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Ultra-tough, one-eyed General Jan Syrovy is the famed veteran hero of the Czechoslovak legions who stormed clear across Russia during the Russian Revolution, sailed from Vladivostok to rejoin their comrades in the homeland. It was smart for President Benes to give out last week that "yielding to fresh foreign pressure" he was unable to appoint as Premier General Syrovy, the people's choice, but had to choose instead a civilian, the Governor of Moravia, Jan Cerny— especially since it turned out a few hours later that redoubtable General Syrovy had actually been appointed Premier and had instantly ordered mobilization of an army of 2,000,000. The jaunty, daredevil figure of one-eyed Premier-General Jan Syrovy was just what the Czechoslovak Republic needed at Prague to fire all hearts. Most useful of all, the General has friends among Russians.
Stalin Jumps In. Not a word did President Benes reply to demands made last week by Poland and Hungary that Czechoslovakia must yield her Polish and Hungarian minority districts to them, since she had promised to yield the Sudetenland to Germany. Dr. Benes left it to high-minded, sad-faced Viscount Halifax, the British Foreign Secretary, to tell Polish and Hungarian envoys in London at two extremely angry sessions that they could not have what Germany could wrest by her Might; instead, they must delay their claims until a later date. The psychologist of Prague correctly judged that this would be the point at which Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain would balk, telling the Führer at Godesberg that, while one piece might have to be carved off Czechoslovakia, it was impossible for His Majesty's Government to make themselves a party to forcing the triple-butchery of carving off three chunks, one each for Germany, Poland and Hungary (see p. 14).
By a policy of bending like a reed before the Nazi storm, then snapping back with General Syrovy like a whalebone, President Benes meanwhile attracted some aid from the ever-cautious Soviet Dictator. For once, Joseph Stalin, ordinarily content to leave Russian foreign policy largely to Maxim Litvinoff, who was at Geneva all week (see p. 16), suddenly bestirred himself in Moscow. The Soviet press was not permitted to announce the fact, but the Kremlin flashed to Warsaw a drastic threat that, if Poland should invade Czechoslovakia, Russia would at once denounce her 1932 Treaty of Non-Aggression with Poland and "march."
Localized Warfare. In six hours of super-swift Czechoslovak mobilization, Premier-General Syrovy rushed 1,200,000 reserves into uniform. "They streamed into public buildings and discarded Mufti," cabled United Press's Eleanor Packard. "They picked out Sam Browne belts and cartridges. They seemed to find preparations for war great fun."