From information which reached me from a particularly good source
this week I think the general impression pre- vailing in this country about the state of Czecho-Slovakia needs revision. It has, of course, what may -be considered up to a point as a pro-Nazi Government. That, in the present situation, is inevitable. An administration hostile to Germany would expose the country to disaster. But the country itself is in no sense pro-Nazi; it has abandoned few or any of its democratic convictions; and there is a demo- cratic party in existence which might easily win an election —if an election were held—though its success at this juncture would be a provocation so potent that it is hardly to be desired. The truncated State has not yet settled down to its new lot, but the emotions of October—in which anger, dejection and bewilderment were intelligibly mingled—have been very largely replaced by the old sturdy resolve. It follows almost as a matter of course that even free and uncontrolled British journalists at Rome should make the most of the enthusiasm of the Italian crowds. But from what I hear from quite different sources they did not make a scrap too much. There was none of the imposed applause arranged on so impressive a scale for Herr Hitler. Everything was unaffectedly spontaneous. The best proof of that was that on occasions when the British party went sight-seeing, following a route not only not announced, but not even decided on in advance, the approach of the motor despatch-riders who preceded their cars brought people rushing out of shops and houses to clap and cheer Hom- burg hats and umbrellas as they never did brown uniforms and swastikas—a contrast not completely negligible. * *
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