Evening star., 1944-11-26
Europe Will Travel
Rocky Road to Peace
Grave Problems to Require
Patience and Compromise
By William II. Harrison.

By William II. Harrison.
The world will wear a brighter face
when the war ends In Europe. The
sorrows and sufierings of mankind will
be appreciably reduced then, and there
viii be ample reason for lifting UP Of
hearts. But though 1t Is pleasant to
think that the final defeat Of the Nazis
will automatically and Immediately
usher in a new era of calm and con-
tentment, all current signs indicate that
the continent, during the first years Of
the next peace, will be seething with
great multitude Of problems perhaps
more complex and pressing than any
ever before in history
Europe has had long intimacy with
violence. Morning, noon and night, for
more than five years, the Four Horse
men have been riding across it from
end to end. lacerating 1t physically and
spiritually; bringing sudden death to
millions Of its people; uprooting and
cutting adrift great masses of Its poly
glot population; Transforming its polit-
ical, economic and social structure In q
way that will be felt for generations,
ana IN general so convulsing 1t that its
recovery seems certain to be slow and
painful. For this has been the most
terrible and total Of all wars, and sick
as the continent was before the terror
began IN 1889, 1t is far sicker now, and
out OF its long period Of torment and
oppression, out Of the banked fires of
Its accumulated hates, out of the depths
OF its misery and want 1t is likely
temporarily at least-to try treating It.
self with medicines of q drastic and
somewhat revolutionary sort.
Americans will be letting themselves
IN for vast amount of disillusionment
II they assume otherwise. After what
has happened, 1t is virtually incon-
ceivable that Just as soon as Germany
is knocked out. the peoples of Europe
will be able to settle down to q quiet
and orderly existence. Sharp factional
pickering must be expected; even a
measure OF civil war must be expected.
Any number of difficult adjustments will
have to be made In each country's in
ternal affairs and in its relations with
its neighbors. And this process, no
matter what kind of overall peace
system is finally developed from the
Dumbarton Oaks proposals, will almost
surely take time and involve more than
one encouragement for those who be-
heve that the map of Europe should
look exactly as 1t did before 1t was
blown apart, or for those who demand
that every ideal of the Atlantic Charter
become living reality the moment the
shooting stops or for those who insist,
each In his own way, upon reshaping
the world according to his passions, his
prejudices or his hearts desire.
In Greece, in Yugoslavia, in France,
In Poland, In Belgium, in Holland, In
nearly every land already liberated or
yet to be liberated, there Is bound to be,
IN varying degrees, a churning up of
internal political forces before any
genuine stability in government can be
reached. Similarly, it seems one Of the
inevitable consequences of the war that
in addition to boundary changes there
viii be a reaIgnment of relationships
between nation and nation. The latter
with Russia building an orbit Of In
fiuence In Eastern Europe to counter
balance an Anglo-French orbit in West
ern Europe-may be deplored by those
who regard anything Of the sort as evil
and sinister per Sc: but the fact is that
it appears to b. in the making and must
be reckoned with as one of those his
toric expressions of power likely to exist
at least until a general peace system is
established at which time it may con-
ceivably be Incorporated into that sys-
tenn as regional component part.
Other highly vexing situations, full Of
national and international stresses and
strains. are inherent in such problems
as the occupation and control of Ger
many and the financing Of European
reconstruction. Happiness, good will,
prosperity and the free way of life will
not suddenly return when the cease fire
order is heard, nor will the Naz and
Fascist mentality completely evaporate,
leaving behind fine new unselflsh So
ciety in which the lambs and the lions,
the prey and the birds of prey, will
dwell together In a spirit Of mutual trust
and affection. In all Of these things the
United States will be involved in one
measure or another, particularly 50 in
an economic sense, since it seems
destined, by virtue Of its unique strength
and position, to play leading role In
the rebuilding Of the world. But that
role will not be well executed If the
American people fail to anticipate or
understand the transitional period of
trouble and thus, in their disappoint-
ment, become so disillusioned that they
will want to wash their hands Of the
whole business.
In the kind Of world that exists TODAY
however, world shrunken by modern
economics, communications and tech
nology into single interdependent
neighborhood, no great nation can safely
wash its hands Of region like Europe.
The problems there, no less than in
Asia, are Of direct concern to Americans,
and If the next peace is to be sound
one. the United States, together with
Britain and Russia, will have to con-
tribute largely to their solution. To this
end. an immense amount of patience
and understanding among all parties
concerned-on the other side of the
water as well as on this-will be an
essential precondition. For no matter
what the pressure blocs may say in
their prODauanda and co,1r.tarnroro