EDC Spurts Ahead

...By making this the central issue in the voting, however, they destroyed any hope of electing a Socialist...

...Any hesitancy which Bidault might still have felt was eliminated by Molotov's behavior at Berlin...

...But he is also French Foreign Minister, has been for quite a while, and seems eager to hold his job for a long time to come...

...That is why Bidault has refused to allow EDC to be tied to the Indo-China question...

...A new Popular Front—and, still more, a government with Communist backing or participation—would completely wreck the Western European defense setup...

...This had been decried in the press—and by the predominantly anti-EDC, anti-German-rearmament, anti-Dulles American correspondents in France—as a diplomatic blunder, but its effect on French public opinion had actually been wholesome...

...Bidault could hardly have acted otherwise...

...Clearly, the Kremlin is still bidding for time...

...He has always maintained good relations with the Gaullists, many of whose super-patriotic ideas about French sovereignty and an independent Army he shares...

...Still torn by the indecision which had plagued it on the eve of the Big Three meeting at Bermuda, Parliament held no debate as the foreign ministers prepared to convene at Berlin...

...Bidault, however, had hardly come to Berlin in order to reduce France's international status...

...If France succeeded in blocking EDC and thereby German rearmament, on what would she base her policy...

...I have always believed that EDC could be put through the French Parliament if the Government took a firm stand...

...But it was plain that her NATO partners regarded a German military contribution as essential to the defense of Western Europe...

...for the party candidate, Naegelen, was too outspokenly anti-EDC and anti-Catholic to stand a chance...

...Outside of NATO, then...

...Bidault clearly gained prestige at Berlin—especially by contrast with Laniel's dismal performance at Bermuda—and he will lead the fight for EDC in Parliament...

...Time and again, the Soviet Foreign Minister tried to separate him from his Western colleagues with hints that, if France and Russia would sit down together, all problems could be solved...

...Bidault thereupon proceeded to stand up to Molotov in a manner that has greatly strengthened the proponents of EDC...

...Otherwise, why did he agree to the Geneva conference, while Bidault made no concessions whatever...

...On NATO...

...For one thing must be made clear: The Geneva conference represents a Soviet concession...

...Bidault bristled with indignation at these transparent tactics, and the Soviet overtures came to naught...

...Indeed, the Cabinet decided to give Foreign Minister Georges Bidault a free hand in defending France's interests at the parley...

...Leading foes of EDC like Moch and Mayer may not submit to party discipline when it comes to a Parliamentary vote, but the great majority of Socialist Deputies should be brought into line...

...I have already described [The New Leader, December 141 how, during the debate preceding the Bermuda Conference, the Moch-Mayer group swung the entire Socialist vote to an extreme resolution backing European political unity, thus preventing the party from voting for a later compromise motion in favor of EDC...

...Rather, he will see to it that Berlin and Geneva are the first in an endless series of inconclusive conferences...

...The opponents of EDC are rallying for what is probably their last stand...

...Bidault has apparently come to the conclusion that France cannot conduct any negotiations with Moscow until EDC is ratified...

...This deprived the Socialists of their position as a pivotal uncommitted voting bloc, handing that advantage to the Gaullists...

...The Socialist anti-EDC group, together with allies in the other parties, succeeded in preventing the election of anyone favorable to the Defense Community...

...Now a foreign minister's first requisite is a foreign policy...

...But then, on the last day of the Berlin meeting, Molotov agreed to the Geneva conference, which will be confined to discussion of Korea and Indo-China, with China present only as a militarily involved state and Russia shorn of any "neutral" status...

...And the Communists boldly declared that they were voting for Le Troquer with an eye to "a revival of the Popular Front...

...They stated openly that they would seek to block the election of any candidate favorable to EDC—a stand which would normally have evoked scornful laughter...

...To his credit, Naegelen made no gesture of gratitude to his undesirable allies...

...We may soon see whether that is the case...

...and any French approach to the Russians automatically looks like capitulation and a betrayal of the West...

...but Andre Le Troquer, the successful Socialist candidate for President of the National Assembly, did just that...

...It is by no means inconceivable that Daladier would be willing to support a new Munich in an attempt to win "peace" at the price of condemning France to the "happiness" that Poland now enjoys...

...The fact that he was cool to European integration for so long will increase his chances of winning over many Deputies who would never have listened to an ardent Europeanist like Robert Schuman...

...Dulles had declared at the last NATO conference that, if Europe wanted to commit suicide, she could "go it alone...

...It soon became clear, in fact, that the Socialist candidate Naegelen was to be taken seriously only because the Communists were backing him...

...As matters now stand, the Kremlin can exert indirect pressure on Bidault's own Parliamentary opposition and attempt to blackmail French public opinion...

...and her hesitation to approve a treaty against which Moscow is inveighing so violently is seriously damaging her prestige...

...The anti-EDC group among the Socialist Deputies, led by Jules Moch and Daniel Mayer, had gained such strength that they were virtually paralyzing the party's Parliamentary bloc...

...When Molotov first came to Berlin, he proposed a Big Five conference in which Peking would participate on an equal basis, while the Communist negotiators at Panmunjom had sought to smuggle Russia into the Korean political conference as a "neutral" instead of as one of the powers responsible for the war...

...However, in the atmosphere of intrigue which developed at Versailles as one inconclusive ballot followed another, the Communists were only too successful in making deals...

...Moreover, the Socialists are preparing to hold a congress, where party leader Guy Mollet will undoubtedly succeed in winning a substantial majority for EDC and European integration...

...had the conference ended with no concessions whatever by the Soviet Union, EDC would have raced through the various Western European parliaments in an atmosphere of disillusionment and heightened tension...

...Yet, Molotov attacked NATO as sharply as he did EDC, making perfectly clear the organic connection between the two...

...By proposing an alliance from which the two Anglo-Saxon powers would be excluded, Moscow was in effect offering France the status of a satellite state...

...The current Socialist crisis came swiftly to a head during the recent balloting for a new President of the Republic at Versailles...

...A severe crisis has broken out in the French Socialist party...

...This firm stand at Berlin may have brought the truth home to the Soviet Foreign Minister...

...And it has become clear to Bidault that, without EDC, France does not have much of a foreign policy...

...Happily, utterances of this kind are by no means representative of French public opinion, and Daladier was widely attacked on his return...

...Such an eventuality may seem remote to American readers, but there is a group of French politicians so opposed to German rearmament—and so afraid of Moscow—that it would go to fantastic lengths to block EDC...

...Soviet expansionism since the war has forced the West to form a common front, the indispensable basis of which is NATO...

...Indeed, it has become clear that, until she ratifies EDC, France will not rank fully with her two big Western allies...

...This concession was essential if Molotov wanted to maintain the status quo...

...So long as Molotov feels he can block EDC by dangling the hope of an end to the seven-year-old war, he will hardly throw away this invaluable instrument of blackmail...

...REPORT FROM FRANCE EDC Spurts Ahead By Sal Tas Paris The Berlin Conference did little to clarify the international situation, but it has somewhat eased the EDC treaty's passage through the French Parliament...

...Then, if the Laniel Government throws all its weight into the scales, the European Defense Community may at last be ratified...

...In reality, continued delay on EDC would irreparably compromise any chance of peace in Indo-China...

...If you want a real understanding with us," Bidault now seems to be telling Moscow, "you will have to resign yourselves to French ratification of EDC...

...And that is also why the chances for passage of the European Army pact are better than they have ever been...

...As a result of the Berlin decisions, many French "statesmen" feel that swift ratification of EDC would endanger an Indo-Chinese peace...

...Bidault had never been an enthusiastic supporter of EDC...

...The balloting at Versailles was also marked by another significant development: The Communists, who for six years had been unable to influence the course of events in Parliament, finally broke out of their political isolation...

...Not long ago, Edouard Daladier, one of the architects of Munich, returned from a visit to Poland to report that he had found "a free country, working with pride and happiness for its reconstruction...