Evening star., 1943-03-29
French Unity in Sight

French Unity in Sight
General Charles de Gaulle's radio
broadcast from London last week
is definitely cheering news. In con-
nection with several other recent de-
velopments, it gives what appears to
be clear-cut assurance that the rift
between the main groups of French
men opposed to the Axis is about to
be closed.
The high light OF De Gaulle's ad-
dress, beamed to the French people,
is contained In the following lines:
Il am going very shortly to North
Africa. First of all, shall meet
General Giraud, a great soldier and
noble figure. Together, loyalty and
in a friendly spirit, we will seek and
we shall find a means to insure that
the French Empire shall be one en-
pire; that French strength shall be
one strength; that the voice of the
French people shall be heard in the
world as one voice."
Nothing could be much more ex-
plicit than that. The leader of the
Fighting French would not have ut
tered so unequivocal a pledge unless
the negotiations Of the past fort
night, conducted so intensively after
General Giraud's invitation to De
Gaulle for a reconciliation confer
ence at Algiers, had been success
fully pursued. Another significant
straw in the wind is the arrival in
Algiers of General George Catroux,
De Gaulle's right-hand man. to pave
the way for the coming of his chief.
The chances are that the actual
meeting of the two French leaders
will be essentially formal ratif1ca-
ton of agreements already made in
principle by their accredited agents.
Precisely what the settlement will
be has not yet been disclosed. Hith-
erto the stumbling block has been
De Gaulles contention that his Ma
tional Committee was the authentic
organization with which other
French groups should coalesce, there
bv merging themselves with the
Fighting French. De Gaulle also has
insisted that all persons in the Gil
raud regime who had been connected
with Vichy should be discarded. Dur
ing recent weeks a number of proni-
nent ex-Vichyites have resigned their
Offices, thus partially meeting De
Gaulle's requirements in that re-
spect. More designations are likely to
follow. Just where the line of COM
promise will run is not announced.
But the precise details are far less
important than the overriding fact
of compromise itself. That is the
supremely important matter.
The effect of genuine reconcilia-
ton between the Fighting French
and the Giraud regime upon the peo-
ple of Axis-dominated France must
be very great. 1t will serve to weld
the various underground movements
into effective unity and to kindle the
spirit of resistance, already glowing,
to a patriotic fire. The recent upris-
ings of labor-draft evaders in the
mountains of Savoy have been de-
scribed by Fighting French spokes-
man as coming "far too early" but
the popular urge behind those rash
outbreaks is unmistakable. A large
proportion of the French people are
ripe for rebellion against their Axis
masters as soon as there Is even a
faint chance of success.
Meanwhile, the wretched wrath Of
a regime which still haunts Vichy is
going through gestures dictated from
Berlin. Several members Of the phan-
tom cabinet, nonentities themselves,
have been replaced by others still
more Insignificant. The whole proc
ess seems designed to give greater
power to Pierre Laval. the "chief of
government" who seeks to enforce
his labor draft in face of mounting
resistance by the workers. The pa
triotic union about to be achieved at
Algiers will make the bankruptcy Of
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