NEW MOVEMENT IN FRANCE

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25160, 16 April 1947, Page 7

NEW MOVEMENT IN FRANCE

“RALLY OF FRENCH PEOPLE” DE GAULLE ANNOUNCES FORMATION (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Re ? . 11.30 p.m.) PARIS, April 14. General de Gaulle has formally announced the formation of a “Rally of the French People” movement and the fact that he is the leader. “The rally’s aim is to promote above our divisions the union of our people in an effort to renovate and reform the State.” Mr Jacques Soustelle, the rally’s secretary-general, who was General de Gaulle’s war-time chief of the secret service, has announced the creation of party offices in every department of France. General de Gaulle said that the nation must be guided by a coherent, ordered, and concentrated State, capable of choosing and impartially applying the measures demanded for the public good. “The present system under which rigid and opposing parties divide all the power must be replaced by another under which executive power will come from the country and under which the people themselves will decide all the insoluble conflicts.” He added that every Frenchman knew that the country’s fate was at stake in the present situation. Reaction in Britain The special correspondent in Ixindon of the New Zealand Press Association says th£ return of General de Gaulle to the French political scene is being followed in Britain with some scepticism tempered with curiosity about his tactics. There is some conjecture whether General de Gaulle is preparing for a planned coup d’etat. The speculations mclude references to “fascism” and

the suggestion that if he persists with his policy the road will lead to civil war. The alternative, it is said, is a vain and inglorious retreat. The “Observer” says there is an almost irresistible parallel in the French political scene with the genesis of most of the regimes which nave been loosely called fascist. It looks much like the Italy of the early twenties—a scene of Parliamentary Government in a state of near deadlock with an acute fear of a Communist dictatorship. The Cbmmunists in France, however, represent less than a quarter of the French people and are feared and hated by tne other three-quarters, which accounts for the strong appeal General de Gaulle’s movement is likely to make. He promises stability on an antiCommunist basis, which is exactly what Fascism does. European Fascism came into being as a reaction to the threat of Communism, and very possibly it will renew itself almost automatically in varying forms wherever the threat becomes acute. Possible Consequences The “Economist” asks how General de Gaulle’s plan for guiding France towards future prosperity, strength and independence giving “efficiency, harmony and liberty” is to be brought about. If he tries to ally all the Deputies from the centre to the right behind him down will come Mr Ramadier’s Government. The policy of cooperation with and appeasement of the Communists pursued by the popular Republicans and the Socialists will collapse. If that happens, says the “Economist,’’ what is to prevent Mr Thorez, the Communist leader, and his colleagues from wielding their dreaded weapon of a general strike and non-co-operation by the workers? The “Economist” adds that at that point the shadow of civil war must appear. If General de Gaulle is ready even for that he should think of the probable consequences for Europe—the inevitable partisanship of America for the right and divided sympathies all over Europe, greatest of all in Britain, the inevitable collapse of the Monnet plan, and an end to all chances of beating Germany in the race to industrial recovery.

The “Economist’’ suggests that it is unlikely that the Catholic and Pro-gressive-Conservative M.R.P. is behind General de Gaulle since it has violently disagreed with him in the past. It thinks it is far more likely that his backers lie further still to the right. It also thinks that General de Gaulle timed his campaign badly. The “New Statesman and Nation” remarks that General de Gaulle may well drive the two French Left parties into each other’s arms if they are confronted with a new semi-Fascist threat. No doubt, it adds, General de Gaulle believes this is an opportune moment for launching an attack on the Communists at home and abroad.

“His efforts, however, to balance French politics between Russia and America are more likely to end by forcing the French people to take sides with Communism or with an imperialist alliance. No good can come of this dangerous folly. The wouldbe saviour of his country may yet drag it to ruin.’’