Search

This article presents views of experts in Soviet Affairs on the fear in the Vatican's Secretariat of State, in the Sacred Congregation for the Eastern Church on effects of "de-Stalinization." Reliable information indicates that where dictator Joseph Stalin failed, leader Nikita Khrushchev may be beginning to succeed. The so-called collective leadership may be a more effective instrument than personal dictatorship was for exploiting the yearning for genuine religious faith and the desire for political freedom of the peoples within the Soviet orbit.

The article presents news briefs and commentary on international and U.S. politics as of the week of August 29, 1955. The U.S. policy concerning its refusal towards nuclear disarmament is discussed in detail. The ability of U.S. aerial photography and espionage to monitor foreign military activity is explored. Criticisms against the military code of conduct for being too idealistic and cliched are mentioned.

Describes conditions of people living in the Soviet sector of Berlin, Germany. Discussion of the realities of the Cold War in Berlin; Difficulties facing ordinary Berliners in the winter season; Comparison with conditions in the Western sector of the city; Categories of city residents; Effects of the currency reform on the economic situation of Berliners; Use of the word friendship, in connection with the relations of Berliners to Westerners; Relationship of Berliners with Russians.

Discusses the factors behind the Soviet Union's support for the electoral bid of New York Governor and Republican presidential candidate Thomas Edmund Dewey. Efforts of the communist government in claiming the part of Germany administered by the Allied Forces; Expectations on a shift of U.S. policy towards Germany with Dewey's electoral victory against Harry Truman; Economic conditions in Germany three years after the war.

Focuses on the impact of fascism on Italy and Germany. Reports that false discipline of fascism had impaired without replacing the natural humane disciplines; Mechanized militarism had strengthened the Italians' traditional dislike of the Germans; Building of war machines by Germany; Emphasis on German Nazism, which was combination of fascism, "politicalization" of modern mass technology, and the mechanization of modern mass psychology; Views Nazi morale as the product of the de-personalization, the de-individualization of the Germans into emotionally standardized units of a psychological mass.

Presents a discussion related to the reasons that made the common Germans to be a party to the immoral activities of the Nazis. Analysis of the book "Death in the Afternoon," by Ernest Hemingway, which dealt with bullfighting in Spain; Discussion of the novel "Darkness at Noon," by Arthur Koestler that explored an area of modern political psychology which has some resemblance to medieval religious mysticism; Depiction of the psychological dilemma that led Germans to participate in extermination camps; Invocation of Nazi values overlooking the Christian values proved disastrous for the Germans; Opinion of the proponents of the guilt campaign directed towards the Germans.

The article focuses on the Vatican city. Myron C. Taylor need to be a link between the American Government and the Roman Catholic Church as a universal institution concerned with all men's souls and hence practically with the destiny of the human bodies which are temporarily the carnal envelope of those souls. The story of the Vatican's direct intervention in Italian domestic politics also begins in, 1944: as Fascist syndicalism was liquidated, the Church played seriously with, the idea of fostering official Catholic sharing in an entirely new, united national labor-union organization.

Focuses on the depressing mood prevailing in Atlantic Europe. Statement that the wave of resentment is greatest among the Atlantic Europeans with a sense of history; View that the Christmas bells bring no armistice in a war of nerves that has become a total involvement in anxiety of the whole man; Information that the crumbling of British national economy, the serious lagging of ECA and the announcement of Soviet Union's possession of atomic bombs were for Atlantic Europeans the most important events of 1949.

Focuses on events of the Jubilee celebration during the Holy Year of 1950. Report that many events of importance not only to communicants of the Roman Catholic Church but also in relation to the Church's role as a sovereign temporal power participating directly in world politics will take place during the Holy Year of 1950; Possibility that a papal bull will be issued to change the size of the College of Cardinals; Political aspects of the Jubilee celebration; Information on the last two dogmas of the Church by the members of the Society of Jesus; Issuance of the encyclical Quanta Cura by the Pope, which denounced liberty of conscience and worship, and rejected freedom of speech and the press; Report that Syllabus or Collection of Modern Errors repudiated modern liberalism and denied that the Roman pontiff can and ought to reconcile himself and make terms with progress, with liberalism and with modern, methods of government; Report that between the 1890's and the First World War, the Church's advocacy of social justice found expression in laical organizations, labor unions and even in political parties in Western Europe; Report that Catholic liberalism reached its climax when its proponents spoke up bravely against reactionary American political policy in Western Europe; Impact of the politicization of the Church on the world balance between progress and tradition, enlightenment and obscurantism, liberal democracy and reactionary forms of polity; View of Catholic liberals on present Church policies.

Focuses on the attitude of the Roman Catholic Church toward the fundamental rights of man as they are conceived in the laical tradition of liberal democracy. Statement of Pope Pius XII regarding the rights of the people; Arguments that there is an identity between fundamental rights of man and Church's rights; Struggle of the Catholic Church towards totalitarian Communism; Contention that the struggle of Communism against Communist is also impairing liberal democracy; Argument that existence of more militant Catholic liberals in France pose most serious challenges to the decree of the Holy Office.

Focuses on various political developments in Germany. Votes given by the majority of Western Germans against Communism in elections; Report that the U.S. was pleased with results of the election; Reasons why the British Labour Government was not pleased by a Western Germany run by a combination of the Christian Democrats, the Free German Party and the German Party; View that the results of the election was a defeat of Communist hopes; Opinion that the "unity" of a Rightist Western Germany may turn out to be a disservice to the unity of Western Europe as a whole; Apprehensions of Frenchmen of the Left about a "deal" between a nominally Third Force France and an openly Rightist Western Germany.

Reports on the conference of the Council of Foreign Ministers to discuss the problems related to Germany in Paris, France. Political oratory of the foreign ministers of the four nations involved in the meeting; Role of Soviet diplomat Andrei Vishinsky in drafting the charter of the meeting; Stand taken by U.S. foreign secretary Johnston Duncan Acheson related to the type of government in Germany; Answers to the questions raised during the first week of the meeting related to the stand taken by the four foreign ministers.

The article focuses on the decision of French statesman Pierre Mendes-France to resign from the French Government by the middle of May unless by that time Premier Guy Mollet has put into actual effect concrete measures of sweeping reform on behalf of the Moslem population of Algeria and also to justify the measures of military repression of the extreme Moslem nationalists. The decision of French Premier Guy Mollet to increase the taxes will fall most heavily on those who are least able to pay. For Algeria the departure of Mendes-France would mean for the moderate Moslems the removal from the active political scene of the France.

Reports on the success of American and British air forces in bringing relief goods to Berlin, Germany despite the Russian blockade and the winter weather. Estimated number of flights made by the Americans and British airmen since the start of the airlift; Failure of the Russian blockade; Decision to build an airbridge to Berlin; British technicians' study of the weather in Berlin; Success of the Air Force and its implications for American foreign policy; Contingency plans for the whole winter.

Focuses on the political and economic conditions of Italy after World War II. Comments on the pro-American and anti-Soviet nature of the Christian Democratic Party; Abandonment of the Popular Front between the Communists and the Nenni Socialists; Discussion of the struggle between the Communists and the Catholic Church in Italy; Description of the method in which ECA is managed.

Analyzes the political complexion in Italy with emphasis on the Italian General Confederation of Labor (CGIL). Stand of CGIL members against Premier Alcide de Gasperi who voted in the national election for him and his pro-American pro-Vatican Christian Democratic Party; Apprehension among workers of a irrevocable split between the socialists and communists; Problems of post-Fascism; Information about the Italian Socialist Workers Party.

Focuses on the attempts being made in Italy in order to uproot the fascist forces, and the political factions operating to overthrow the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. Danger to the Fascists from the Communists who are courageous; Aid from foreign countries; Views that a communist regime is ideally suited to follow a dictatorial regime; Forces opposed to fascism include the Socialists who are in direct touch with the exiles abroad; Commitment to overthrow Fascism as well as to struggle against monarchy and direct Church influence; Opposition of the Liberals who are eager to capitalize on the mistakes made by fascist forces in dealing with the economy.

This article focuses on various literary works and writer Kenneth Pendar. At the incredibly beautiful villa of La Saadia in Marrakesh, Pendar lived in the quasi-Oriental splendor. Pendar believes the U.S. was defeated diplomatically in North Africa and in its French policies generally. The article also focuses on Pendar's book "Adventure in Diplomacy." Another book which is talked about in this article is "Pursuit of Understanding," by Esther Cloudman Dunn. Dunn puts up a vigorous defense of the potential and often actual waywardness of students, who, being young, naturally demonstrate their vitality by intermittent attention and submission.

This article focuses on conditions of prison in Spain. Some of the jails in the frontier area were much worse. The best of the large prisons was at Pamplont. It was large, fairly new, relatively clean. The day the author saw it there were many foreigners in the cells, Frenchmen, Poles, Czechs, Dutchmen, Belgians, a few German desetters, and even a tragic little Hungarian Jew. In most cases, especially among the Frenchmen, it wasn't bad food, vermin, or ill treatment they complained about. They wanted to be free, and free in order to fight, they were worried that the lighting might be finished before they were liberated. The author and his associates were permitted to talk to all the prisoners, except the Spaniards, individually at in groups, and there was no nonsense about interpreters.

Focuses on the strategy of the Soviet Union, which, the article author believes, is to divide the non-Communist nations by bringing differences between them to crisis intensity. Significance of the Prague trial; Relationship between views of political leader Adolf Hitler and Soviet Union's strategy; Contribution of Nazism in turning large sections of the Jewish population toward Communism.

This article focuses on international relations. Negotiation, patience, compromise, conciliation, even humiliation may be the price of continued partnership between the U.S. and its European allies. The danger in France is of a revival of an even more extreme form of neutralism than the kind that existed before the Soviets made their mistakes in the UN and in Korea. The sum total of the Western European situation during the last month or two is that American policy, by going forward too quickly and too far in order to take fullest advantage of the Russian errors, has itself made serious errors which Russia is exploiting.

This article focuses on Europe's industrial potential of war. The coal, iron and steel of the Ruhr and the Rhineland are Western Europe's industrial potential of war. The London Conference held in this reference, in May, by the Foreign Ministers of the Atlantic Pact nations, was also about the occupation of the Ruhr and the Rhineland. It was an end of the American policy of keeping European economic realities and Atlantic military strategy in separate compartments and of consistently subordinating the one to the other. The Schuman-Monnet plan discussed in the conference was the "two" of a French one-two blow for European freedom from American conceptions of how peace might be saved.

Discusses the influence of politics on the Roman Catholic Church. Development of the ancient and primitive custom to gain spiritual benefits; Significance of a Holy Year for faithful communicants of the Roman Catholic Church; Views Pope Pius XII as a great political figure as well as a great spiritual leader; Maintenance of close contact of the Church with political affairs over the world; Issue of pastoral letters to put the full weight of religious authority behind certain political parties; Recovery of political influence by the Church.

Focuses on the increase in number of visitors in Rome between Christmas of the year 1949 and Christmas of next year than in the last previous Holy Year of 1925. Revival of popular religious sentiment of the sort in the wake of wars particularly damaging to man's faith in himself as well as in a deity; Observance of periodic Jubilees by Roman Catholic Church six and one-half centuries ago; Combination of non-Catholics as well as Catholics with pilgrims for the observance; Economic resemblance of the Holy Year of 1950 with the original one in 1300; Political aspects in the fight of the Church against Moscow; Reasons on the Church's desire and need to make the Holy Year a successful show of force.

Focuses on the conflict regarding the involvement of Catholics in communist activities in France. Details about a peace day demonstration in Paris, France which was patently Communist in its inspiration; Information about a decree issued in Rome, Italy by the Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office which contained the means of disciplining Western Catholics; Reference to the official censure of French prelate Abbé Boulier by the Cardinal Archbishop of Paris; Conflict between Catholic conservatives and liberals regarding the settlement of the Boulier case; Attitude of the Roman Catholic Church regarding whether any cooperation with the Communists in the field of politics is to be considered anti-Catholic.

Focuses on the meeting of the U.S., the Soviet Union, France and Great Britain to discuss issues related with the growing power of Germany in Paris, France. Consideration of four-power control over Germany; Oration of Soviet Union Foreign Minister Andrei Vishinsky on various political issues of Germany; Significance of the role played by Governor Thomas E. Dewry from the U.S. in resolving some major economic issues related to Germany; Uncertainty over the extent of political involvement of the Soviet Union in Germany; Discussion of issues related to growing influence of Communism in other parts of the world; Chances of resolution of power distribution of Germany from the present meeting.

Focuses on the possibility of the end of cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union after the lift of the Berlin blockade and approval of West Germany's constitution. Criticism of the belief of U.S. General Lucius Clay that the opposition of the West to the East was a crusade of good against evil, and dedicated to the mission of preparing for an in evitable war; Progress toward the development of a policy of political appeasement in Germany after the election of Harry S. Truman as President; Information on the early stages of the bilateral Soviet American talks; Expectations from the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe in solving the German problem; Apprehension of the British and French people that the much desired end of American isolation may lead to the beginning of a Soviet-American condominium over Europe.

Presents letters to the editor on various political and economic issues confronting the world. Voting behavior of German women; Help for James Kutcher, the legless veteran fired from his job in the U.S., in mobilizing support and funds for legal expenses; Exploitation of Germany by Russian officials.

Analyzes the policy of French statesman Charles de Gaulle, if he gets elected as the President of France, with Algeria. Overview of political crisis in Algeria; Suppression and torture of Algerians in France by military officers; Demand for civil liberties in France by Algerians, which led them to sustain the 40 months war; Expectation that de Gaulle would certainly try to keep Algeria within the Union; Authoritarian belief of de Gaulle on presidential system of his country and on the role of the executive in it, if not fascist.

This article presents information on the book "The French Nation," by D.W. Brogan. Books continue to be written about what's wrong with France and the French, but none digs a scalpel so surely into the canker of French politics as Charles de Gaulle's simple statement, and few explain better than Brogan's "The French Nation" what the statement means. After reading "The French Nation" it is not hard to understand some of the reasons why Felix Gaillard won a resounding vote of confidence in the National Assembly on the issue of the Tunisian bombing, despite the revulsion of world opinion.

The article presents information about the book "Lieutenant in Algeria," by Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber and translated by Ronald Matthews. The book talks about war in Algeria. Written for a French public largely as an impassioned political tract, in some ways already out of date "Lieutenant in Algeria" nevertheless may in its present American version make a large American public understand why "pacification" has gone so wrong. Servan-Schreiber is singularly well equipped for the task. At 33 one of the most brilliant political polemicists in a country where intellectual standards are high, he is also a man of action. He was recalled to active military service in 1956.

The article focuses on the Fourth French Republic which is being ripped apart at the seams. The sound of the tearing was plainly audible during the National Assembly debate on Edgar Faure's policy in North Africa. The formal issue in that debate was confidence in the present French government; the real issues were the continued existence of the present republican and democratic French state, and the nature of a different--militarized if not dictatorial--state role in the defense of the West and the free world.

This article focuses on the U.S. atomic supremacy. Many nations which had looked exclusively to the United States for help in catching up in the atomic held found startling revelations in the Soviet Union resources, and the possibilities of Soviet assistance. In countries on the threshold of the modernization of their economy, international planning is necessary. As a matter of fact, for rather a long time to come, the needs of such countries in such areas as the training of technicians and in experimentation will have to be met through outside help. The U.S. is providing isotopes to 47 countries; courses for foreign students from almost as many; enriched uranium and heavy water to a few countries; and we have bilateral agreements with 25 countries, with more in view.

The article comments on political developments all round the world. Since 1947, however, Communism has steadily lost ground with French intellectuals. And it is typical of an even greater change which has been taking place in the intellectual climate during the last year that Frenchmen have begun to express doubts about the Left. The idea and the fact of the political Left are being re-examined. The relations of Communism in and to the Left are very much in question. It is, of course, a discussion primarily of thoughts and theories. But in France the theories and the practice of politics have always been closely related.

Describes experiences of the author as one of the three American journalists who penetrated inside the Berlin City Hall while the Communists were besieging and invading it on Labor Day. Presence of crowd in the street in front of the main entrance of the Stadthaus; Seizure of the German employees of the U.S. propaganda agency, by mobsters.

The article reports on the heroic patriotic service of Dominican priest Raymond-Léopold Bruckberger to France. He founded the magazine "Cheval de Troie," which became the organ of Catholic liberals and of internationally famous writers who believed both in progress and in giving a sound moral basis to the struggle of the civilization of the West against Eastern communism. He made a campaign to obtain clemency for Jean Bassompierre.

Describes negative sentiments in Western Europe, and in France in particular, about American goodwill after World War II. Antipathy towards Americans underneath official friendship; American misreading of loathing of communism and willingness to obstruct it in Europe; Need for Frenchmen or Italians to convey the message that the danger of a communized Western Europe does not frighten them.

Focuses on various political developments in Italy and the U.S. and the Soviet Union's role in it. Announcement by Alcide de Gasperi, leader of the Church-supported Christian Democratic Party, of the creation of an Italian government without Communists; View that the ousting of the Communists was one of the most fateful Italian political acts for it made of Republican Italy an economic dependent of the U.S.; Consequences of ousting of the Communists; Description of the West-East duel between the U.S. and the Soviet Union; Role of De Gasperi as the successful champion of the West; Reflection of the growing Communist influence in Italy inspite power in the hands of de Gasperi.

Presents views of the Italians on Fascism. Belief of a large number of Italians that the end of fascism is in sight; View that the theories of the anti-Fascists have little effective value except for their appeal to liberals outside of Italy; Claim that Fascism has on the broad plane of politics had the virtue of accomplishing two results of historical importance; View that Fascism is suffering from its destruction of all opposition; Dilemma faced by the opponents of Fascism in the threat of war with Jugoslavia or France or both.

Focuses on the U.S. relations with Europe while discussing the visit of John Foster Dulles, U.S. Secretary of State, to Europe during 1953. Information on the possibility of an alliance between the European Defense Community and the U.S.; Comment on U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower's approach towards developing healthy relations with Europe; Author's suggestions about defining the meaning of Atlanticism.

This article presents information about various literary works. The case of Alberto Moravia is rather different. It is not usual for a man in his early forties, whose domain is sense rather than soul, to have his opera omnia lifted from popular best-seller lists to join giants. In a new book, Return to the Censorship, Vitaliano Brancati, a novelist who rates higher in his own country than Moravia, gives chapter and verse to prove that, at least as far as stage and film thought-control is concerned, Benito Mussolini died too soon to see with pleasure the de facto re-creation of his notorious Ministry of Popular Culture.

Focuses on the interest of Western Europeans in the U.S. presidential election. Change in the European political climate; Intimacy in the involvement of the country's policy in specially European politics; Attitude of European individuals toward the country's political campaign.

The article focuses on the European reaction to the Soviet note on Germany. The Soviet note is widely regarded in Western Europe as perhaps the most important and also the most, disturbing development in naked power politics since the end of the war. The latest Soviet note makes clear that Moscow is now to help the recreation of independent military power in a united Germany. Russians are more afraid of an armed West Germany within an Atlantic community or coalition than they are of an armed united Germany which may not only attain self dominance but strive once more for European, if not world, dominance.

Presents several letters to the editor about various issues in the previous issues of the periodical "New Republic." Discussion about effects of communism in Indian elections; Analysis of the Marxist's theory of contemporary social development; Issues related to racism and Nazism in the United States and Paris, France.

This article reports about the address by Pope Pius, broadcast from the Vatican City on the eve of the "Virgin of Lourdes." It was a "fatherly exhortation" to the "beloved sons and daughters of Rome." But it was a political statement to the City and to the world. For it called upon the Romans to establish a pattern that should see not only cities, but nations, continents and the whole human race. "The New York Times," in reporting the Pope's speech, pointed out that "the Italian left-wing press" said his address was the first gun in a campaign to arouse Roman catholic voters.

The article focuses on the political conditions and elections in France and Italy. The Italian Communists and their Socialist allies lost control of many cities but nevertheless gained in popular voting strength, the French Communists lost both seats in the National Assembly and votes more than a fifth of the previous total of some 5.5 million. On the other hand, the result in France was a far greater and more serious swing toward the political Right than in Italy. The hard fact to be faced both in France and in Italy, moreover, is that the technical results of the elections, the number of Assembly seats or administrative machines won or lost do not correspond with the popular results, the actual apportionment of the votes.