COLD WAR CHRISTMAS
OR a moment, perhaps a week, thoughts of Christmas take F priority over thoughts of the cold war. The two are closely linked. This is for many people a hard Christmas because of the sacrifices the cold war, and fears of what it might lead to, impose. At the same time they are diametrically con- trasted. If Christmas stands in men's minds for anything it stands in every Christian country for peaceāpeace on earth to men of goodwill. But desires and hopes must be subordinated to fact. Nothing good comes of crying peace where there is no peace. The eyes of the imagination will involuntarily turn next Tuesday to Bethlehem. Amid the surrounding gloom we may find ourselves singing, with what assurance we may, " Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light. " Even so, the gloom must seem more real than that, or any, light. With Egypt, Persia, Korea, Malaya heading columns in the papers day by day, what claim can there be to peace on earth, and how do the men of goodwill compare in force and numbers with men in whose wills not good but evil seems, by any criterion, to predominate ? _ Sombre- Christmas reflections. Yet not one of them but is justified by the facts. Fortunately they are not all the facts. Too often, as General Eisenhower observed on Monday when comparing Russia's strength with that of the western nations, we make the mistake of looking at one side of the picture only, more frequently than not the dark side. That should not be. In the present state 'of the world over-confidence would be a crime. But so would undue pessimism. If there is nothing that can be honestly said this Christmas to justify hope, then silence may be better than speech or writing. But if there is something this is. a peculiarly fitting time to say it. And there is in fact no ground for drab discouragement. What is - the aim, peace being by common consent the supreme objective ? Beyond question a united world, and within a united world a united Europe. There need at this point be no quarrel about defini- tions. Unity may take many forms. It is the reality that matters, not particular methods ; the British Commonwealth relationship is one way ; the N.A.T.O. relationship is another ; the United Nations relationship is another ; full federalism would be another: Each has its merits. This may be better adapted to particular circumstances than that. But of all equally it remains true that the form is worth nothing unless it embodies a genuine spirit of unity. It is the spirit that quickeneth.
What then of the spirit of unity ? Is it more, or less, manifest in the world than at the Christmas of 1950, a year ago ? In one respect the answer must be cheerless. The gulf between Europe and much of Asia, between eastern Europe and western, between eastern Germany and western, yawns as wide as ever. Yet perhaps not quite as wide, not as wide certainly but that a Christmas truce in Korea, still not impossible, would justify new hopes. Even M. Vyshinsky at the United Nations Assembly has moderated his strident accents. Four-Power talks on dis- armament have taken place, and though they accomplished little they are to continue in another form. And the surprise appear- ance of East German delegates before one of the Assembly's committees, where West Germans had already spoken, means a just perceptible change in the right direction. But when all is said the deplorable rift between east and west remains. It can be claimed in some sense that progress towards unity is being effected on both sides of the Iron Curtain, but on one side by methods totally incompatible with the spirit of unity ; for an essential ingredient of that is the spirit of liberty. True unity must come by free agreement, never by compulsion. The danger of war between east and west remains. In the general opinion, which may be right or wrong, that danger is definitely less than it was a year ago. Yet Russia is arming feverishly, and could put in the field stronger forces than any that could be mobilised against her. Why ? Can she seriously believe she is in danger of attack ? Millions of her citizens do undoubtedly believe that, because they have been taught by their rulers to believe it. What the rulers themselves believe no man except themselves has means of knowing. But while both halves of the world are preparing against a potential war which every man and woman in the west, and nine-tenths of ordinary citizens in the east, pray may never happen the work of peace and unification is going forward in the west on a scale by no means always adequately realised. It is safe to say that in all that half of the world which stretches westward from the Communist frontiers in Europe across the Atlantic, across America, across the Pacific to the coasts of China, peace is established as it never has been for half a century.
In spite of all obstacles and some set-backs a welding-process is going forward which already is producing notable results. That it is due in part to the necessity for making common cause against the Russian menace may be conceded. But the result remains, and will remain, whatever the immediate cause. No one fears war in any part of the American continent, for Set-1'0r Peron's ebullience does not threaten to take that form. No one fears war in any part of Western Europe, for Germany is no danger today, and wisely treated she will not be again. Least of all does anyone fear war between any American and any European State. _ What is a little loosely termed the western world is a vast area of settled peace. And it is right to remember what part this country has played in creating it, particularly just at a moment when the edifice of peace is being strengthened by new buttresses. The weeks before and after Christmas may be remembered as a historic period. Nothing is more important than a firm Anglo-German understanding, a firm Anglo-French understanding and a firm Anglo-American understanding. All those causes have been notably advanced in the past month, thanks largely to the initiative the British Government has taken in regard to France and the United States.
As to Dr. Adenauer's visit to London and what may flow from it, judgement must still be to some extent reserved. That the German Chancellor was deeply gratified by the warmth of his reception, and that his country shared his satisfaction, is amply evidenced. But delicate problems still remain. A peace treaty has not yet been signed. Agreement on subsidiary details hangs fire. But Germany has been drawn so far back into the comity of western nations that the removal of all restrictions on her full equality in the family of States is the way not only of generosity but of political wisdom. She must be grappled to us with hoops not of law but of friendship and understanding. Not everything is satisfactory in Germany, and the distinction between reasoned faith and groundless creOlity must not be obliterated. Germany, moreover, must come' to meet us as far as we are ready to go to meet her, and in the same spirit. There is every reason to believe she will. And it is of the best omen that the new cordiality between Germany and Britain is matched by a new cordiality between Germany and France.
Of the actual results of the visits of Mr. Churchill and Mr. Eden to Paris and Washington there is little yet to say. The purpose of the visits is not the conclusion of new agreements but the dissipation of possible misunderstandings and the cementing of old friendships. There is room for that. There has been unjust criticism of this country in some quarters in the United States. Mr. Churchill will be concernedāand no one could do it betterāto dispel the idea that we fail to be good Europeans because we claim our right to hold that a particular form of organisation is not necessarily the best, at any rate for us. We may be mistaken. We may in course of time move to the position to which some Americans desire to drive us now. But America must concede us the freedom she claims for herself. There is no sign that she would be willing to enter a federal organisation where she might be compelled to decisions which her judgement might decide were against her interests or her traditions. That question should not be forced for- either nation. . Enough that as allies of one another, as members in common of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and the United Nations we are committed together to the vital and unending task of building the fabric of peace. Slowly but unmistakably it is being built. There have .been times when the cynic, hearing at Christmas the prayer Guide, our feet into the way of peace, could murmur with some justice What a hope. This Christmas the hope is assuming new reality, and we may thank God for it.
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