TH E T A B L E T , A p r i l 2 9ÍA, 1950

THE TABLET

A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER AND REVIEW

PRO ECCLESIA DEI, PRO REGE ET PATRIA

VOL. 195, No. 5736

FOUNDED IN 1840

LONDON, APRIL 29th, 1950

SIXPENCE

PUBLISHED AS A NEWSPAPER

GERMANY IN THE WEST Dr. Adenauer and a Council o f Europe HOPE DEFERRED IN AUSTRIA

Resuming the Discussion o f a Treaty CHURCH AND STATE IN POLAND

The Reported Agreement Confirmed

A LETTER FROM PARIS PROFITS AND CAPITAL The World’s Stage, and the Theatre’s By Senator George O ’Brien

THE RELIGION OF WORDSWORTH A Note for the Centenary. By Christopher Hollis

WITHOUT A MARGIN

C OMMENTING on the meeting o f the Foreign Ministers of Britain, France and the United States, which takes place in London early next month, the Americans deliberately stress the exceptional character of the impending talks. The unity o f the Big Four, they say, has long ceased to exist, and thus the responsibility o f making world policy and o f saving peace devolves solely on the Big Three. This has now been recognized, almost officially, on both sides of the Atlantic, and that is why the May meeting, based entirely on this new and realistic appraisal o f the world’s situation, assumes such a crucial importance. How much is it fair and practicable for each country to pay towards the common defence ?

Last month, military experts and Defence Ministers o f the North Atlantic Treaty Powers met at The Hague and completed the plan of a general Atlantic strategy. The plan, of course, remains a top secret. It is known, however, that when the European Finance Ministers were told how the cost o f the rearmament programme would affect their respective budgets, they all protested that it would be impossible for the nations of Western Europe even to begin to put the programme into practice, unless the United States would carry the largest part of the financial burden.

I t is generally estimated that the Red Army consists, a t the present time, o f some 2,500,000 men. This figure may be misleading, just as are the figures usually given for Russia’s strength in the air and on the seas. There remains, however, the indisputable fact that against a potential Soviet attack the defences o f the Atlantic Treaty countries are utterly inadequate. As long as the Soviets did not possess the atomic bomb, the United States strategists were able to believe that there existed an equilibrium between their own atomic power and the air and land power of Russia, and they could hope that, should war break out, their own industrial superiority would finally triumph, whatever the initial successes of the Soviets. Today, they do not possess the atomic monopoly any more, even if their atomic superiority remains great. What is more, the commitments undertaken by the North Atlantic Treaty in any case compel the United States, together with all the other signatories, to adopt a new strategy which, instead of sacrificing Europe in the first stage o f the war, defends it from the beginning. This means, in short, that the real power of the Soviets has to be opposed by something more immediately effective than the potential power of the United States—by the real power of the entire Atlantic community. True, the American atomic superiority remains a most important weapon o f a defensive strategy, but its tactical use is limited. To defend Europe, to withstand the first onslaught—very likely taking the form o f a surprise attack—-and to slow-down the enemy’s advance so that all the resources of the Western community could be mobilized, this Western community needs to retain superiority in the air and on the seas and, as far as the armies are concerned, to build up a strong nucleus, highly superior to the enemy at least in technical equipment, which would be able to secure the conditions for an orderly mobilization and the safe arrival o f overseas reinforcements.

It is no secret that we have still a long way to go in order to achieve anything near to this state o f tactical strength. As it is, the twelve Atlantic nations possess some twenty-two divisions in Western Europe, but only about twelve divisions could go into action. According to recent reports, the twelve Atlantic Ministers o f Defence agreed a t The Hague on the building-up of thirty-six European Divisions during the first stage o f the Atlantic defence preparations. Out o f this number Great Britain, according to the same reports, would provide five or six divisions, France about twenty, and the Benelux countries, the other signatories of the Atlantic Pact, are to provide the rest. This, of course, would be only the first stage, and it will, anyway, take well over a year to reach even this initial and basic degree of Atlantic security. The Problem of Finance

But the question remains how to finance even this first stage of the implementation of the defence programme. Can Western Europe fight simultaneously on two fronts—the economic front, where the objective is to prevent slumps which would help internal Communist strategy, and the defence front, where the objective is to deter aggression ? The answer is in the negative : even the first task, the task of recovery, could be achieved only thanks to the Marshall Plan. Besides, when the Marshall Plan countries drew up their recovery programmes they did not make any provision for the development o f their armament industries ; if such a development now has to be included, it alters these programmes, and affects the internal policy o f every country concerned.

The Americans remain willing to help, but they expect the countries of Europe to do their utmost, short o f endangering their economic stability, with their own resources. “ Help yourself, and America will help you” still remains a guiding principle of the United States’ policy, and it is expected that Mr. Acheson in London will make a determined effort to see that this principle is recognized and applied.

The experts who are now studying the problem o f how to finance the programme o f European rearmament have so far avoided mentioning any figures. I t is said, however, that they have described the figures indicated by the Ministers of Defence at The Hague as “ astronomical.” Can European