Reality in Germany
The questions which are now in the forefront of West German politics can be clearly recognised as the ones that matter most to all Germans—unity, sovereignty and the army. They make the issues of the past six years—dismantling, currency problems, details, of occupation arrangements—look like shadows of an unreal world. When Herr Grotewohl, the East German Premier, made his latest offer of free elections for the whole of Germany be could be perfectly certain that his proposals, however ambi- guous they might be, would be avidly seized upon everywhere In Germany as the first topic of the moment. And Dr. Adenauer, In the midst of his discussions with the Allied High Commission on the contractual arrangements to succeed the occupation statute, was clearly reflecting public interest—as well as making an astute move—when he produced in reply a full and detailed programme of 14 conditions intended to ensure that any elec- tions held really would be free. He seized the initiative, he presented the East German Communists with the alternative of either proving the genuineness of their words or eating them, and he gave the Russians, who were openly backing the Grotewohl proposals, the hard problem—which they have not yet solved—of supplying their puppet with an answer to Dr. Adenauer. At the same time the West German Premier was conducting the evidently difficult negotiations with the High Commission and inevitably linking the question of the West German contribution to a European Army with the demand for the drastic reduction of limitations on West German sovereignty—for no German politician could now keep these two apart. Whether he will get his way depends on the nature of the decisions which the British, French and American Foreign Ministers reached in Washington—decisions which have not been disclosed in detail—and on his success in proving to the world that the menacing growth of nationalistic ex-servicemen's associations which has accelerated as the proposals for a German armed force have hardened, can be kept in check.
Previous page
