the blitzkrieg they are about to face so they don’t realise that they won’t have time to mobilise their forces properly.’
    ‘Can’t we at least get them to mobilise in advance?’
    ‘The problem with that is that it would raise the level of tension considerably as it’s the final stage before a declaration of war, so France is pressing Poland not to do it.   In any case, it would only delay the inevitable.   The Poles simply don’t have the modern equipment, tactics or trained manpower to hold out for long, despite their undoubted courage and determination.   Whatever we were to do at this stage, it’s too late to save them from their fate.’
    ‘At least we’ve managed to dissuade Chamberlain from guaranteeing their independence this time, which was quite a struggle.   There’s a lot of political pressure to be seen to be taking action to stop Hitler’s escapades.’   This from Diplomat.   ‘He wanted to give guarantees to Rumania and Greece as well, after the Italians invaded Albania. He’s becoming very irritated with us, but of course we can’t yet tell him about Dr Erlang – it would be difficult to do so, bearing in mind that he needs to step aside once war commences.’
    ‘What about the Soviet attitude?’
    Diplomat shrugged.   ‘We have been trying to involve them in some sort of agreement for collective security, but they remain as impenetrable and paranoid as ever.   They won’t believe anything we tell them as they’re convinced, not without cause, that we’d like to see them and Germany fight each other to a standstill.   One side benefit of refusing to guarantee Poland is that we’ve thereby avoided annoying the Russians, but persuading them to commit themselves to an agreement is another matter. The Poles, of course, are