NEWS OF THE WEEK H ERR VON RIBBENTROP'S appointment to the
German Foreign Office and Baron von Neurath's " promotion " to nominal leadership of the Inner Cabinet are in the general line of Herr Hitler's solution of the problem with which he was faced last week-end. The changes extend the control of the Party, with whose ideas Herr von Ribbentrop is in complete agreement. In the important field of foreign policy it might seem that the logical end of this process must be the immediate application of the Party's foreign policies, especially in Austria or Czechoslovakia. In fact, it should be remembered that the reorganisation of the army command and of the Foreign Office must take some time, and that in the interval any thought of " an adventure in the spring " is in all probability out of the question. Thus, though Herr Hitler may be expected to make important declarations in his Reichstag speech, it is likely that they will not do much to clarify his ultimate intentions. Indeed, it is possible that for the moment his greatest desire is for a period of calm in which the task of reorganisation may be carried through. Herr von Ribbentrop himself will need a little time in order to wind up his affairs in London and, even more, to co-ordinate his own " Foreign Bureau " in Berlin with the Foreign Office of the Reich. It seems certain that the " purge " in the higher posts in the Army, the Foreign Office and Diplomatic Office must be followed by a " purge " in their lower ranks also.
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