Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1943-07-14
BustiIIe Duy. 1913

BostiIle Day, 1943
In France the fourteenth of July
corresponds to our GLORIOUS Fourth"
and is normally celebrated in much
the same way. 1t commentaries the
storming Of the Bastille by the en-
battled Partisan populace. The down.
fall OF that gloomy prison strong
hold situated in the heart of Paris
sounded the tocsin of revolution,
which swept away the Bourbon Mon
archy and inaugurated new pattern
of national life that persisted, basil
cally unchanged, through many
vicissitudes.
Then, three years ago, came the
supreme test. During the terrible
month Of June, 1910, not only was
France defeated and overrun by the
German hordes, but its political and
theological foundations were en-
dangered. A small minority of
Frenchmen had never accepted the
Revolution of 1889, cherishing the
memory OF the older Royal France
which had gone before To them,
Bastille Day was humiliation rather
than symbol of rejoicing. 1t was
this irreconcilable minority which,
under Marshal Petain and his newly
established Vichy regime, acquired a
degree of influence and authority out
Of all proportion to its numbers. So,
in that lowest ebb of Frances
fortunes and under the numbing
shock Of catastrophe, Bastille Day
Of 1910 went almost disregarded
In France itself, much the same
situation officially prevails. The pro-
German puppet, Pierre Laval, coun-
tenances no celebrations, though the
Fighting French radio stations
abroad have hidden their subjugated
fellow-citizens to appear in orderly
throngs upon the streets, thus
silently attesting their allegiance to
the ideals of 1889 and to liberated
France rebuilt upon those historic
foundations. In North Africa, freed
from the Axis yoke, Bastille Day is
being celebrated with traditional
pomp and ceremony by the Com
mittee of National Liberation, which
represents the forces working for
the rescue of the homeland from
Axis domino ton and national recon-
struction thereafter.
To be sure, that representation is
as yet imperfect. Deep political
riffs between Frenchmen expressed
by the rivalry between Generals De
Gaulle, Giraud and their respective
followers, have not been closed But
the committee does function, after
fashion, and middle group seems to
be developing with viewpoint which
transcends partisan loyalties. If this
spirit evolves to a point where a
majority of the committee will cease
to think of themselves as De Gaullists
or Giraudists, perhaps even discard
ing both generals as symbols of ma
tional resistance and revival, the
committee itself will thereby qualify
as truly national and thus merit
recognition by the United Nations as
provisional government, entitled
to speak and act for all parts of the
French Empire and for all French
men not under Axis domination,
pending the liberation of Metro
politan France and the holding of a
general election there along demo-
cratic lines to determine the con-
stitution of Fourth Republic"
1t is the inability of the committee
thus far to measure up to that ma
tional standard, which has hindered
the American and British govern
ments from recognizing the COM
mittee's diplomatic status. On this,
London and Washington are IN sub
stantial accord. And recent dis
patches from Britain make 1t clear
that Moscow, though more favorably
inclined to recognition than either
of its Allies, is disposed to agree in
the ACCESSIBILITY of caution. If the
French factions continue to CO.
operate even partially as they are
now doing, the Allies probably will
extend limited recognition to the
committee as diplomatic first stage.
This would tend to encourage It in
its unifying trend and would quicken
anti-Axis resistance in France itself.
The more this is understood and ap-
preciated by Frenchmen themselves,
the more rapid will be the evolution
which all the United Nations desire.
T. R. Collection
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