Russia's Military Budget The increase in the military expenditure of
the U.S.S.R. in 1936 has been caused, said M. Molotov last Friday, by the threats to her security from Germany and Japan. The suspicion that this means not two threats, but one, is shown in the questions asked by the Soviet Ambassador in Tokyo this week. In reply, the Japanese Foreign Minister denied the existence of an alliance with Germany. But the Russians are convinced of the danger. Pravda, commenting on M. Molotov's speech, says that Russia, though a member of the League, has learned to depend on her own strength to defend her peace and security. In 1936 she is to spend on defence 14,800,000,000 roubles, 19 per cent. of her Budget (in Japan the proportion is 47 per cent.), and more than twice what she spent in 1935. Not only this, but she is also concentrating on improving the quality, education and technique of her armed forces. A film, shown in Prague this week, of the Russian manoeuvres at Kieff last summer, showed parachutists, with machine guns, lorries, tanks and 'artillery, descending from the clouds to attack an enemy in the rear. It may appear a suicidal and impracticable method of attack : but, like the 1936 Budget, it shows the anxiety with which the Russians arc attempting, in every way, to increase their military strength.
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