READY FOR REVOLT

Wairarapa Times-Age, 29 September 1942, Page 4

READY FOR REVOLT

AT THE RIGHT TIME OPPRESSED POPULATION OF FRANCE. PERSISTENCE OF UNDERGROUND MOVEMENT. (By Egon Ka.skeli.no, in the "Christian Science Monitor.”) A leading personality of the French underground movement, the former Socialist Deputy, Andre Philip, has succeeded in hoodwinking the Gestapo and in reaching London, where he joined the Fighting French of General Charles de Gaulle. M. Philip emphasised the mental strain under which the French population is now living. .He warned the Allies not to increase the strain by promising immediate liberation and then failing to follow it with action. It is not always easy for free people to understand and to foresee the reaction of men and women who live on the edge of starvation, who are exposed to the shrewd propaganda of Vichy and of Berlin, and who arc constantly harassed by the most efficient police of the world.

The Nazis who feel that the soil is trembling under their feet are endeavouring to discourage any active resistance on the part of the French. The number of arrests and executions has reached a new high. The Nazis have reorganised and extended their network of uniformed and secret police all over occupied France. It was in all probability in order to convince the French that any attempt to revolt was' doomed to fail that led the Nazis to stage the recent parade of SS Elite Guards through Paris.

LITTLE EFFECT SEEN.

It is unlikely, however, that this display of military power on the part of the’ Nazis or the increasing arrests and executions will restrain France’s secret army from taking up arms when the hour of liberation has come. One of the most effective means of checking an open rising in France is the food policy which the Nazis have imposed. Although in normal times France is almost self-sufficient in food, the occupation authorities have succeeded in keeping the country just out of starvation. The Nazis, of course, need the agricultural production of the subdued people to feed, the German “master race” at home. But they also know quite well that constant hunger is likely to weaken physical and moral resistance of the conquered nation. Hitler's food policy in the occupied territories is well-calculated to weaken and in the long run even to exterminate the people who dared to resist his rule. American relief workers who recently returned from France and wellmeaning persons in this country suggested that the United States’ duty towards France' was primarily humanitarian. “Our greatest contribution to French morale and to a Second France,” writes James Wood Johnson, “would be to send food for the starving.”

FOOD SUPPLIES DIFFICULT.

The magnificent relief organisauon which the American Red Cross and the Quakers have set up in France, should not be minimised, but the possibilities of the United States to improve substantially the food situation in France are very slight. i Not only is sufficient shipping space unavailable, but experience has proved that substantial food imports to France have either been largely confiscated by the Axis or have brought about demands for supplementary food deliveries on part of the conqueror. It has been estimated that from 70 fo 80 per cent of the food shipments from North Africa which the British permitted to slip through their blockade have been taken over by the Germans and Italians.

Moreover, in spite of the increasing scarcity of food in France, it is not material help from the United States that the French people are looking for. America’s entry in the war has kindled a great hope in France. If the French people can be made to realise that these hopes will be fulfilled, they are likely to support even greater hardship. The French people are convinced of the good will of the Americans toward them, but they fail to understand the complicated diplomatic game which is going on between Vichy and Washington. Continuance of relations between the United States and France may have contributed to neutralise the French fleet, but it has also confused the morale issue in France. BELIEVED IN PETAIN. When, in June of 1940, France capitulated, the moral collapse of the country was not less complete than the military breakdown. The present state of feeling in France is governed by past experience. The French were taken entirely unaware; nobody had foreseen the defeat. Until the very last moment, the French authorities had misled public opinion and had concealed the true state of affairs. The average Frenchman felt —rightly or wrongly—that he had been deceived by his political leaders, the chiefs of the Third Republic, and betrayed by his Allies. Marshal Petain appeared as the saviour of France, the man who was willing to sacrifice his all for the defeated country. At that time, Petain was certainly backed by a large part of the population, especially when he ''declared that he was willing to rebuild France on entirely new bases. If in this psychological moment, the Germans had proved to be magnanimous and far-seeing, they might have succeeded in winning the French people to more or less willing collaboration with Germany. But the Nazis proved arrogant oppressors of other peoples. The French were quick to discover that the apparent “correctness” of the conqueror' concealed the most cruel system of exploitation. The French people understood that Hitler was aiming at the complete subjection and eventually at the annihilation of France. Deep feeling against the Germans flared up in the breast of every Frenchman. EYES OF PEOPLE OPENED. Disillusionment over the Petain regime was slower to come. The Marshal’s personal prestige was immense and the majority of the French people trusted the victor of Verdun, especially after he had ousted the unpopular Pierre Laval. But when the internal situation of the country grew worse from month to month, when Vichy drew closer and closer to Germany’s orbit, and when finally Laval returned to power, the French began to open their eyes. They perceived that the country had been victim of a reactionary _ clique which had exploited the prestige of Marshal Petain and they saw that the “national revolution” was more corrupt than French parliamentarianism at its worst. DEEP DISTRUST OF VICHY. While the wrath of the people in occupied France is primarily directed against the Germans, the people in the unoccupied area despise Vichy even more, M. Philip pointed' out. Exploited and persecuted by the Nazis, and betrayed by the Vichy collaborationists, the French people have overwhelmingly turned to the United

Nations who promise the eventual liberation of France. Britain’s successful resistance inspired the French with new hope. Russia’s heroic fight against Hitler’s army deeply impressed the French people, especially the workingclass. The movement of resistance quickly spread among all classes of » the population and the French started • their secret war against the Nazis. It was America's entry into the war which definitely convinced the French that Hitler’s regime was doomed. An increasing number of Frenchmen joined the underground movement which had been linked to the National Council of the Fighting French in London. M. Philip confirmed the belief that when an Allied invasion force sets foot on French soil the French people will .revolt against their oppressors. He pointed out, however, that German retaliations after an unsuccessful Allied landing might ibe severe enough to destroy the population’s morale.