1-low the Cominform Attacks
Any observers who may have been wondering when the " incidents " on the Yugoslav-Hungarian border were going to develop into a major armed attack from the East were almost certainly on the wrong track. These bouts of firing across the frontier are primarily the expression of a quarrel between Com- munists, and the tactics which Communists favour—and indeed must favour so long as they continue to protest their desire for peace so strenuously—are the tactics of the war of nerves and of guerilla raiding. This is a game that two can play, and both sides are playing it for all they are worth. It is possible that the Comin- form has the advantage in bringing psychological pressure to bear, and it is quite likely that in actual guerilla clashes the Yugoslays would be able to make good use of a very extensive experience. In any case it is within this dual context that the actual development of this Eastern European quarrel should be observed, and when it is so observed it becomes fairly clear that the Cominform has recently intensified its campaign. The week-end bout of firing from Hungary into Yugoslavia, with rockets and grenades as well as with automatic weapons, whether it was provoked by Yugoslav movements or not, was more intense and prolonged than such exchanges usually are. The movements of Yugoslav troops towards the Bulgarian, Rumanian and Hungarian sectors of the frontier are either on a large scale, or have been very carefully arranged to appear so. To- gether with the ostentatious indifference of the Yugoslav population to all reports of Russian displeasure they amount to what might be called a counter-offensive in the war of nerves. Propaganda and provocation can go to great lengths before a more serious offensive is launched, but there is every reason to watch for the moment when the forces of the Cominform go into a phase of sharper attack— always remembering that that attack is much more likely to take the form of a " spontaneous" rising within Yugoslavia than an open advance of troops over the frontiers.
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