Evening star., 1951-01-10
Continued From First Page.)

NSOIltlllQSQ rlOIu IlI 81 FdSe.)
on hand and swear they will take
them if overrun by the Soviet
army again.
From the Baltic to Spain, Eu-
rope has been ravaged and bled
white by recent wars. The tor
rents of bloodshed touching every
family have drained away that
Intangible called morale.
They know that any Soviet at
tack must be met in the heart of
Europe. Whether the attack is
held or not they know their homes
will be devastated by battle and
bombings. They and their sons
and daughters will die by the
thousands.
Difficult to Convince.
BY experience they know that
there are no winners in war. Even
if they are on the winning side
they know they will be too pros
trate to enjoy it.
They still believe in freedom
and wish with all their hearts
they can keep it but have diff
ficulty convincing themselves
they can do it.
They want to stop the Russians,
but without morale" the dangers
and sacrifices of. rearming seem
almost too much to bear.
There are scores of other fac
tors complicating the rearming of
Europe. But most of them would
fade if the morale problem were
settled.
This is Gen. Eisenhower's big
task. Tanks and guns are no gooG
unless the soldiers and peoples
behind them have the will to fight
and use them.
There are exceptions, Of course,
among the European nations.
Great Britain can be counted on
to fight bravely, as. she has in
the past. British and American
Army cooperation in Germany
is wholehearted and unstinting
on either side. Some of the smaller
countries like the Norwegians also
are prepared to stand and fight.
Unfortunately they are not strong
enough to tip the scales in the
Vests favor.
British Power Divided.
Britain is forced to divide her
might among sea, air and and
forces. She cannot make a large
enough land contribution on the
continent to deter the Russians
even with American and small
country aid.
European defense depends pri-
marily on France and Germany
and to a lesser extent on Italy.
These are the only nations with
the manpower and the strategic
position among the Atlantic pact
powers to make a successful de-
fense of the continent possible.
France is depended on under
the Atlantic pact program TO sup
ply the bulk of the ground forces
needed in Europe.
France was beaten in the war
of 1870. She was virtually beaten
and bled white in the 1914-1918
war. In 1910 she was overrun in
six weeks and put up resistance
that at best must be described as
feeble. Four years of morale
sapping occupation followed.
These scars cannot be removed
overnight and they are still visible
today. French morale is. perhaps,
the lowest in Europe whens it
comes to rearming to the hilt and
making a firm stand against the
RuSsia rs.
Government Is Shaky.
Frances position is further
complicated byeD a weak, divided
government which is seldom able
to hold power more than a few
months and 90 an estimated six
million Communists in the coun-
try.
In contrast to the other political
parties the French Communists
are a hard, disciplined core. They
are ruthless. In crisis they prob
ably could seriously cripple any
war effort with sabotage, resis-
tance. strikes and overt acts.
Just how large an inflltration
the Communists have in the
French armed forces remains to
be seen. For the moment there
are not many armed forces to
count
The French have three divisions
in their army of occupation but
only a fraction of these are ready
to fight. Their present reserves in
France proper are negligible and
poorly equipped. The professional
heart of the army is fighting in
Indo- China and cannot be counted
on for European defense.
Italian Position Similar.
France has plans to raise an
army of nearly a million in the
next two or three years. Even if
the West has this long. the ques-
ton remains: Will these forces
have the will to fight?
Italy is in a similar position.
During the last war the morale of
the Italian soldier was notoriously
bad under fascism. No one knows
whether it would be any better
under democracy. There is no
doubt the Italian people are war
weary and politically cynical. AL
though the government Is stable