Danger of Conflict in Europe Slight At Present, Declares Professor Marx

"There is no immediate threat of a war in Europe," Fritz Morstein Marx, assistant professor of Government and author of "Government in the Third Reich," said in an interview yesterday.

"Political moves which in 1911 or 1914 would have set the world aflame," he explained, "are today considered a legitimate part of the European diplomatic game. As a consequence, the Fascist powers, glorifying dynamic action, have come to set the pace of European power politics."

Fear of an outbreak of war, Marx went on to explain, has already put British diplomats in a position where they are willing to condone the risky manoeuvers of the nationalistic dictatorships.

Pointing out that in contrast with the tendencies of the National Socialist Party, the German army has exerted on the whole "a peace-preserving influence," Marx explained the apparent paradox by the fact that professional soldiers temper the prospects of glory with strategic calculations. "Strategic calculus," he stated, "made the German Army command pointedly reluctant toward Fascism's and National Socialism's 'little war', in Spain. This issue led to the inner conflict that culminated in the mass resignations misnamed the 'army purge'."

Having assured Mussolini as to further German cooperation in Spain, Marx pointed out Hitler could feel justified in demanding a firmer hand in Austria without legitimate objections from Mussolini, who had formerly stood in the way of such a move. This tendency, Marx said, will eventually lead to the complete political coordination of Austria and Germany.

Emphasizing the increasing pro-Fascist tendencies in central Europe, Professor Marx stated that in the future, "Great Britain and France are prepared to experiment with a policy of lenient check and non-interference."