Evening star., 1950-09-20
New Phase for Germany

Although answers to number OF questions
must still be hammered out, the communlque
issued yesterday by Secretary Acheson and
Foreign Ministers Beyin and schuman leaves no
room for doubt that their meetings in New York
have been extremely fruitful and that pro-
foundy significant new phase Is about to begin
in the postwar history of partitioned Germany.
In an immediate sense the most important
single statement in the communique is the one
assuring the people OF West Germany-and
bluntly warning the Kremlin and It's satellites
that France, Britain and the United States 'will
treat any attack against the federal republic
or Berlin from any quarter as an attack upon
themselves" To back this up moreover, the
three powers have served notice that they are
going to increase and reinforce" their armed
occupation forces in order to be ready Tor such
an attack when and If 1t comes.
Next, in addition to this security measure
which has been motivated by the fact that
Germans have been organized into outright
military units in the Soviet zone, as If in prep
aration for another Korea-France, Britain and
the United States have agreed to permit West
Germany to establish decentralized mobile police
formations capable of being used as single
federal force in case of emergency. This decision,
though primarily designed for the maintenance
of the republics internal safety, promises also to
help offset the external threat posed by the
puppet army the Russians have been building
in East Germany.
AS for the formation of German national
army, the three powers have declared themselves
as fully agreed that the recreation of such
military force would not serve the best interests
of Germany or Europe. This attitude is based on
two major and reasonable considerations: ID
Frances fear of resurgent militarism in people
who have invaded French soil three times since
the 1870s, and (2) the not-inconceivable possible
ity that new unified and rearmed Reich might
in the future once again ally itself with Russia
for the conquest of the whole continent Yet,
though Anglo policy thus has
ruled out a national army for the Germans, 1t
has by no means ruled out the idea OF letting
them raise divisions to be brought into the
Atlantic Pact's security system for the common
defense of the free European nations-an idea
which is almost certain to start taking concrete
form in the relatively near future.
Finally, apart from reaching agreement on
these military and security matters, the three
Foreign Ministers have made clear that France,
Britain and the United States see eye to eye on
inaugurating basic changes in their political and
economic policy toward Germany. Thus, pending
the country's unification-which cannot be real
ized as long as Russia blocks it-they will regard
the Bonn government as the only one entitled
to speak Tor the German people, and they pro-
pose, as soon as their constitutional processes
permit, to end the state of still in effect with
the Germans. Further, the federal republic win
now be free to set up its own foreign ministry
and establish diplomatic relations with other
countries, within certain limits.
Over and above all this, the three powers
have also agreed, among other things, to effect
q "far-reaching" reduction in existing occupation
controls, notably in the economic field. Without
further delay for example, every restriction is to
be lifted on commercial cargo vessels being built
by the Germans for export, and they are to be
allowed to increase their steel production to help
the defense effort Of the West as whole. In
addition, there are to be numerous other steps
taken to normalize the life of the country as
much as possible that the relationships between
it and the Atlantic Community will grow steadily
closer and more friendly.
The fact that these and similar decisions
have been announced presumably some are to
be kept secret for the time being) is proof
enough that the area of Angle-French- American
agreement is impressively wide-perhaps wide
enough to constitute, in the words of the three
power communique, "a major advance toward
the progressive return of Germany to partnership
in Western Europe" If that is so, then the free
world in general is the stronger for It,