Le Nord : revue internationale des Pays de Nord - 01.06.1938, Page 394
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LE NORD
bution of the Nobel Prize as con-
trary to the wish of Nobel and the
spirit of his last will. He also
warned against the false wisdom of
silence and maintained that it was
the moral duty of the small states,
singularly privileged from the geo-
graphical and political point of
view, to advocate the guiding prin-
ciples of international law and
justice in times of crisis. And he re-
gretted that the small states mem-
bers of the League had been failing
in moral courage and had never
demanded to have put on the
agenda of the League Assembly
article 19 of the Covenant because
France and England had expressed
their displeasure with any such
action. Had the small powers acted
in spite of this the world would
have been in a better state to-day.
This outspokenness was severely
criticized from many quarters,
especially in the Farmers’ Party. It
was proclaimed that the utterings
of Mr. Hambro might to a certain
extent disturb the good relations
with the Great Powers signatories
to the Munich Arrangement, and
the leading Farmers’ paper demand-
ed that he should resign as president
of the Storting and chairman of its
Committee of Foreign Affairs.
Even the third Norwegian dele-
gate to the Assembly of the League,
former Prime and Foreign Minister
Joh. Ludw. Mowinckel, in public
addresses gave utterance to the
general disappointment felt after
Munich although he paid a tribute
to Mr. Chamberlain for his courage
and strong will towards peace.
“What has made this event so sad-
dening is the fact that the Powers,
which set out of function the whole
mechanism of international law,
were the most influential members
of the League of Nations, those two
Great Powers, which more than
any others are capable of lending
to the international order of law
and justice the will, the force, the
authority which alone can give this
order life.”.. ..
“As the situation had developed
I think it doubtless that Munich
saved the peace of the world, and
I can’t be among those judging, still
less among those condemning the
British Prime Minister who with so
strong a determination, such firmness
of will and so great a resignation
made so impressive a personal con-
tribution to save the world from
the catastrophy which another
Great War would have meant to all
countries.
It is disheartening that, even if
we can say that Munich spared us
a Great War and that we may hope
that a future world war is not
inevitable, still Munich did not give
us a safe fundament for world
peace. The mad race of armaments
between the Great Powers that ac-
cepted the way of negotiations at
Munich, is still going on with un-
diminished pace, and the reactions
of the victory Germany attained
have just in that country been ex-
pressed in such deplorable events as