THE TAB LET, J u ly 28th, 1961

THE TABLET A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER AND REVIEW

PRO ECCLESIA DEI, PRO REGE ET PATRIA

VOL. 198, No. 5801

LONDON, JULY 28th, 1951

SIXPENCE

FOUNDED IN 1 8 4 0

PUBLISHED AS A NEWSPAPER

WHAT IS A EUROPEAN ? The Tests o f Like-Mindedness in the Atlantic Treaty

TELEVISION AND THE CINEMA The Twilight of the Film Industry. By G. C. Norman

THE LAST OF THE MARSHALS The Island-Prisoner o f the French Republic. By Frank Macmillan

THE NEW REIGN IN BELGIUM Cardinal Van Roey on the Abdication and its Sequel

THE IRISH DESTINY

Reflections on Two Recent Studies. By Christopher Hollis, M .P .

A MATTER OF HISTORY F OR three years now the Historical Association has been in touch with German historians of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Deutscher Lehrerverbande, to see how far agreement can he reached on the history of Anglo-German relations from 1890 to the outbreak of the war in 1914. The measure of agreement in the memorandum so far issued provides something by which teachers in both countries can measure their own text-books. It provides a solid nucleus of facts and interpretations. Thus the historians of both countries are agreed that commercial rivalry was not a fundamental cause of the war, that the Entente Cordiale was not an alliance, and that the Anglo-Russian rapprochement was highly artificial, and was attempted to please the French ; that there was, in short, no encirclement. The general truth emerges how immensely important were the personalities and prejudices of individuals, the leading statesmen on both sides; because the war had nothing inherently inevitable about it. The growth and expansion of Imperial Germany in the world created tensions and apprehensions which called for statesmanship on both sides, and this was not forthcoming in sufficient measure.

The question has a further importance. It is important to dispose of unhistorical views of General Franco as a man who sought dictatorship, founded and led a political movement in the manner of Hitler and Mussolini ; for he did nothing of the sort. His position was much more akin in its essentials to that of Dr. Salazar, for both are professional men who were called upon unexpectedly to govern the country where parliamentary institutions had been found completely unworkable. If the history of parliamentary regimes in Spain and Portugal can be studied objectively here, there will be fewer demands in the British Press for the réintroduction of the mass electorate and the sovereign parliament. The old Cortes held a great place in the history of Spain, and representative institutions have a certain rôle to play, provided there are other strong institutions to limit and counter-balance them.

The editorial comment in the British Press which the American negotiations with Spain have provoked suggest that the moment is ripe for the Historical Association to approach the Spanish Academy of History to see how far historians can agree on the origin of the Spanish Civil war. We hope that such approaches, if they are made, will be as sensibly and actively encouraged by the Foreign Office as the Anglo-German meetings have been, because it is still only too clear that what happened in 1936, or from 1931 to 1936, is seen quite differently in Spain and Britain. The judgment still made about General Franco is largely governed by what men think happened in 1936. But there is abundant testimony available, mostly printed, which should enable conscientious and objective historians to issue an agreed list of statements. Perhaps American and Portuguese historians might both usefully participate. It is a great reproach on the intellectual life of our time that the salient characteristics of such an important event should still be left, fifteen years afterwards, so much in the world of political propaganda.

We will perfectly understand if there should be a Spanish reluctance to treat as serious history the version which the Communists, who led the Republican propaganda, succeeded in spreading round the world, of a democratic Left Wing Government being wantonly overthrown. But we are convinced that such an inquiry would be worth while, and that pains would be very profitably expended to establish at university level in Britain and America the reality of the revolutionary situation which had developed in Spain by 1936 and determined the Nationalist rising.

The BBC continues to give a great deal of time to the Soviet point of view, on the ground that precisely because it is so unlike our own it is important to understand it. But there is no similar desire to understand the Catholic intelligence of modern Spain. And this is a reflection on Englishmen, who pride themselves on their receptivity, and readiness to hear all sides. The Eventual Monarchy

General Franco’s new Cabinet foreshadows a more liberal economic policy, with the disappearance of Señor Suances from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce ; for Señor Suances would have been at home in any Socialist Government, maintaining andiworking close controls in the interests of home industry. We greatly hope that the new men will make Spain a more attractive place for the American capitalist, for nothing will more effectively help the living standards of the Spanish poor. The new Minister of Education, Señor Ruiz Jimenez, till now Ambassador to the Holy See, is well known abroad, as are few of the new generation of Spanish Catholic intellectuals. He has a long connection with Pax Romana, of which he was President ; he was a close associate of the Foreign Minister in Catholic Action ; and it can be predicted that the policy of associating Spain with Catholic international activity will be pursued more thoroughly than ever. Catholic organizations in the other countries of Europe are the natural agencies to dissolve the prejudices and bigotries which affect to treat modern Spain as though it did not exist merely because it is not the kind of Spain which fits in with Protestant or Socialist preconceptions.

There are no grounds for considering the new Cabinet more markedly Monarchist. It has long been common ground that there should be an eventual restoration of the institution of monarchy, because Spain wants all the solid