Evening star., 1949-03-13

explains Cne relatively large
membership in the French and
Italian Communist Parties.
MoscoW's agents in Western
Europe made no secret of their
plans for dealing with reaction
aries" when the forces of the new
democracy" - actively supported,
if need be, they said, by the
Soviet Army-take over from gov
ernments which have sold out"
to the American capitalism.
The creation of the Atlantic
Alliance in itself did not worry
Moscow SO long as it remained
"just another pact" But the in
tention to implement it with a
strong defensive force, on a line
from the Adriatic to Cape North.
alarms the Politburo.
Red Army Made Over
Should this threat to the domi-
nation of the West by the
U. S. S. R. become effective. the
position of the U. S. S. R. would
become less favorable for the fol-
lowing reasons:
/. If a defense force is really
created in Europe, the West could
not be rushed by present Rus
sian forces stationed outside Of
the U. S. S. R. A Soviet attack
would require a general mobiliza-
ton in Russia, and this is not de-
sirable as far as the Politburo Is
concerned.
Large armies with professional
soldiers at their head are never
safe for a dictatorship. Generals
and field marshals may have ideas
of their own. AS was the case in
World War II, they would become
popular with the troops and no
body knows whether. if Prime
Minister Stain should disappear
from the Soviet scene. his civilian
successor would easily gain the
loyalty of the army. as Mr.. Stain
did in World War II. Even Mr..
Stain had to remove from the
limelight some marshals who had
won too much popularity with the
troops.
Furthermore. in the eyes of the
Politburo, the army in the last war
had become less reliable than the
Politburo liked and had to be re-
placed with entirely new con-
tingents, which we're not affected
by contact with the West in
| Poland, Germany and Austria.
I If Moscow we're to permit the
defensive rearmament of Europe
it would risk the necessity OF
another general mobilization to
achieve its purpose of world domi-
nation. Hence, some of the West
ern analysts have reached the
conclusion that the Politburo
feels that it must prevent Europe's
rearmament at any price.
2. The majority of members
of the Communist Parties in
Europe are opportunists rather
than convinced adherents Of
MoscoW's doctrine. Many of them
are genuine MarXist-Leninist in
tellectuals and do not share
the Politburo's "neo-c communism,
which is nothing but an improved
and expanded version of Hilterism.
Reds Might Switch
According to the calculations Of
the French and Italian govern
ments, there are less than 100000
real followers of Moscow in both
those countries. The very large
proportion of nominal Com
munists is due to the fact that
opportunists have hoped on the
bandWagon.
If an adequate defense force is
organized in Western Europe, with
the aid of American war materi-
ais, there is no doubt in the minds
of those who follow European
affairs carefully that a large
proportion of the party members
particularly trade union MEM
bers-would abandon the Com
munists and join the Socialist
and other moderate parties.
These people are not inter-
nationalists. Nor do they aim to
expand at the expense of their
neighbors. They want to work
in peace, without violent domestic
strife, and with a modicum Of
comfort. The fear that they
might become the object Of
another invasion, because their
own governments were incapable
of giving them any assurance Of
physical defense, compelled them
to join the Communists and
obtain the safety of a party card.
If Moscow adopts a policy Of
acquiescence toward the present
plans for rearming Western
Europe defensively, it is more than
probable that these important
tools in it's plan to strike peace
fully" at the West would fail in
their mission. because they would
lose their principal source Of
strength - the workers, who
through their strikes make eco
nomic and political recovery of the
world impossible.
Because of these logical de-
ductions contrary to certain
intelligence reports which say that
Russia is not prepared for war be-
cause it does not yet have the
atom bomb in. production-politi-
cal analysts in Washington.
London and Paris believe that the
next few months will be the most
critical in history.
Two Errors for Molotov
The Kremlin is faced with the
uneviable task of deciding whether
to prevent the rearmament Of
Western Europe by the only means
it has at its disposal-to strike
while it's forces outside the terri
torial limits of the empire are
strong enough to overrun the West
or to accept the situation and