The German Federal Republic Today

Abstract

T 1HE German Federal Republic is still occupied by the three Western Allies-the United States, the United Kingdom, and France, and will continue to have this legal status until the General Contract and the European Defence Community Agreement have been ratified. Actually, however, a clearing-up process is going on in Western Germany and nobody seriously believes in a return to the former occupation, whether ratification takes place or not. A new era has begun-one which is fraught with great and grave possibilities for the future. 'Defeat Turned into Alliance', 'Sovereignty Achieved in Seven Years', such press headlines indicated the extent of the new changes. The Federal Republic is now assumed to be on the side of the Western democracies in their struggle with the Soviet Union, and to have achieved the maximum of independence possible under the abnormal conditions in present-day Europe. This is roughly how most people outside Germany interpret the situation. But this is not the case with a large section of the West Germans. For it is a significant comment on this new situation that most of the cheering has been on our side. Anyone who was in Bonn at the time of the signing of the General Contract on 26 May last must have been struck by the amazing apathy of the population. There was no enthusiasm, and not even a flag on any unofficial building to indicate appreciation of what this new pact meant. It is important, from the outset, to realize the state of public opinion in Western Germany, especially as the Federal Republic is now to be our ally. We should have no illusions about our new ally. Nor, on the other hand, should we make any pretence about the bargain which was struckand the reasons for it. The Western democracies, especially the United States, wanted the Federal Republic on our side as soon as possible because of their fears of the Soviet Union: and they were prepared to pay a big price for this development. Whether the price paid has been too high, we shall discover later. Whether we have secured a reliable military ally but have destroyed whatever possibilities existed of the system of parliamentary democracy taking firm root in Germany, only the future can answer. It is very difficult for an American or a Britisher to begin to talk about the Federal Republic without wanting to tell the Germans how thankful they ought to be for all the help given them by the Western democracies,