FRENCH LEADERS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 217, 12 September 1940, Page 20

FRENCH LEADERS.

'WHO WILL SUCCEED? "CO-OPERATION" WITH NAZIS. ' ANTI-BRITISH CAMPAIGN. : Who are the men now, under Hitter, at the head of the French Government? ; For what do they stand? What are j their aims ? These questions were disI cussed by several English papers at the ! time when the Convention at Vichy , rubber-stamped the new constitution. ■ Opinions differed as to the real strength ■ of Marshal Petain, some thinking him a r figurehead, others treating him as of • greater importance. i "The Marshal and hie. friends (eaid ■' Mr. J. A. Spender in the "Sunday j Times") represent a French group which has never been reconciled with the ■ Republic or its democratic institutions , and has, since 1871, been in a state of I veiled war with the administration and the politicians. This group has never regarded the British Entente ae more than a temporary convenience for France, and Petain himself had already i given us one significant warning, that, if ! ever he thought it necessary, he would sacrifice British to French interests , without a moment's hesitation. For, in March. 1918, after the great German offensive, he very nearly succeeded in doing what he did in May, 1940. It was ■ only Haig'e remonstrances, and the ] appearance in the nick of time of Foch, j Clemenceau and Milner. which prevented ! him then from withdrawing the French I Army to 'save Paris, , and leaving the British Army in Flanders to its fate. i "Hβ would certainly not have 'saved Paris' in 1918, and in what sense he hae j 'saved France' in 1940 has yet to appear.! I History will judge. What concerns us I now is that from whatever motives, and ] j with whatever excuses to his own corr j I science, he has joined our enemy, and done so in such a way as to preclude all middle courses. In the position in which he has placed himself, a British victory is the last thing that he can desire." ( Laval and Baudouin. j The famous editor of the "Petit ! Parisian," M. Elie-J. Bois, in the "SunI day Times," says Petain is a figurehead; j and the future rests with the triumvirate of General Weygand, M. Baudouin and M. Laval. One of these three will oust the others. Laval is the real Prime Minister. Laval's influence ranges from the T.U.C. to the extreme Right, not omitting certain Radicals. His persona) propaganda centred around the suggestions that he could have prevented the war, he could have come to a reasonable arrangement with Mussolini, he was on excellent terms with General Franco. • "Only one man has come to the fore with him, M. Baudouin. Without knowing anything of what passed in Government circles at Vichy (said M. Bois), I venture to say that there can be no bond of sympathy between these two men although, or perhaps because, their aims are the same. Each wants to give France a regime that will mean power, absolute power, for himself. "Correctly interpreted. M. Baudouin'* ideas seem to show that, fired with Fascist ideals, he was ready to mak< enormous concessions to Germany, that he was obviously in at least intellectual sympathy with Rome, and dreamt of imposing on France, victorious or not, a new regime with a 'strong Executive,' himself playing a part in it commensurate with his claims as one of the "Elect," in other words, the part of Duce, Fuehrer, Chief. But this is just the part which M. Laval has cast for himself, and so the race is on; just at present Laval is leading." The intention, said Mr. E. B. Wareing, former Paris correspondent of the "Daily Telegraph," seems to be to establish an imitation of the Italian "corporative"' system of government. "It is hardly possible to believe that statesmen of experience can be deceived by this, for the Italian system i* a transparent bluff; the deputies in no way represent the real interests of the various trades and occupations, but are simply appointed because of their zeal and subservience to the Fascist cause. They have no say in framing legislation nor are they allowed to epeak. Their voices are husbanded for shouting 'Duce' and singing the ■Giovinezza.' "We may expect to see history repeat iteelf, though the developments in France will probably be closer to those in Italy because the French people, like the Italians, will be granted certain external concessions to the traditions of Latin civilisation and of religion instead of reverting, like the Nazis, to a frankly pagan and brutal phase of racial history. "We may also expect a certain tug-of-war between the German and Italian methods of organised opposition, and it is quite possible that a different system may rule in occupied France from that in the non -occupied area. "There is also a strong possibility that Spain may make a territorial claim. Though small, it is an important one and is likely to take the form of a demand for a' "bridgehead" in the Gulf of Lion which would amount in effect to an extension of the Spanish coastline.

_ "These are matters upon which full light will be cast only if and when the peace terms are formulated. So far they have been deliberately kept in the dark in order to soften the blow and to postpone the possibility of French reaction whilst Germany Lβ still busy elsewhere." Hitler Does Not Care. From the beginning, writes D. M. W. N. Ewer in the "Daily Herald," it has been Hitler's way to delude opponents into calling off resistance in the hope of being allowed to co-operate with him, or at any rate of being allowed to live in peace. It was so in Germany with the Social Democrats, the Catholics end the Nationalists. It wae so when Prague surrendered. President Hacha and his fellows hoped that submission would •secure some mercy for the Czech people, some tolerable status for themselves. They, too, were quickly disillusioned. The Nazi heel trod mercilessly on their people, contemptuously on them. Now France learns the same bitter lesson. Surrender has not tempered the victor's hatred. Germany cares not a rap whether France has a Republican or a Fascist Constitution, whether a Reynaud, a Petain or a Laval heads its Government. France is to be destroyed, the French people to be crushed into serfdom, to become a helot race providing labour power for its German; masters. | Meanwhile, the former Paris corres-! poudent of the "Manchester Guardian" points out, the anti-British campaign is ' in full swing, and although it would be ' difficult for the French Government to i get the French people to go to war against England (for the German occu-1 pat ion must still be intolerable to them.! however "decently" the German troops ! may have been instructed to behave), j the campaign will not be without effect, i and it is certain that the French ' Government will make no attempt to ! hamper in any way the use by Germany and Italy of all available French resources against Britain.