HOPE IN EUROPE
McCorkel, Roy
Hope in Europe By ROY McCORKEL I HAVE just returned from nearly two ye'ars in Europe. During that time I ranged over the continent a great deal, talking and working with countless Europeans of...
...dollars which are not spent to encourage and support authentic revolution in European countries will not do the job that needs doing in today's world...
...It believes in defense because it believes that strong, well-equipped armies will deter Russia and thus prevent war...
...This regretful acceptance of rearmament typifies the prevailing climate of opinion throughout Europe generally...
...She said, "Please tell the United States that it isn't necessary to spend millions of dollars broadcasting to Poland how terrible Communism is...
...The mood of Europe is one of drawing distinctions a little more clearly—of seeing the issues a little more sharply...
...Guns will not be decisive...
...Europe is determined to go on — either as separate nations or in union—but whichever way, Europe wants to go on without being absorbed by the Soviet Union...
...Dollars which merely buttress inadequate economies...
...isn't sentimental...
...It's a little more steady—not quite so impulsive...
...The Marshall Plan can be greatly improved, but it has been better in concept and in execution than most Europeans know...
...During that time I ranged over the continent a great deal, talking and working with countless Europeans of every nationality...
...She is in touch with relatives and friends in Poland...
...What my people in Poland want to hear over the Voice of America is about the victories you are winning in the West for freedom and human dignity...
...Europe does not want to participate in a war in which the United States will ultimately be the victor...
...Once I flew from Ankara to Athens with a young Turkish Army officer...
...Believe it or not, we could have done much worse...
...Along with a feeling of appreciation for large-scale American aid, Europeans seem rather cynical about our motives...
...As a result, Europeans have been moving toward reluctant acceptance of re-armament as a necessary evil...
...And incidentally, dollars so spent will not deter Communism...
...My family and friends know more about the evils of Communism than you do, and first-hand...
...It is vital to keep in mind that Europe wants to survive...
...Our dilemma here is a terrifying one: how to lay down conditions that will raise living stanROY McCORKEL has just returned from a two-year tour of duty as Regional Chief of Missions for the CARE program in 13 European countries...
...II Perhaps the European sees what we seldom see...
...In Geneva I talked with a Polish girl—recently out of Poland...
...In England, for instance, where I explored this feeling first-hand recently, I came away with the clear-cut impression that the British public is accepting the new defense program—without enthusiasm, to be sure, since it is lowering living standards that are already frightfully low and interrupting one of the most constructive national programs ever attempted by any nation...
...He is presently appearing on a number of radio and television programs for CARE, and soon will be speaking at institutes sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee...
...A quiet confidence is reasserting itself...
...but if you can tell us of achievements won in all these fields [and we can] our spirits will revive, our faith will be restored— we will continue to hope...
...When I asked him how the Turks felt about the Marshall Plan, he said the Turks favored it, but they wondered whether we were giving it because we loved the Turks or because we hated the Russians...
...Ultimately, however, the European cynicism about the Marshall Plan and about American policy generally may be more right than we realize...
...From what I've seen in Europe, our foreign policy is better than I expected it might be (barring some exceptions like Spain), and I believe the mood in Europe would support the contention that the United States, in spite of all the clamor, investigations, and bungling, has risen to its responsibilities in world affairs in an extremely commendable way...
...we have much to do in this field...
...dollars which make the rich more prosperous without specifically benefiting the poor workers and the unemployed...
...dards without dominating the countries we help...
...If you stifle the school teachers, go in for loyalty oaths, refuse the Negro justice in the courts, jobs, housing, allow economic ^jreed to dominate, complacently accept corruption in the political life of your cities, our hope sinks...
...Today's struggle is in the realm of faith...
...it does not want war...
...There is another mood which I'm sorry to report I found very widespread...
...Insofar as we think that American dollars can do the job that needs to be done in Italy, Greece, France, and other countries, without recommending a creative political, social, and economic philosophy, we are probably throwing the money down the drain...
...The more one sees and hears in Europe, the more difficult it is to reach anything resembling an accurate assessment of the mood of the continent...
...dollars which indirectly help to preserve the class structure of society...
...It's a mood that can add something, even to the good aspects of our policy—and I for one feel that our foreign policy isn't all bad...
...Our public relations work was weak...
...But if one must report a dominant mood for Europe I would say that it is the mood to survive...
...Actually, the mood of Europe is a little more hopeful than the mood I have found here at home, but it...
...it's a little more profound—not quite so superficial...
...Even a victorious war will complete the ruin of Europe, and the Europeans know it...
Vol. 15 • September 1951 • No. 9
