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THE TABLET A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER AND REVIEW PRO ECCLESIA DEI, PRO REGE ET PATRIA VOL. 184 No. 5439 PU8USHHD A9 A NEWSPAPER LONDON, AUGUST 5th, 1944 SIXPENCE FRANCE AND EUROPE French Leadership and the Cleavages of the Revolution THE FUTURE POPULATION OF EUROPE The Changing Balance of Demographic Forces. By K. C. Thaler “ BELOVED POLAND” The Full Text o f the Holy Father’s Address to General Sosnkowski THE WORLD WEEK BY WEEK The Open Flank Immense things have happened in Normandy, and immense consequences will follow. The German line which contained the Allies between the Seine and the Channel has been broken and tu rned, and the tanks are stream ing through south o f Avranches, with all B rittany and Maine before them to deploy in, and no natu ra l obstacle until the Loire is reached. The Prime M inister sent Parliam ent on its holiday with a heartening account o f the m ilitary developments, as the Germans begin a retreat which th^y cannot check before a t least the line o f the Seine and th é Loire (a line which will unhappily bring Chartres in to the direct field o f battle). Ju s t th irty years ago, in the first week o f August, 1914, von Moltke made the e r ro r in judgm ent which cost Germany the last war. Alarmed a t the Russian threat to East Prussia, he withdrew two army corps from his right wing in France to send them to meet the Russians. Their absence from the Battle o f the M arne decided i t in favour o f the Allies, meant the failure o f the whole Schlieffen Plan, and alm ost certainly deprived the Germ ans o f the so r t o f rapid victory which they in fact achieved in 1940. and ought no t to be confused under any such general description as “ Ju nkers.” The Junkers, whose home is East Prussia, are the Prussian Army families whose hereditary occupation is war. The aristocratic families o f non-Prussian Germany are very different people, much more civilized, whose misfortune was to have been drawn in to the orbit o f Berlin and ou t o f the orbit o f Vienna. The Ordeal o f the French When the French Cardinals made their plea for care in bombing operations they expressed the fear th a t if too much suffering is inflicted by this means a lasting hatred o f Englishmen and Americans may be generated. Sometimes a N o r mandy farm er makes it clear to an Allied soldier how hard he thinks it th a t his countryside should have to become a battleground. But nobody who has the opportunity o f seeing the Swiss newspapers these days will think it a t all likely th a t the Allies have any considerable share in the bitterness o f a bleeding F rance. The Germans are meeting the maquis with an abom inable carelessness o f life and an entire indifference to the kindling o f hatreds which will last for generations ; and their operations are being reported in the Swiss newspapers in detail. All Swiss sympathy is with the Resistance. Today i t is the Allies and no t the Germans who are gathering strength fo r a drive to Paris ; and the Germans are trying n o t to achieve swift victory but to stave off swift defeat. The moral for them is nevertheless the same, and they a re n o t likely again to squander their strength in hesitatio n between the two fronts. Von M o ltk e ’s two army corps reached the east too late for the Battle o f Tannenberg, which m ade th e irony the more bitter ; but even if Panzers could now be detached from the West in time to halt the Russians on the Vistula, it is no t likely th a t the attem p t will be made. The Germ ans had the choice between the two fronts, east and west, as the scene o f their main endeavour, and knew themselves unable successfully to halt their opponents on both. They chose to concentrate in the west. I t was a political choice ; so, for th a t matter, was von M o ltk e’s ; but whereas in 1914 the choice was dictated by the deep Germ an fear o f the mere numbers o f the Russians, in 1944 the choice is decided by the political affinities o f those who now control Germany. The Germans do no t conceal the gravity o f their predicament, o r the imminence o f débâcle east and west. Total mobilisation will come too late to have any influence on the military events o f this summer, but it may have considerable influence on the final form the German collapse will take. The fanatical Nazi leaders, with everything personally a t stake, are strengthening their grip in order to compel the Germans to share their fate. Total mobilization under Goebbels and national unity under Himmler are two aspects o f the same process o f final transform ation by Which, a t the end, i t will be proclaim ed th a t Germany is a completely transform ed W o rk e rs ’ State, w ithout classes o r discordant groups. T h a t is no t yet the position. The professional Prussian officer caste is no t yet liquidated, nor is the very different South G erm an aristocracy, to which belonged the placer o f the bomb which nearly killed H itler. These two elements are entirely different in historical origin and cultural background, One thing reflected very clearly is the conflict between the Reichswehr and the Waffen-S.S. This comes ou t in the news from all parts o f occupied Europe, as well as from the Reich itself. In Greece it is particularly clear ; bu t the proximity o f Switzerland makes the news from F rance the most detailed. When the entire village o f O radour-sur-G lane was wiped out the other day, Lidice-fashion, because o f the alleged activities o f some o f its men, it was the work o f the Waffen-S.S., acting in defiance o f the protests o f the German (Commandant a t Limoges, who knew how dangerous the situation was becoming, and how depleted his garrison. The immediate result was, indeed, a g reat increase in Resistance activity in the Limoges area ; and the incident is understood to have led von Rundstedt to protest to Hitler th a t he could no t continue in his command w ithout authority over the Gestapo and the Waffen-S.S. He did not continue in his command. One o f the greatest o f the scourges o f France is the use which the Germans are making o f th e troops o f the Russian quisling General Vlassov. Detachm ents o f these have been used a t the front, in Norm andy, but they have been found highly unreliable, and are therefore now being tu rned to deal with the maquisards, a pursuit in which the idea o f being taken prisoner offers few attractions. These men a re known as “ Germ an Cossacks” to the F rench. Nominally they are anti-Bolshevik Russians ; in fact they are mercenaries o f the crudest kind. An eye-witness o f their recent behaviour in the town o f Saint-Claude, in the F rench Ju ra , describes it in the Berner Tagwacht. They were b rought from Besançon to deal with the partisans, bu t in fact they laid waste to the town, in a n ig h t’s horrible orgy o f rape, arson and plunder, while the Germans stood aside. The writer said th a t they could be compared only with the lansquenets o f the Thirty Y ea rs ’ War in their behaviour ; nor was this case exceptional.

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THE TABLET A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER AND REVIEW

PRO ECCLESIA DEI, PRO REGE ET PATRIA

VOL. 184 No. 5439

PU8USHHD A9 A NEWSPAPER

LONDON, AUGUST 5th, 1944

SIXPENCE

FRANCE AND EUROPE French Leadership and the Cleavages of the Revolution THE FUTURE POPULATION OF EUROPE The Changing Balance of Demographic Forces. By K. C. Thaler

“ BELOVED POLAND”

The Full Text o f the Holy Father’s Address to General Sosnkowski

THE WORLD WEEK BY WEEK The Open Flank

Immense things have happened in Normandy, and immense consequences will follow. The German line which contained the Allies between the Seine and the Channel has been broken and tu rned, and the tanks are stream ing through south o f Avranches, with all B rittany and Maine before them to deploy in, and no natu ra l obstacle until the Loire is reached. The Prime M inister sent Parliam ent on its holiday with a heartening account o f the m ilitary developments, as the Germans begin a retreat which th^y cannot check before a t least the line o f the Seine and th é Loire (a line which will unhappily bring Chartres in to the direct field o f battle).

Ju s t th irty years ago, in the first week o f August, 1914, von Moltke made the e r ro r in judgm ent which cost Germany the last war. Alarmed a t the Russian threat to East Prussia, he withdrew two army corps from his right wing in France to send them to meet the Russians. Their absence from the Battle o f the M arne decided i t in favour o f the Allies, meant the failure o f the whole Schlieffen Plan, and alm ost certainly deprived the Germ ans o f the so r t o f rapid victory which they in fact achieved in 1940.

and ought no t to be confused under any such general description as “ Ju nkers.” The Junkers, whose home is East Prussia, are the Prussian Army families whose hereditary occupation is war. The aristocratic families o f non-Prussian Germany are very different people, much more civilized, whose misfortune was to have been drawn in to the orbit o f Berlin and ou t o f the orbit o f Vienna. The Ordeal o f the French

When the French Cardinals made their plea for care in bombing operations they expressed the fear th a t if too much suffering is inflicted by this means a lasting hatred o f Englishmen and Americans may be generated. Sometimes a N o r mandy farm er makes it clear to an Allied soldier how hard he thinks it th a t his countryside should have to become a battleground. But nobody who has the opportunity o f seeing the Swiss newspapers these days will think it a t all likely th a t the Allies have any considerable share in the bitterness o f a bleeding F rance. The Germans are meeting the maquis with an abom inable carelessness o f life and an entire indifference to the kindling o f hatreds which will last for generations ; and their operations are being reported in the Swiss newspapers in detail. All Swiss sympathy is with the Resistance.

Today i t is the Allies and no t the Germans who are gathering strength fo r a drive to Paris ; and the Germans are trying n o t to achieve swift victory but to stave off swift defeat. The moral for them is nevertheless the same, and they a re n o t likely again to squander their strength in hesitatio n between the two fronts. Von M o ltk e ’s two army corps reached the east too late for the Battle o f Tannenberg, which m ade th e irony the more bitter ; but even if Panzers could now be detached from the West in time to halt the Russians on the Vistula, it is no t likely th a t the attem p t will be made. The Germ ans had the choice between the two fronts, east and west, as the scene o f their main endeavour, and knew themselves unable successfully to halt their opponents on both. They chose to concentrate in the west.

I t was a political choice ; so, for th a t matter, was von M o ltk e’s ; but whereas in 1914 the choice was dictated by the deep Germ an fear o f the mere numbers o f the Russians, in 1944 the choice is decided by the political affinities o f those who now control Germany.

The Germans do no t conceal the gravity o f their predicament, o r the imminence o f débâcle east and west. Total mobilisation will come too late to have any influence on the military events o f this summer, but it may have considerable influence on the final form the German collapse will take. The fanatical Nazi leaders, with everything personally a t stake, are strengthening their grip in order to compel the Germans to share their fate. Total mobilization under Goebbels and national unity under Himmler are two aspects o f the same process o f final transform ation by Which, a t the end, i t will be proclaim ed th a t Germany is a completely transform ed W o rk e rs ’ State, w ithout classes o r discordant groups.

T h a t is no t yet the position. The professional Prussian officer caste is no t yet liquidated, nor is the very different South G erm an aristocracy, to which belonged the placer o f the bomb which nearly killed H itler. These two elements are entirely different in historical origin and cultural background,

One thing reflected very clearly is the conflict between the Reichswehr and the Waffen-S.S. This comes ou t in the news from all parts o f occupied Europe, as well as from the Reich itself. In Greece it is particularly clear ; bu t the proximity o f Switzerland makes the news from F rance the most detailed. When the entire village o f O radour-sur-G lane was wiped out the other day, Lidice-fashion, because o f the alleged activities o f some o f its men, it was the work o f the Waffen-S.S., acting in defiance o f the protests o f the German (Commandant a t Limoges, who knew how dangerous the situation was becoming, and how depleted his garrison. The immediate result was, indeed, a g reat increase in Resistance activity in the Limoges area ; and the incident is understood to have led von Rundstedt to protest to Hitler th a t he could no t continue in his command w ithout authority over the Gestapo and the Waffen-S.S. He did not continue in his command.

One o f the greatest o f the scourges o f France is the use which the Germans are making o f th e troops o f the Russian quisling General Vlassov. Detachm ents o f these have been used a t the front, in Norm andy, but they have been found highly unreliable, and are therefore now being tu rned to deal with the maquisards, a pursuit in which the idea o f being taken prisoner offers few attractions. These men a re known as “ Germ an Cossacks” to the F rench. Nominally they are anti-Bolshevik Russians ; in fact they are mercenaries o f the crudest kind. An eye-witness o f their recent behaviour in the town o f Saint-Claude, in the F rench Ju ra , describes it in the Berner Tagwacht. They were b rought from Besançon to deal with the partisans, bu t in fact they laid waste to the town, in a n ig h t’s horrible orgy o f rape, arson and plunder, while the Germans stood aside. The writer said th a t they could be compared only with the lansquenets o f the Thirty Y ea rs ’ War in their behaviour ; nor was this case exceptional.

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