Eyes East

"The Government will take the same chance as the Parisians," replied Edouard Daladier last week to a Deputy who wanted to know if the Republic's officials intended to evacuate the plane-threatened capital.

With all in readiness along her Maginot Line for heavy assault on Germany's western front, an empire ruling France was also exceedingly busy overseas. Out of retirement, to go to Syria and take supreme command of an Allied campaign with Great Britain, Turkey and perhaps Greece, Premier Daladier called France's smart little General Maxime Weygand, now 72.

She had sent her great strategist many places before: to Poland in 1920, where he and 600 French officers found the Bolsheviks at the gates of Warsaw and left them four months later running over the borders for home*; to the Ruhr to try to squeeze reparations out of the Germans; to Syria to quell the Druses and give ancient Damascus its first organized street-sweeping service. From 1931 to 1935 he commanded the armies of France, for he was one cavalryman with brains, the "spiritual son" of the great Foch.

General Weygand was chosen for the new job not only because he can work 14 hours a day and knows the Far East as few European soldiers do, but because he can get along well with foreigners.

The importance of Turkey in the great question mark of Mediterranean strategy (see p. 22) was emphasized in Paris by the welcome given last week to Behic Erkin, new Turkish Ambassador. President Albert Lebrun made more fuss over receiving this dignitary than he did about his own 68th birthday, which fell simultaneously. Encouraged were the French when Ambassador Erkin assured the world that Turkey was 100% with the Allies. Said he: "Human progress is a product of peace. . . . It is this ideal that is at the basis of France's and Turkey's policy. . . ." Giving Mr. Erkin scarcely time to get settled in Paris, Foreign Minister Georges Bonnet went to work on him to arrange how and when the Allies might use the Dardanelles in a push to support Poland through her southeast postern (see p. 22).

Also doing his bit for the Allies in Turkey last week was new British Ambassador Hughe Knatchbull-Hugessen, who still bears scars from the machine-gunning the Japanese gave him when he was Ambassador to China (TIME, Sept. 6, 1937).

*The Battle of Warsaw (1920) has been rated one of 20 most decisive battles in history.

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