What France Wants

THE NATIONS What France Wants

General Charles de Gaulle got down to brass tacks. In a broadcast to his people he made admirably clear what France wants:

P:The French Army must guard the postwar German frontier "from one end of the Rhine to the other." P:The Ruhr valley and all lands west of the Rhine must not be part of the postwar "German State or States." P:Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria and the Balkan countries must be independent--and free to make alliances with France. P:"We alone [cannot] insure the security of Europe. We must have alliances. We have concluded a great and good alliance with strong and courageous Soviet Russia. . . . We are desirous of signing one some day with brave old England, as soon as she may be willing to agree to what is vital to us concerning Germany." But Britain will have to accept France as an equal partner in western Europe. P: France intends to make regional alliances with its immediate neighbors--Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg. P:France wants to join a world peace organization--but not until the war is over both in Europe and in the Pacific. Reason for the delay: not until then will France have recovered "full liberty of action and all of our territories."

Men for the Policy. The men chosen by General de Gaulle to apply his policy abroad were taking up their posts around the world. One, General Georges Catroux, liberated France's first ambassador to the Kremlin, left Paris for Moscow last week.

De Gaulle's principal envoys (see cut) have one outstanding characteristic in common: their conservatism. Catroux is a professional soldier and empire administrator (Syria, Indo-China). Significantly, he is well-equipped to look after French affairs in the explosive Middle East, where Russia also has a spreading interest. His conservatism suits Joseph Stalin, who would much rather deal with able rightists than with middling leftists. Other ambassadors who reflect De Gaulle policy:

P: In London: adroit Rene Massigli, a cold, analytical career diplomat who was slow to get off the Vichy wagon but has nevertheless won De Gaulle's confidence. P: In Washington: lean, able Henri Bonnet, who put in eleven years with the League of Nations and joined forces with De Gaulle in 1940. He and Mme. Bonnet came to the U.S. that year, barely managed to get along--he by writing and teaching, she by running a hat shop in Manhattan. His books (Outline of the Future, The United Nations on the Way) reflected his strong belief in a world security system. P: At the Vatican: Catholic Humanist Jacques Maritain, who has recently advocated the formation of a strong, conservative party in France to offset French Communism.

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