The Struggle for Germany

THE STRUGGLE FOR GERMANY or GERMANY By DREW MJDDLETON THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY, INC. Publishers INDIANAPOLIS NEW YORK PREFACE THE intention of this book is to demonstrate that Germany is the most important single problem of American foreign pol icy and that the fate of the world may rest on the direction which Germany takes. There are no easy answers to the internal problem in Ger many or the struggle for Germanys future. One of the major detriments to clear political thinking in our time is the habit, which we have caught from the totalitarian, of thinking in terms of black and white. This book will not tell you whether Germany is democratic or Fascist or Communist. Nor will it tell you conclusively the direction Germany will take in the future. It will, I hope, demonstrate the penalties of failure and the rewards of success in Germany. Ultimately, whether we succeed or fail in Germany depends on the peo ple of the United States. What I have tried to do is tell how the struggle for Ger many has been fought thus far and how I believe it will go in the future. My personal connection with Germany began on a Sep tember afternoon in 1944 when, just after we had crossed a narrow bridge, a shell burst in the field adjoining the road. Here we are in Germany, said the sergeant, and they dont seem glad to see us From 1939 to 1945 as a war correspondent first for the As sociated Press and then for the New Yorl Times I was at the receiving chef of Cermari nationalism. In France, Belgium, Hollanc, J cuch North Africa and finally in Germany, I saw enough of war as the Germans fight it to inspire a deep loathing of any political system which converts men into the beasts I found them to be. But, as aChristian, I have never believed that an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is the solution of our problems. I was in Germany from May of 1945 until March of 1946. In May of that year I had the good fortune to be sent to the Soviet Union to study and report on another authoritarian system. Inevitably some of my impressions of Russia have found their place in this book. In April of 1948 I returned to Germany. I have worked there ever since as Chief Correspondent in Germany for the New York Times. But the views in this book are my own. Most of this book is based on my own findings in Germany and my work at three meetings of the Council of Foreign Ministers, at Moscow and London in 1947 an at P ar 1949. Where it has been necessary I have drawn figures from the official publications of the Office of Military Government U. S. such as Report 175 of the Information Services Divi sion. I am indebted to various officials of both American and British Military Government and to numerous members of the city government of Berlin and the Parliamentary Council for the assistance they gave me in locating relevant material and revealing their own personal wishes. The struggle for Germany is emotional as well as mental. Many of the men, German, American, British and French, whom I interviewed in Germany, felt strongly on the subjects we discussed and in a number of cases held views diamct rically opposed to mine. Yet I met with the greatest courtesy from everyone, from General Clay to Willy Agatz, the Com munist leader in the Ruhr. Again, this book offers no solution. Basically it is an in quiry into how far we have gone in our struggle for Germany and what lies before us. If in the end it offers afew sugges tions to those who will continue the struggle, I will be satis fied. DREW MlDDLETON Berlin August 24, 1949 THE STRUGGLE FOR GERMANY