Evening star., 1949-11-27

selves are either WOrkmen or small
professional men.
These views can be summed up
as follows:
"You want us to fight Russia
because your politicians, as we'll
as ours, have botched up East
West relationships, which have
reached a point where they can
be solved only by war. But we
the little felloWs-have no quar-
rel with the Russians, who have
been our friends for many years.
They helped us against the Ger
mans in World War I and have
done more than any one else to
crush the German war machine
in World War II.
What does it matter what kind
of government they have? You
say that they are imperialists and
ruthless dictators. AS for the first
charge, isn't the pot calling the
kettle black? AS for the second,
we remember that they are Orien-
tails and that no dictatorship re-
mains ruthless after it has over
come the fear of being overthrown
by outside interference.
Views of Little Fellow
"Of course, we do not want to
submit ourselves to tyrannical
regime. But if this is necessary
as a temporary measure, it is
preferable to being utterly de-
stroyed in a third world war, in
which your planes would show
even less mercy to Russian -occu-
pied territory than they did to
Nazi-held lands in the last war.
1T won't be easy to convince
French and Belgian peasants and
workers, who are just beginning
to recover from the wounds of
the last war, that they should
fight again, particularly when
they know they will be the first
victims. BY the time you have
gathered your strength and have
managed to defeat Russia our
countries will be utterly de-
stroyed and most of us will be
dead. If war should come, it
would be better to resign our
selves to another occupation.
which will be far less harsh and
destructive if we submit to the
inevitable than if we resist"
Such views, expressed in diff
ferent words perhaps, can be
heard among the little fellows
all over Western Europe, except
in countries which are not in
the first line of defense in a pos
sible war with Soviet Russia. It
is probably known to the politi-
cal leaders-who believe, how
ever, that in a moment of danger
this mentality can be changed.
It Is certainly known to the
military men who are charged
with military preparations in
their respective countries. They
hope that the arrival of noun
tains of war materials" from the
United States in the very near
future will rekindle the martial
spirit.
The explanation of the present
unmartial spirit is due to two
factors: The propaganda of the
Communist Party and the strong
impression that prevails over here
that America wishes to protect
it's own territority by sacrificing
Europeans.
Grim Propaganda
And today, while militant COM
munism is receding all over West
ern Europe, their insidious re-
marks that America is willing to
fight Russia to the last drop Of
European blood" is still taken as
gospel truth by millions of per-
sons in Western Europe.
Latest American planes, whose
destructive power we advertise
widely in Europe. are described by
these clever propagandists as in
struments of destruction of West
ern Europe rather than of Russia.
This propaganda, spread espe-
cially in the French farming dis
tricts, is listened to by the popu-
lation, which less than a decade
ago suffered mild" Ger
man invasion and whose manhood
is composed mostly Of former SOL
diers. They have no difficulty
understanding the arguments of
Frenchmen whom they do not
suspect of being agents of a for
eign power. Nothing can be done
about them under the present
peace setup in Europe, since there
is nothing reasonable in their
utterances.
This undercurrent. which al
ready is being felt in the Western
European bloc, causes concern
among top military men. who
wonder how successful they will be
in raising the divisions they have
been allotted by the European
defense program. They expect
that the martial spirit of their
RESPECTIVE countries will be raised
once new equipment from the
United States starts parading
through the streets of their cities
in such quantities that they can
not be denounced by Communist
agents as mere bait.
Now when America is faced with
another threat of war, she is en-
deavoring to organize the West
|ern Europeans to fight for her.
The billions which the American
people are spending in this prepa-
ration are of no consequence since,
in the opinion of the manain-the-
street over here. billions flow free
ly in the United States.
Absurd as such propaganda is,
it has taken root in the rank and
file of people in the Western bloc.
It might be shaken by a frank
statement regarding our position
and the true reasons why the
American people are Tightening
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