France and the "Western Bloc"
Ramon, Louis
France and the "Western Bloc" Failing Federation of All Europe, West Must Be Unified By Louis Ramon, New Leader Correspondent in Paris PARIS.—If in 1815 Napoleon had won the battle of...
...D u r i n g the period from 17...
...The problem of what is t o be done with Germany is naturally one of t he first concerns of the F r e n c h mind...
...It is still t r u e that ' t h e solution of the F r a n c o - German difficulty depends ' upon the s t r a i g h t e n i n g out of the...
...Between i!»l!> and 1939, t h i s s i t u a t i on was rrvprsed...
...There' waa little r i v a l r y or enmity...
...2 to 1815, e a / h of the two countries belonged to an i / t e r n a t i o n a l coalition...
...Lost" Opportunities MOST of us have h a r d l y realised the revisit n t h a t has taken place -in the...
...E n g l a n d , t r a d i t i o n a l l y devoted to the balance-of-power "policy, definitely opposed the idea of a United States of E u r o p e . In mil there came a moment when France might have taken the lead...
...If this opportunity hsd been seized, it la probable that Hitler never would have come to power...
...The F r e n c h w a n t , above a l l , n o t to experience another i.ivasion, another mobilization, a n o t h e r w a r . I t ii on this account t h at they oppose German unity...
...Germany, shaken by a social economic eriais, sought French aid...
...France waa left « free to' fashion her own polities on the continent...
...i In 1946 F r a n c e finds herself in a position painfully lower t h a n that of former periods...
...With her military power and aer economic resources—she was a t t h at fjate t h e most i n d u s t r i a l i z e d country on the continent—she could have dictated peace t e r m s. A t the close of t h e war cf 1014-18 France was t h e l e a d i n g military power of the world, but she had long since ceased to occupy her, f o r m e r position of industrial preeminence...
...U p to t h at time their conflicts had been t h e r e s u l ts of d y n a s t i c q u a r r e l s which engaged professional armies and did not involve t he i n t e r e s t s or passions of t h e t w o peoples...
...Todaj the organization of Europe on a federal basiH i s more necessary than ever to any decent and rational eco-, mimic life...
...This t h e f t of t e r r i t o r y was d i r e c t l y cont r a r y t o t h e expressed will of the people...
...The atrocities committed hy the Nazis and the Gestapo roused wides p r e a d h a t r e d and h o r r o r . B u t t h i s sort of emotional opposition la not t h e main, motive of the F r e n c h attitude toward t h e -German nation...
...At tho h e a r t ot such s federation, Franco and Germany could have ironed out their differences...
...At thu end of t h e first World War, the relations between F r a n c e and G e r m a n y were the d e t e r m i n i n g factors in dealing with tha problem of Europe...
...The hot Franco-German antagonism of our time rose directly out of t he a n n e x a t i o n of Alsace-Lorraine in 1871...
...Germany had no unified national existence...
...It is necessary to destroy the legend t h a t these two n a t i o n s have hated each other as enemies throughout tlx cent u r i e s . The duel between them goes back no f u r t h e r than 1871...
...From 1871 to 1914 the French were continuously outraged by t h e victimization of the citizens of AlsaceL o r r a i n e a t the hands of t h e Germans...
...She could no longer aspire to a hegemony of fcrope...
...A decent life was.imp6ssible without the unificat i on of tho continent...
...Germany, in fact, is little more than a pawn oo the international chess-board...
...Hut the idea of such unification is paralyzed by global antagonisms...
...chief problems of E u r o p e . Hut now the European sift<ation mutt be "viewed in th* light of basic world conflicts: the Anglo-Human struggle in the Near East and the Rnsso-Anierican struggle in the Ear East...
...The way was open for a reorganization of Europe under French leadership, with the cooperation of Germany...
...Thrt ideas of most of u s ' a r e still determined within a frame of reference win...
...This mbti ve la « - clusively tha desire for security...
...But the , l > i n c a r e s and Clemenceaus of those days did not see things that way...
...They want to keep Germany divided in order to prevent it from becoming d a n g e r o u s. This is the a t t i t u d e of the average Frenchman...
...Rut since the war, the situation is f ar different...
...But without the gore point of Alsace-Lorraine, it is' conceivahle that F r a n c e and Germany would have feiind themselves oh t h e same side...
...The French Government might hsve psriled Enrope, but it missed its chance...
...h ume t o an end in 1914...
...The ireeojistruetion of their ruins will become a never-ending toil of Sisyphus...
...There were imperialist r i v a l r i e s throughout the world...
...diplomatic and political configuration of world...
...Second, the whole matter la a European problem rising in Interest far above merely French Interests or French altitudes...
...A f t e r 1919, i t was up to F r a n c e to t a k e the i n i t i a t i v e in t h l t direction...
...When the first deputies from the two provinces e n t e r e d the R e i c h s t a r in 1873, t h e y solemnly declared t h a t they would forever consider the a n n e x a t i o n "null and void...
...England waa weakened by the fall of the pound sterling...
...The little nations will smother i n \ t h e n a r r o w n e s s of t h e i r boundaries...
...Frenchmen who insist on the division of Germany forget two things...
...First, the economic fraetionaUxatlon of thia «reat country would be a disaster far I' II rope—Including France...
...The g r e a t powers were establishing alliances in p r e p a r a tion for the struggle which w a 9 foreseen...
...The F r e n c h want security, a g u a r a n t ee a g a i n s t their aggressive neighbor to t he e a s t . But t h e r e is no u n a n i m i t y as to what the n a t u r e of this g u a r a n t ee should be...
...In these days wHen military power is a function of industrial efftriern'V ihe French rank low despite t M f c g r e a t budget for arms and a r m i e s. H i s in this s t a t e of weakness that F r a n c e now tackles the problems of peace...
...A f t e r World War II the s i t u a t i o n had undergone another change...
...The iron curtain of Bolshevism s t r e t c h e s across Europe fro a I.uebeck to T r i e s t e and probably will not be r a i s e d f o r A long time to come...
...The strbgglu iH'tywien these two powers could only lie e*>tM>d in reference to the pacification nf Europe as a' whole, .The t r e a t i e s of 1919 split Europe .into n number of liny s t a t e s , tunny of which were left with unworkable economic systems...
...Tho F r a n c o - G e r m a n problem came to be" dominated by trie Europear problem as a whole...
...Her economic and social s t r u c t u r e was 25 y e a r s behind that of England and Germany...
...France and the "Western Bloc" Failing Federation of All Europe, West Must Be Unified By Louis Ramon, New Leader Correspondent in Paris PARIS.—If in 1815 Napoleon had won the battle of Waterloo, France would have had the mattery over Europe...
Vol. 29 • October 1946 • No. 40
