Evening star., 1946-09-29
Ruhr Dispute Held
Inspired by Moscow
Believes Issues Will Vanish When
Reds Control France and Reich
By Wallace r. Deuel.

By Wallace r. Deuel..
and German Communist Parties to play
both ends against the middle In Mos.
cows strategy for dominating Europe.
The two national parties bitterly
oppose each other on certain basic issues
between France and Germany.
Communists point to this opposition
as proof" that the two parties are
truly national" and independent OF
the Kremlin." That both the French
and German party lines" have really
been adopted with full authority from
Moscow, however is clear from evidences
which has reached Washington More
over, both lines are designed to serve
the long-term interests of the Kremlin
and of world communism in general.
this evidence shows
1t shows especially clearly In the
case of the apparent conflict between
the French and German Communist
parties on the question Of the Ruhr and
the Rhineland
French Communists demand that
these key heavy-industry areas be taken
away from Germany. German Com.
munists savagely oppose this demand.
The Ruhr and Rhineland must remain
parts OF the Reich, they insist. On the
surface. this conflict seems real rough.
1t seems irreconcilable.
In Marxist dialectics and strategy.
however, there is no real conflict At all.
The apparent difference between the
two parties is tactical and temporary.
The disagreement is intended to help
the Kremlin achieve certain objec-
tives. When it has done this, 1t will
disappear
The FrenchG German Communist con-
f1ict' is designed to serve three princi-
pal purposes:
First, it is intended to strengthen each
Communist Party in its own" country
Frenchmen will vote Communist be-
cause they like the French Communist
Partys demand for amputation of the
Ruhr and Rhineland, Moscow hopes,
and Germans will vote Communist be-
cause they like the German party's de-
mand that the Reich keep those areas
BY these and other tactics, the Krem-
lin hopes and plans to build up both
parties until they are strong enough to
take over all power in their two coun-
tries. II and when this could be done,
| the "irreconcilable conflict" would dis
| appear. The Kremlin would settle IL
| just as summarily as 1t has settled the
conflict between German and Polish
| Communists as to the Reich's eastern
| frontier.
| The second main purpose Of the con
flict" between the French and German
Communist parties is to make 1t hard
for France to cooperate with America
| and Britain.
Washington and London think that
! the heavy industries Of the Ruhr and
| Rhineland should be put under inter-
| national control. but that the areas
themselves should remain part Of Ger
many politically. So long as the pow
erful French Communist party opposes
this United statesBritish policy, CO.
operation among the three countries Is
dificult
! The third chief objective of the Com
munist tactics Is to delay the peace
| making. 5----s.-
The German settlement is being held
up by the French Communists demands
for annexation of the Ruhr and Rhine
| land. The longer the settlement is
held up, the worse will conditions be-
come in Europe The worse conditions
become, the better the chance that
communism will have to develop.
Both French and German Communist
leaders have now given this explanation
of the make-believe conflict between
their two parties. Pierre Herve has
done so most openly for the French,
and Hans Berger for the German party.
1t is true that the French Communist
Party considers the economic and po-
itical internationalization Of the Ruhr
and Rnineland necessary under exist
| ing circumstances, Herye wrote re-
Gently in the French Communist news
paper Humanite. But If the internal
German situation were different" in
Standardization of the Ruhr and
Rhineland would not be necessary, he
went on.
"If German political life were to show
real signs of democratisation," Herve
said, IF, in sum. the general policy Of
Molotov toward Germany were applied
by all the occupying governments, the
problem of French security would appear
in a quite different light"
| When Communists say "democrati1a-
ton" in connections of this kind, they
mean communication. Molotov's policy
toward Germany is one Of Sovietisng
the Reich.
| Berger goes into more detail:
| There can be no basic difference be-
tween the policy Of the German So
cialist Unity Party and the policy of the
! class-conscious workers in France, Po-
land and elsewhere" he writes in .
Communist political review. CThe Ger
man Socialist Unity Party is the COM
munist- dominated merger Of Commit
nists and Social Democrats which the
Soviets forced through In their zone In
the Reich)
Most specially there are no differ
ences between the Socialist Unity Party
and the French Communist Party with
regard to the Ruhr and the Rhineland,"
| Berger says. The class conscious Ger
man workers do not yet have enough
power in the Reich to be able to guar
antee France against . new German
| attack
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