The New Hustle

The phone rang in West Germany's embassy in Paris. When the caller identified himself as from the Soviet embassy with an urgent note to deliver to the German ambassador, the ambassador's secretary thought it was a joke and almost hung up on the spot.

It was no joke. An aide decided on his own to ignore the explicit rule against any talk with Russians, took the message and in two hours it was transmitted to Chancellor Konrad Adenauer in Bonn. In it Soviet Russia declared that "it would be honored to receive in Moscow in the near future the Chancellor of the German Federal Republic Herr Adenauer . . . to discuss the establishing of diplomatic, trade and cultural relations between the [two countries] and the examination of questions connected with it." Reading the note in his office overlooking the Rhine, the granite face of old Konrad Adenauer split into a grin.

Der Alte had been right after all, and the note was proof positive. For years his opponents had wailed that his steady pursuit of alliance with the West and a strong rearmed Germany was destroying all chance of dealing with the Russians for unification. Der Alte, staring stonily at his critics, had insisted that the Russians would negotiate only when the West was united and strong--and not until then.

Without Hurry. In West Germany, the enthusiasm that had been strangely missing when the country got its sovereignty six weeks ago now burst forth. Adenauer was the hero of the hour. Visions of a united Germany danced before the eyes of the hopeful; the most sober took pride in this acknowledgment of their young nation's stature. The best the Socialists, thoroughly confounded, could do was demand that the Chancellor fly right off to Moscow before the Big Four talks in July.

In no such hurry. Adenauer told his Cabinet that he welcomed the invitation but would not make a move without first consulting his Western allies, particularly the U.S. Nor would he go to Moscow himself until the offer had been explored in lower-level talks and an agenda fixed. Such preparations, he said, preclude a journey to Moscow until after the parley at the summit. Said one Christian Democratic Deputy admiringly: "A cooing dove on the rooftop won't make the Chancellor give up the sparrow he's got in the hand." Said President Eisenhower: "We have the utmost faith and confidence in him, and we know one thing--he will stand by his allies and friends.'' Two Germanys. The problem, and the prize, is not 79-year-old Chancellor Adenauer but the Germany that will come after him. When Adenauer did not hustle off to Moscow, the Russians took his delay easily. "We have no timetable." said First Deputy Premier Mikoyan. The real meaning of the Russian offer, and of the timing, is that Russia is announcing--in advance of the summit parley--that the Kremlin is content for now to accept two Germanys. The offer was also meant to dramatize an awkward fact: the power to unite Germany and to restore its lost territories lies primarily with Russia. It could be done overnight by a single curt order to its hapless German satellite. It could be done without help or hindrance from the U.S., Britain or France.

The Kremlin in effect told the Germans : If you want your country united, talk to us. Never mind the Big Three. And if Russia does propose to do any favor for Germany, it is not likely to do it at the meeting of the Big Four, where the Kremlin would have to share the credit with its foes.

Adenauer is too canny and too principled a man to be seduced by Germany's ancient and fatal temptation to play East against West. But once diplomatic relations are established again in Moscow, Russia counts on there being other opportunities--and other Chancellors.

The Battle of Blocs. The invitation to Bonn, the trip to Belgrade, the flower-strewn welcome to Nehru (see below) are all part of a new hustle in Soviet diplomacy. The hustle seems to reflect a basic decision that the battle of the blocs is going against them. Unable, now that West Germany has been admitted to the West's ranks, to match the West with their own bloc, the Russians are now out to de-emphasize the whole need for blocs. The nations they cannot win over they hope to deny to the other side. Instead of demanding total commitment from these nations, they ask only what they can get: an indifferent neutrality.

In this new Russian offensive no inconsistency embarrassed them, no reversal deterred them. Satellites were left floundering in confusion. The Hungarian press struck out of the Belgrade communique the clause referring to the several roads of Communism, printed it next day only on direct Russian orders. The Communist Poles were aghast at the invitation to Adenauer (formerly referred to by the Russians as "Hitlerite militarist adventurer").

Scurrying Diplomats. Out Asia way. Indonesia's Premier Sastroamidjojo flew back to Djakarta brimming over with gratitude for the fuss Peking's Communists had made over him. In Hanoi, the Viet Minh's Ho Chi Minh, in an interview with the London Sunday Times, produced his own project for smearing up demarcation lines. He proposed a Bandung-like conference of leaders and intellectuals from the "little nations" of Asia and the West not closely associated with what he called imperialist pasts. They could talk over economic and technical cooperation.

He named a fascinating slate--North Viet Nam, Burma, Indonesia and Siam from Asia; Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Czechoslovakia from Europe. Maybe Japan and Canada might be included, he added blandly. Russia's Molotov, on his way to San Francisco for the U.N. celebration, dropped down on Paris for lunch with Premier Edgar Faure. Reportedly Molotov suggested that Russia and France have many interests in common--such as a belief that a divided Germany is safer than a whole one.

Western diplomats took wing too. Britain's Harold Macmillan and France's Antoine Pinay headed for New York for pre-summit consultations. Chancellor Adenauer took off in a new Lufthansa plane and a scheduled lunch with Eisenhower. They now had something fresh to talk about.

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