France and the Alliance

Report Outline
Exclusion of Britain from Common Market
Gaullist Europe vs. Atlantic Community
French Desire for Bigger Role in Nato
Debate Over French Nuclear Deterrent

Exclusion of Britain from Common Market

President De Gaulle of France has managed in the past few weeks to shake the Western alliance, alienate allies in Europe and America, and provoke the wrath of the Soviet Union. The French veto of Great Britain's application for membership in the European Economic Community (Common Market) was the immediate but not the sole cause of the present disarray in relations of the Western powers. De Gaulle's insistence on building an independent French nuclear deterrent has long been a source of friction between Washington and Paris. And signing of the Franco-German treaty of cooperation not only brought misgivings in European capitals but also aroused Russia's deep-seated fear of a vengeful and nuclear-armed Germany.

The present policy of France strikes at the heart of President Kennedy's “grand design” for an Atlantic community embracing the countries of Western Europe and America north of the Rio Grande. De Gaulle seems intent on a very different grand design. His pronouncements on the future of Europe are couched in vague terms, but he appears to envision a confederation of sovereign European states, led by France and powerful enough to constitute a “third force” in the world balance of power. Ultimately, this Europe would be “balanced between the Atlantic and the Urals.”

De Gaulle's plan is not without support in a Western Europe that is both economically strong and increasingly critical of Washington. At the same time, Europeans are aware that they are almost totally dependent on the United States for their military security. British Prime Minister Macmillan had this in mind when he told the House of Commons, Feb. 11, that present French policies might compel “an agonizing reappraisal” of its position by the United States.