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W. Earl Hall World War II stories, 1944
1944-09-27 Letter #35
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slug-France Still-4 By W. EARL HALL Globe-Gazette Managing Editor Letter No. 35 London, England (By U.S. Army Bomber Transit)--Anybody who glibly concludes that the problem of France has been solved with the mere military liberation of that country stamps himself as a wishful thinker. That is a belief deeply fixed in my thinking after a bit more than a month of rather close exposure to the problem, here in England, and for some 14 days, in France itself. There's grave danger of excesses such as have characterized another era or two in French history. And with this danger past, there still will be the problem of restoring the kind of democracy which had its birth in France. At the moment there is a very pronounced chasm between those who have done their fighting for a Free France outside that country--those under the leadership of Gen. De Gaulle--and those who opposed Nazism just as effectively in the underground at home. The Free French of the Interior are in no sense unanimous in their acceptance of DeGaulle. Many accept him as a military leader but shy away from the idea of following his political leadership. Among the liberals of England, and I think the same is true of the liberals of France, there is a disposition to look upon the lanky general as possessing a fundamentally fascist ideology, this in spite of his position of favor with Russia. That's one problem. Another stems from the suspicion which attaches to all French people who have come out of the period of Nazi occupation with whole skins. "They must have been collaborationists or they wouldn't be alive" seems to be a rather common type of reasoning. Another problem, perhaps more easy of solution, bases on the youth of France who like to look upon themselves as "junior Maquis." In some manner they've gained possession of considerable ammunition, probably left by the Germans. Every night, in the spirit of holiday, the youngsters get together and do a bit of celebrating. Then there's an interesting situation developing with respect to the newspapers of France. Some of them--notably Matin and Parisien--managed to continue publication during the period of Nazi occupation. Others, notably Figaro, went underground and published clandestinely. Now the very fact that newspapers continued publication under Nazi docination is taken as evidence that they "collaborated." The result is that they have been driven out of business and the papers which went underground have come to the surface in a big way. What lies ahead for those publications which in pre-war days had enormous circulation, if not always a good influence on France, is anybody's guess. And my own guess is that most of them have been buried for keeps. Before the war, one of the distinguishing marks of France's politics was its multiple parties. There was a party to suit every whim and fancy. Many believe that this manifestation of national disunity was a principal factor responsible for the country's sorry fold-up in 1940. Nearly every Frenchman I talked to expressed a hope that there wouldn't be a return to that hodge-podge political pattern. They're hoping for a setup in which there will be 2 major parties--one for the liberals and one for the conservatives. It's to be remembered, however, that they're Latins and individualists. I frankly don't expect any such stability in the immediate future. -- 30 --
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slug-France Still-4 By W. EARL HALL Globe-Gazette Managing Editor Letter No. 35 London, England (By U.S. Army Bomber Transit)--Anybody who glibly concludes that the problem of France has been solved with the mere military liberation of that country stamps himself as a wishful thinker. That is a belief deeply fixed in my thinking after a bit more than a month of rather close exposure to the problem, here in England, and for some 14 days, in France itself. There's grave danger of excesses such as have characterized another era or two in French history. And with this danger past, there still will be the problem of restoring the kind of democracy which had its birth in France. At the moment there is a very pronounced chasm between those who have done their fighting for a Free France outside that country--those under the leadership of Gen. De Gaulle--and those who opposed Nazism just as effectively in the underground at home. The Free French of the Interior are in no sense unanimous in their acceptance of DeGaulle. Many accept him as a military leader but shy away from the idea of following his political leadership. Among the liberals of England, and I think the same is true of the liberals of France, there is a disposition to look upon the lanky general as possessing a fundamentally fascist ideology, this in spite of his position of favor with Russia. That's one problem. Another stems from the suspicion which attaches to all French people who have come out of the period of Nazi occupation with whole skins. "They must have been collaborationists or they wouldn't be alive" seems to be a rather common type of reasoning. Another problem, perhaps more easy of solution, bases on the youth of France who like to look upon themselves as "junior Maquis." In some manner they've gained possession of considerable ammunition, probably left by the Germans. Every night, in the spirit of holiday, the youngsters get together and do a bit of celebrating. Then there's an interesting situation developing with respect to the newspapers of France. Some of them--notably Matin and Parisien--managed to continue publication during the period of Nazi occupation. Others, notably Figaro, went underground and published clandestinely. Now the very fact that newspapers continued publication under Nazi docination is taken as evidence that they "collaborated." The result is that they have been driven out of business and the papers which went underground have come to the surface in a big way. What lies ahead for those publications which in pre-war days had enormous circulation, if not always a good influence on France, is anybody's guess. And my own guess is that most of them have been buried for keeps. Before the war, one of the distinguishing marks of France's politics was its multiple parties. There was a party to suit every whim and fancy. Many believe that this manifestation of national disunity was a principal factor responsible for the country's sorry fold-up in 1940. Nearly every Frenchman I talked to expressed a hope that there wouldn't be a return to that hodge-podge political pattern. They're hoping for a setup in which there will be 2 major parties--one for the liberals and one for the conservatives. It's to be remembered, however, that they're Latins and individualists. I frankly don't expect any such stability in the immediate future. -- 30 --
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