Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1941-05-24
Dorian Explains

huUlild I bdlIdIl, NlCt IIClillCl VI
the Vichy government, went on the
air yesterday to tell the French peo-
pie a bit more about the agreement
he and Adolf Hitler recently made in
the Fuehrer'S residence at BerchteS-
gaden.
The address is an obvious sales
talk. Perhaps it rang convincingly
In the ears of his depressed and
half starved fellow cOuntrymen, but
read in cold type on this side OF the
ocean, it looks pretty thin. Half
truths wrenched from their context
alternate with special pleading,
while the buildup of Hitler's alleged
magnanimity would come better
from Gauleiter than from the act
Ing head of the French state.
Darlan asserts that, though he
went to Berchtesgaden to confer
with Hitler at the Fuehrer'S request,
"at no moment in the conversation
was there question of France aban-
oOlll1lS Ill any way 1IS1 SONSAS4SLOSs
Hitler did not ask for the French
fleet, colonies, or a declaration OF
war against Britain. France freely
chooses the road which she has
taken" His hearers were therefore
hidden to follow Marshal Petain as
their duty, which is clearly traced"
Darlan's picture of France freely
and unconStrainedly aSSociating her
self with Germany in Hitler'S new
world order is somewhat marred by
certain passages of his own address
which do not fit in logically with his
main thesis. For instance, he says
that the future of France depends on
the course of current negotiations
with the Reich, and warns that 1t is
necessary for her France to choose
between life and death. The mar
shall and government have chosen
life"
That does not jibe with the idea of
an agreement amicably negotiated
and freely entered into between eS-
sential equals. Rather does it Sug-
gest basic continuance of the situa-
ton which he himself describes as
existing when in June, 1910, the vic
tor could have refused us an armiS-
tice, beaten US and wiped France off
the map of the World-but he did
not do it.
No Hitler did not do it. But the
armistice which he granted left
France utterly at his mercy and i'm
posed conditions which, during the
ensuing year, have steadily drained
her of everything, including morale.
Until recently, Hitler left France to
endure her misery and thus auto
maticaIly soften up" Now, when
French cooperation becomes nee
essary for German plans, Darlan is
invited to Berchtesgaden to talk
things over. Clearly, there is an i'm
piled "or else" in the background.
What Darlan did not state, and
what is highly important, is that he
undoubtedly went to see Hitler in
receptive mood. Darlan, like Petain
and his other colleagues at Vichy, is
convinced that Germany will win
the war, at least to the extent of
continued dominance over the Euro
pean continent, and probably over
Africa and the Near East as well.
The military collapse of Italy and its
subordination to a German satellite
makes France a much better candi-
date for a junior partnership in the
Nazi new. order" So Hitler has
offered terms which, to the men of
Vichy, look attractive, and they have
decided to play along. 1t will be
easier if French public opinion
agrees, so Darlan gives his sales
talk. But the course is set, no mat
ter what Frenchmen think. For
Vichy is itself authoritarian.