Bose in Europe 1933

After flying from Vienna to Prague, Bose met Dr. Eduard Benes,(left) the then foreign Minister, who along with President Masaryk (Right), had led the long struggle for Czechoslovakia's independence. In the smaller nations of Europe which had freed themselves from
larger empires Bose was often able  to make  contact with the head of state or officials at the highest level.
In Mein Kampf , Hitler referred nastily to Indian freedom fighters as deluded 'Asiatic Jugglers'. He vwent on to argue that tese freedom fighters would never be able to drive the British from India and

  So Hitler was not eager in 1933 or later to meet one of these 'Asiatic Jugglers and to offer him encouragement.

There were other signs after Hitler became Reich's Chancellor on January 1933 that time were going to be more difficult for Indians in Germany. On February 28 , A.C.N. Nambiar , a journalist and one of the better known Indians in Berlin after nineyears' residence there , was suddenly seized by Nazi storm troopers , who entered his flat without a warrant and after threatening to kill him , took him to prison and carried off many of his belongings . He was held without charges until March 25.

Though Lothar Frank (right) was a member of the left-wing of the Nazi Party, he could do no more than arrange for Bose to see Dr. Pruefer , joint secretary at the foreign office , and Mr. Dyckhoff and Mr. Schmidt- Rolke, other officials in the same ministry. Mr Frank has given an account of rthese conversations

Although Bose was well aware of the anti-Indian actions of the German Government and press under Hitler, he did not align himself with those Indians in Europe and India who began to call for a boycott of German goods as the racist acts continued 

Bose protested the anti-Indian action, criticised Nazi-Racism directed against Indians , whenever he could and worked for positive connections between India and Germany.   

In December Bose went to Rome to attend the conference of Oriental Students and other meetings concerning Indian students . He believed that Italy under Musolini was an important world power and that contacts with that facist regime would be beneficial to India. Like many other Indian Nationalists Bose had been touched by stories of the Italian Risorgimentoof the nineteenth century. He had read of two great patriots and revolutionaries of the period, Mazzini, and Garibaldi, who worked outside and inside Italy to bring about a popular Government , freedom from foreign powers and unity to their country. The other Italy was that of the fascists who to many - seemed to be bringing new energy , life and awakening to their coutry.   

  Whenever the evils and hollowness of the fascist Italy , one has to say of Musolini that he made a considerable effort to

court positive foreign opinions, who came across Italy. In 1926, Rabindranath Tagore was invited to meet the Duce and Krishna Kripalani has quoted what the poet wrote after the meeting,

 Tagore was subsequently angered by the inaccurate press reports.

The next Indian notable whom Mussolini courted was Mahatma Gandhi. On his return from the 2nd Round Table Conference in London , Gandhi was invited to meet Mussolini. Enroute back to India Gandhi wrote to Romand Rolland ,

Of course Gandhi on other occasions was critical of fascism, particularly because of its violence and compulsions employed. 

This was Taraknath Das who sent his report on foreign affairs to the Modern Review edited by Ramananda Chatterjee, New Italy and Greater India