Evening star., 1945-06-07
Frunco-British Relations

Current tension between Paris and
London over Syria and Lebanon, un-
fortunate and trouble provoking
though it be in itself, is not an iso-
lated incident. 1t is part of larger
! pattern of Franco-British misun-
derstanding which includes disputes
over German occupation zones and
French propagandist activities in
! Northwestern Italy. In the last
analysis, all these tense situations
have been occasioned by the self
assertive attitude of the French Pro-
visional Government headed by
General Charles de Gaulle.
De Gaulle's basic position is SIM
pie. He believes in the essential
and unshakable grandeur" of
France and its continuing position
as Great Power" According to
him, that status has not been
changed by the disasters and losses
which France has suffered since the
German invasion of 1910. It has
merely gone into temporary eclipse,
largely due to diminished prestige
abroad and disillusionment at home.
In the eyes of De Gaulle and his
Superpatriotic encourage, the best
way to restore Frances position in
the world is by losing no opportunity
to assert Frances dignity and to
stand firmly on all imperial rights
and claims which she may have
possessed. According to him, this
will tend to heal internal dissensions
as we'll as prevent entertainments
on Frances position in the world
during the interim period of weak
ness through which she is passing
The outstanding phase of this un-
compromising policy is, of course,
the attempt to maintain Frances
mandate" status in Syria and Leb-
anon. But it is equally obvious in
claims to much broader zone of
occupation in Germany than that
assigned France by the preliminary
arrangement between Britain, the
United States and the Soviet Union.
De Gaulle is not content with the
sphere offered France in the Rhine
land. He demands Cologne and con-
troll of the Ruhr from the British.
wants Frankfort-on-the-M Main from
the Americans, and desires an en-
largement of the French sphere in
Southern Germany, exemplified by
the refusal to evacuate Stuttgart to
the Americans. Unless these de-
mands are met, he refused even be-
fore the Syrian incident to sign a
pact with London regularizing Fran
co-British relations.
Equally insistent is De Gaulle's &C
tion in Northwestern Italy. Although
the Allies had not designated any
part of Italy for French military
occupation, French troops have
moved across the border into the
Alpine valleys of Piedmont and are
openly propagandizing the inhabit-
ants, who speak French dialect,
for union with France. This un-
authorized action is exciting public
opinion in Italy and has greatly an
noyed the Allied Control Commits
sion as a needless complication of
an already difficult situation.
In all these cases, it should be un-
derstood that they represent the
personal policy of De Gaulle and his
associates rather than the consid-
cred judgment of the French people.
This policy is being increasingly
criticized in the French press and
is understood to be disapproved by
most of the professional personnel
of the regular Foreign Office. De
Gaulle is thus under fire at home as
we'll as abroad. Failure to achieve
tangible results may thus soon
gravely compromise his domestic
standing.