WESTERN EUROPE: Detente & Defense

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Never had Europe's beaches been so crowded with holidaymakers, or its roads so filled with cars, or its villagers, from Trondheim to Taranto, so well-dressed and well-fed. The vision of the U.S. President swapping toasts with the masters of Russia had given Europeans to believe what they long had wanted to believe: that ten years of cold war were over. High wages and full employment seemed evidence that prosperity had come to stay. All this—and the summer weather—begat a mood that the many sensed but few could rightly define. It was relaxation to the English, détente to the French, distensione to the Italians, and if everybody else didn't feel that way, the West Europeans weren't interested in listening to the complaint.

French Emergency. France was the only nation to have a full-scale military emergency on its hands. Half the French army was in action in North Africa, and so were the best divisions of the mobile security police, the nation's last line of defense against Communist violence at home.

Trouble in North Africa costs the French treasury close to 800 million francs ($2,300,000) per day. Like Indo-China before, it has placed a strain on France's inflated economy. Six months ago, France was enjoying something of a boom, and producing more cars, steel and textiles than ever before in its history. Production is going up, but last week, on their return from the beaches, French workers were out on strike in 17 provincial towns. Their demand was for higher wages to match higher prices.

Italian Flirtation. In Italy, distensione meant a continuing flirtation with the notion of an "opening to the left"—an alliance between Christian Democratic center parties and the fellow-traveling Nenni Socialists, who still refuse to break their "unity of action" pact with the Communists. The Reds, oozing good-fellowship, as much as implied that "the spirit of Geneva" required all parties to get together. Italy's 2,000,000 unemployed are still the Communists' best asset, but according to a series of tables euphemistically described as a "plan" by Budget Minister Ezio Vanoni, jobs could be found for them all by 1964. The only unanswered question was: where would the money come from to finance the projects that would provide the jobs? Vanoni obviously expected the U.S. to cough it up.

German Remedies. Germany was feeling what might be called the dislocation of prosperity. Burgeoning industry has sucked the labor market dry, forcing up wages and prices; Hamburg's shipbuilding yards and North Hessian heavy industries are plagued by wildcat strikes. Sure to find jobs elsewhere, ten out of every 100 of West Germany's coal miners have left their underground jobs in the past six months. Result: a sharp cutback in coal production. One group of German steel mills was again forced to buy expensive U.S. coal to keep its busy blast furnaces going.

To prevent the German boom from faltering, Economics Minister Ludwig Erhard proposed to 1) import foreign labor, probably from Italy, 2) reduce import restrictions, thereby permitting cheaper foreign goods to compete with German products, forcing prices down. Such remedies met strong resistance from the Socialists and trade unions.