Britain and Europe
| Date | 01 December 1955 |
| Author | Ernest Watkins |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070205501000401 |
| Published date | 01 December 1955 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
BRITAIN
AND
EUROPE
Ernest
Watkins*
T would
be
foolish
to
attempt
to
discuss
Britain's
relationship
with
the
countries
of
Continental Europe
without
making
some
quick
glance
back
at
the history
of
the
last ten
years;
oversimplified
as
the
resulting
picture
will
be,
the
oversimplifica-
tion
in
itself
is
revealing.
Politically,
the
ten
years fall
into
three
periods,
the
first
the
thirty
months
that
ended
with
the
Communist
coup
d'etat
in
Czechoslovakia
and
the
Berlin
Blockade,
the
second
the
period of
fear
and
uncertainty
between
1948
and
1950,
the
third
that
which
began
four
months
after
the
invasion
of
South Korea
with
M.
Rene
Pleven's
proposal
for
a
European
Army.
The
climax
to
that
period
was
the
EDC
treaty;
the
anti-climax,
the
rejection
of
the
whole
project
by
the
French National
Assembly in
August,
1954.
Yet,
while
the
story
of
the
treaty
is
one
of
a
descending
curve
of
hope
and
interest,
two
other
events
diluted
the
feelings
of
increasing
despondency.
One
was
the
death
of
Stalin,
the
other
the
negotiations
for
the
treaty
that
replaced EDC,
for
out
of
that
came
a
definite
committment by
the
United
Kingdom
Govern-
ment
to
be
concerned in
the
supervision and
control of
German
rearmament.
From
all
points
of
view
that
period
ended
with
the
meeting
this
summer
of
the four
leaders
at
Geneva,
and
in
its
way
that
conference typified
the
whole
ten
years.
It
broke
up
with
an
exchange
of
admirable
sentiments
and
it
left
all
the
problems
of
German reunification
unsettled,
and
shelved for
someone else
to
discuss
later.
Economically,
the
picture
can
be
made
even
simpler.
The
first
period
was
that
of
the
initial
recovery
from
the
sheer
physical
effects
of
the
war,
which
was
most
rapid in
Britain
because
the
damage
there
was
less
and
direct
aid
was
given
by
the
American and Canadian dollar
loans,
and
was negligible
in
Western
Germany
because
the
West Germans
remained
for
three
years
a
people
of
the
ruins,
living
on
a
cigarette-barter
economy
as
camp
followers
of
the
occupation
forces.
The
scene
changed
*A
solicitor
by
profession,
the
author
has
been
an
assistant
editor
of
The
Economist,
editor
of
the
London
Newsletter
and
a
frequent
B.B.C.
commentator.
His
publications
include
The
Cautious
Revolution,
and
Prospect
of
Canada.
Mr.
Watkins
is now
practising
law
in Calgary,
Canada.
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