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t i t - .a gTro t H . N o . 8 23 Feb . 1944

ARMYTALKS

Res t r i c t edARMY TALKS is a classified official publication of the United States Army in the EuropeanTheater of Operations . The material contained herein may not be quoted or republished, inwhole or in part, nor may it be communicated, directly or indirectly, to persons not authorized

to receive it, except by authority of the Commanding General, ETOUSA.

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS, UNITED STATES ARMY

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

France . . . . . . .

People of France,

11-01

Am es- Ab out France 17

Preparation

uestions 22 .

A R M Y TA L K S :The PURPOSE of ARM Y TALKS is to heipAmerican officers and enlisted personnel become better informed men andwomen and therefore better soldiers.

ARMY TALKS are designed to stimulate discussion and thought,by their very nature, thus may often be controversial in content . y arenot to promote or to propagandize any particular causes, beliefs or theories.

Rather, they draw upon all suitable sources for fact and comment, in theAmerican tradition, with each individual retaining his American right andheritage so far as his own opinion is concerned.

THEREFORE, the statements And opinions expressed herein are notnecessarily verified by, nor do they nemesia* reflect the opinions of, theUnited States Army.

THE SOURCE OF M AT ERIAL must therefore be node d ear at eachdiscussion . AN writt en material appearing in this publication bees born wr itt enand edited b y uniformed m embers of the Arm y and/or Navy, camopt w hitert is stood t hat * civilian or other outside moron it being Quoted,

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ForewordO

UR friendship for France is traditional . We shall never forget the partthe French played in helping us gain our freedom and in establishingour United States as a nation . Then, we were fighting for our liberty.

Now, we are not only fighting for our liberty, but for world liberty . T h eFrench and ourselves have always stood together, shoulder to shoulder, in thecause of freedom . This war is no exception.

B A SICA L L Y and fundam entally w e are all in the sam e boat, and we w illall go up or dow n together . N ot only does our friendship inspire usto f ight w ith Frenchm en f or the restoration of their belov ed France, butcom m on interests, comm on sense and even our com mon surv ival dictate it asa necessity . A ny one w ho, by w ord or deed, detracts from our com m onpull together is, to just that ex tent, helping Hitler . Con trary w ise, all w hom ake certain by w ord and by deed that we all pull together too percent, notonly in the heat of battle but in our daily contacts behind the lines . contributegreatly to Hitler's dow nfall.

O UR great leader, Generel Eisenhower, no less than General Pershing inthe last w ar, realizes and stresses that good f ellow ship and good w illin our daily contacts with our A llies are of enormous v alue to our militaryeffort . W e have a special responsibility to G eneral Eisenhow er to build acombined team where every man, wherever placed, exerts his full strengthwith but a single thought V ictory .

F OR T Y m illion French in France are look ing f orw ard eagerly to the dayof our com ing . They w i ll be f igh ting w i th us . So rhething of theproblems which the French f ace is described in the following pages . So ldiersw ho go into France w ith sym pathy f or French problems, will not only m akef riends f or themselves, but w ill help a great and proud nation to help itself,to free itself, and to work w ith us for the cause of hum anity and freedom Inso doing w e are strengthening the understanding betw een our peoples, anunderstanding w hich w ill be a stabilizing inf luence throughout the w orldtoward a more enduring peace .

HAROLD R . STARK,Admiral, U .S .N ., Commander,U .S . Naval Forces in Europe.

(A dm iral S tark has been representative of the United S tates Gov ernm ent tothe French Missions, in London, since `iruly, 1942 .)

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ARMY TALKSEUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS

FRANCE

FR A N C E , ou r

grea t A l ly inthe las t war, mayseem only a memory

y ' to the Am er icanss 'f igh t ing th i s w ar.

Today Fran ce liesin darkness acrossthe Eng lishChannel : a beaten,

humiliated nation, which is now findingthe power to fight back and the courageto face the f i ring squad and Naz itorture chambe r without flinching.

For over three years, few Americanshave seen the inside of France and fewF r e nc hm e n ha ve s e e n the U n i t e d

States . The trad itional fr iendship ofFrance and the United States, whichgoes back for nearly zoo years, hasremained the chief tie between the twocountries during this long stoppage ofnormal communication . W h e n we d os ta r t me e t ing the F renc h aga inperhaps in their own country thislong standing friendship will meet itstoughest test.

Nazi Terror Gr ips Land

T h e U n i t edStates, r ich and

Germans have robbed them of food.money, machines, clothes, art treasuresand ev erything they could get theirhands on . Our children aren ' t goinghungry . It is up to the countryw h i c h h a s t h e m o s t t o g i v e t h emost . This does not mean on ly money it also means sympathy and under standing.

Pre w ar F rance , ' no t inc lud ingoverseas co lon ies , had an a rea of212,000 square miles . The combinedarea of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michiganand Wisconsin is 244,000 square miles.

France had a population of 41,000,000.The abo ve f ive s ta tes of the Unionhave a pop ulation of 27,000,000.

Colonies Bigger Than U .S.

_ The French Colonial Empire - is bigin area . Before the war, the Frenchcolonies overseas covered 4,695,000square miles (the United States and

dependencies, 3,734,000 square miles).At least half the area of the French

colonies, however, is accounted for bythe Sahara Desert . The total popula tion of these co lonies is 70,000,000,

of whom o n l ytwo or three

unconquered, has Cr ane Brinton, of the Am erican millions, mostly

never known an

experience whichf o r t y m i ll io n

Office of Strat egic Serv ices, London,and Lt . Richard Oliphant, U .S.N ., are

co-authors of this AR MY TA LK Sarticle on France . Brinton lived and

in North Africa,are Frenchmen.

M o s t o f t h isF r e n c h h a v e studied there and wr ote a book on the E m p i r e li e s inknown every dayfor three years.The French havel ived un der the

French Revolution . L t . Oliphant is onthe staff of Admiral Harold R . Stark ,U .S .N . Commander, U .S NavalForces in Europe as liaison officer withthe French Missions, London .

Africa . There aremany othercolonies, however:I n d o C h i n a in

Nazi terror . T h e t h e F a r E a s t ,

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several city states in India, two smallislands called St . Pierre and Miquelon,off the coast of Canada, Martiniqueand French Guiana

in the Caribbeanarea, T ahiti and oth er island s inmid Pacific . T hat the sun nev er setson B ritish soil is true, and this is trueof French soil as well . Like all colonialpow ers, France had plenty of nativ eproblems with her colonies.

Most Frenchmen BelongIn Middle Pay Bracket

The great majority of Frenchmenare either peasants or small shop keepers ; artisans, white collar workers.M ost o f the peasan ts a re smal lindependent landowners . Peasants intown and country both are serioiishard working, thrifty and conventional.M ost of them w ould seem to theaverage American as close with theirmoney as the traditional Scot.

They drink wine with their meals,except in Normandy and Brittany,where they drink cider instead ; bu tFrenchmen rarely get drunk . They aresteady going people ; strict in theirfamily loyalties, and by no means freeand easy about love . They have smallfamilies, since they feel obliged toprovide for their children and keep thefamily property intact.

They Tend to Stay at Hom eBy American standards, French

peasants are rather unenterprising.They won't gamble where money isconcerned, and .prefer to keep as far aspossible in the ways of their fathers.In the North, especially, the peasantsare a dour and silent lot . In the towns

and all over the South the ordinaryFrench folk are livelier, more cheerfuland talkative . O n t h e whole, fewFrenchmen in real life live up to theHollywood model of the gay, amorous,talkative Latin.

All Frenchmen are well satisfiedwith being Frenchmen, just as we areglad to be Americans . They feel that

7RaIY TALK S

France is the most civilized of nations.Of course, they know she *is no longerthe strongest, and t hey know she has

just been badly beaten . B u t th e ycertainly don 't f eel they are a sm allinsignificant nation.

Frenchmen, with the exception ofthe few engaged in business dealingswith foreigrn . a, tend to be ignorant ofother peoples and other languages.The French a re an insular people.They would rather stay at hoarse thansee the world . This doesn't mean theydon't get on well with foreigners . I t 'slust that they prefer staying in France.

Colonies Were IgnoredThe French colonies are the concern

of a few governmental experts .Ordinary Frenchm en are not, likeordinary Britishers, really familiar withtheir overseas lands . This is a fact to

be remembered if we wish to under stand why the French Governmentdid not transfer itself to the coloniesin 1940 and continue the fight.

In important respects, Frenchmenare much m ore like Am ericans inpolitics and social activities than theyare like Germans or Britishers.Frenchmen are good democrats in anon party way . Th e y a r e r a t h e rdistrustful of the government and ofgovernment agents, and they showthis 'in many little ways.

French Like AmericansW hen They Get Orders

A sign " Keep off the Grass " seemsto many Frenchmen, as to manyAmericans, an invitation to picnic atthat particular spot . They have noneof the sheeplike fondness for obediencethe Germans have, nor do they obeyout of a kind of club spirit, as do theBritish

Socially, too, French m en, likeAmericans, behave as if they believedmen are at least approximately equal.Their old aristocracy has no legal

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2 3 F e b ru a rb 1 9 4 4

s t and ing , and doe sn ' t ca r ry m uchweight even socially . Every Frenchman,no ma tter how poor, is good enoughto be called " Monsieur ."

France M ore S tab le

Than H istory Hints,

France as a going co ncern, a social

organ i sm , is a m uch m ore s t ab lenation than its numerous revolutionarychanges of governm ent s ince 1789would lead an Am erican to believe.These changes have m ost ly been att he t op and usually involved littleviolence . In three cases, 1814, 1870and 1 94 0,revolutionsh av e b eenthe result ofmilitarydefeat andenemy occu p a t io n o f

Paris.It is true

t h a t t h e r ehas been

division inFrench poli tics between the conservative Ca tholicRight and the radica l f ree thinking

Left . The relat ively recent and o nlypart ial establishm ent of large scrleindus try in F rance has in t roducedwhat the socialists call a class consciousindustrial proletariat . Th is has ma depolitics more complicated.

France Can S t il l be G rea tThe phrase " the two France s ,"

often used to indicate that there isa sort of unbridgeable abyss betweentwo sorts of Frenchm en, is a greatexaggeration . Beneath a ll their politicaldifferences there is a rea l unity of habitand feeling . Given international order,and hence econom ic and po l it ica lsecuri ty, France should be ab le towork out a stable democratic govern ment . '

7_

France was beaten in battle in Mayand June of 1940 . She was ove r runby the victorious Germ an army . Ye tFrance can still be a great world power.

T h e m o s t im p o r t a n t th i n g f o rAmericans to realize about France areher past greatness and her present dayinfluence, geographically and throughher man pow er, on the whole continentof Europe . The pos i t ion o f Francetoday must not blind us when lookingto the France of tomorrow . F ranc eremains important.

Land S t rong Unde r N apo leonA l it tl e o v e r a h u n d r e d y e a r s

ago , whenEurope wasthe center oft h e w or ld ,Franceunder Nap

oleon wasthe strong

es t s ing lenation in

t h e w o r l d ,e xc e p t f o rsea power.Since then

t h e ri s e o f G e r m a n y a n d R u s s i ain Europe, of the United States andJ a p a n o u t s id e E u r o p e , a n d t h econtinued strengthening of Britain andthe Bri t ish Em pire , have m ade thepos i t ion o f France relatively lessimportant.

French Empire HasW orld Importance

That is only to say that mankind

has passed from p olitical problemscen te red on E urope to po l i t ica lprob lems cen te red on the w or ld .Even on this modern scale of worldpolitics, France and the French Empirebulk large . Smart cracks about Francenow being a second rate power areunnecessarily wounding to our Frenchfriends.

Future ac t ions o f the liberated

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French nation w ill decide wha t placein the world France shall occupy.

France went down in 1940, but notout . T h e r e a r e m a n y s i g n s a t t h e

end of 1943 that France is rising again,and her long h is tory g ives an evenbetter " form sheet " on which to baseassurance of her come back.

Invasion not NewThe events of 1940 were nothing

new in French history . In the thousandyears of her existence as an independentnat ion, dozens of vic tor ious enem y

armiesNorman, English, German,

Au str ian, Russian, Span ish havetramped the streets of Pa ris . Perhapsher lowest point was reached in thef i f teen th cen tu ry, jus t before thecoming of Saint Joan of Arc.

Som et imes her " lows " fol low edclosely on her " highs . " In 1812 thet riu m p h a n t F r e n c h a rm y u n d e rNapoleon was in Moscow ; in 1814Napoleon had abdicated and the trium phant Ru ssian, Bri t ish and G ermanarmies were in Paris . A dozen times inthe past France has displayed her un

u s u a l p o w er s o f r e co v e ry an d h e rability to come back after defeat . Sheis doing so again.

SUJI .IA B YA lthough her arm ies were beaten

and her land occupied, France is f arfrom f inished and 40,000,000 hard

ARMY TALKS

working, patriotic French men andw om en cannot be ignored in anyconsideration of Europe . T heirconfidence in the com m and of the

French A rmy w as shaken by def eat.but Frenchmen, who are much likeA m ericans in their belief that onem an is as good as the next, w ill

recover .f rom this invasion as theyhave from others in fact the rise ofthe Fighting French proves that thisrecov ery is already u nder w ay .

H o w d o e s F r a n c e c o m p a r e i n

s iz e w it h t h e M id d l e W e s te r nS ta t e s ? H ow d id t he s iz e o f t hecoun t ry ' s p re war co lon ies com pa r e w i th t he U n i te d S t a t e s a nddependencies ?

Geography was FactorOf 1940 French Defeat

The ev en t s o f 1940 , t hen , needexplanation, not apology . The explana tion is basically simple . Th e F ren charmies w ere beaten dec isively in thefield by German armiesarmies betterled and bet ter equipped, especial lywith planes and tanks.

Once these armies were bea ten, therewas nowhere in France for them to go.Rem ember, the great nation of Francecould fit into the state of Tex as with55 thousand square m iles to spare.

Arm ies Couldn ' t Re t rea t

A French re t rea t l ike the R ussianretreat to Stalingrad and the Caucasus,or even to Leningrad and Moscow , iSimpossible . F rench a rm ies back ingup the same distance from the Rhinewou ld be out in the Atlantic Ocea n.

No r has France wh at Bri ta in has , achannel to protect her from invadingland armies . She is in the same positionas Germany and all the other countriesof Western and Central Europe . Oncethe i r f ie ld a rm ies a re bea ten thesecountr ies have, for the tim e being atleast, to give up .

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93 February 1941

It is true that all was not well withFrance internally in 1940 . The worldeconomic depression, the cost of re armament in face of Hitlerite Germany,

a tragic lack of great leaders, all struckFrance at the same time.

She had never m ade up for thebleeding of 1914 18 . France lost amillion and a half men in the last war,the United States lost 119 thousand.French officials failed completely in1 939 to prepare Frenchmen or to pro vide arms against the growing German

might wh ich threatened to crushFrance.

Nazi Propaganda ClickedAll this time the German enem y

continued to carry out its successfulpropaganda campaign which for yearsbefore 1939 was being aimed at under mining French morale . F r a n c e 'sgeographic size and position withregard to the enemy made it easy forthe German radio to blanket the wholeof France and for spies of fifth columnsto slip back a nd forth across theborder.

Yet with all this France carried outher military obligations to Poland ;involved her precious armies in thedesperate confusion of Holland andBelgium, and was beaten by enemysuperiority in tanks and planes.

" France Was R otten "Theory Just Not True

It is sim ply not true to say tha tFrance w as " rotten " inwardly in1940, nor even on the edge of civilwar . Compare France with a person.

Every healthy human being is full ofdisease germs . These germ s onlyundermine his health when som eaccident breaks down his normalimmunity . What really let the alwayspresent germ s of political diseaseundermine France was the Germanbreak through at Sedan in May, 1940 .

Once the French armies were de cisively defeated, the Government wasfaced with the choice between anarmistice with the enemy or a removal

to French North Africa to continue thefight . All things con sidered, it isremarkable that the decision to askfor an armistice was so close, that somany in the government wanted tofollow the advice of the Prime Minister,M . Reynaud, and go to Africa . Onlyby a sort of coup d 'etat did MarshalPetain carry the day.

Truce Divided FranceFrenchmen are rarely fully conscious

of their empire, and all their nationalinstincts keep them wrapped up inmetropolitan France . Actually, NorthAfrica, as we w ere all to learn inNovember, 1942, was not the place fora last ditch fight by French Republicans.Its French ruling class were alreadyhalf won to totalitarian ideas, and aReynaud government 1n1940 would havehad hard going there . The Germansmight have occupied all French Africahad there been no Vichy government.

The armistice concluded by MarshalPetain in June, 1940, divided Franceinto two zones . The larger zoneincluded Paris and the whole Atlantic

and Channel coasts . This zone wasto be occupied by the German army.The smaller zone with its capital atVichy included the big cities of Lyonsand M arseilles and was to be left" technically " unoccupied . This zonewas to be governed directly by the newgovernment of the National Revolutionunder 87 year old Petain.

Some Frenchmen BackedNazi Plans for Country

A detailed account of what happenedin France during the last four years isnot possible here, but the broad linesare- clear. A very small minority ofFrenchmensome intellectuals, some

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big business men, and some of the moreviolent working class leadersralliedfrankly to the German cause . A largenumber of good Frenchmen who hadfallen under German propa iganda werealso convinced that France's only hopewas to knuckle under . The Germansencouraged this belief.

Some Thought NazisWere Sure to Win War

Many of these collaborators " weremere careerists, who thought Germanywas bound to win and wanted to geton the band wagon . Othe rs wereconvinced Fascists, and still othersstray radical intellectualsactuallyseem to have taken Goebbels and Co . attheir word and believed that theNational German Socialist Workmen'sParty really was a revolutionary socialistmovement.

These collaborators, who sooncentered their efforts under Germanprotection in Paris, were a sm all if

ARMY TALKS

noisy minority and never had a holdon the French people.

A second group, the group centeringaround Vichy and Marshal Petain,probably did command in the summerof 1940 the sometimes reluctant loyaltyof the mass of Frenchmen This groupwas itself a strange mixture . A smallnumber of enthusiasts really believedthat under Petain France could bereborn, that there really was a NationalRevolution . They were not exactlyFascists, nor even totalitarians . They

wanted an orderly hard workingCatholic France, trusting its leaders toguide it to full recovery . They had nolove for Germany, and no desire tocollaborate.

Vichy Had Its Follower sVichy, too, had its band wagon

followers . But the great bulk of theseordinary Frenchmen who acceptedVichy did so because they believedBritain beaten already . G e rm a npropaganda is a powerful weapon and

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23 1 eebrunrp 1944 u

when combined with success in the and progress of the war, up to andbattlefields German propaganda , really after the Franco German Armishit home . Not many French doubted the tice Agreement ?German claims in 1940, that " Britain'sneck would be rung like a chicken infive weeks . "

Finally, a third group refused to giveup the fight . This group was divided,largely by the accident of whether itsmem bers happened to be inside oroutside of France in June, 1940.Those men outside France became theFree Frenchlater the Fighting Frenchand those men inside France formedthe Resistance Groups in France itself.

S11JI1JI/1 IC I'A fter the Germ an break through

at Sed an, France w as forced tocapitulate because there simply wasnot enough room to f all back andre farm . The French Gov ernm entwould have been greatly handicapped

if it had attemp ted to carry on thew ar from N orth A frica because thecolony w as largely in the hands ofelem ents m ore or less receptive tothe Nazi ideas . Som e Frenchm en,of M etropolitan France, w elcom edthe def eat as the only m eans ofcreating a strong , orderly gov ern ment in the country . Others rallied

arou nd M arshal Petain and the4V ichy Gov ernment, believing Francecould w ork out her future by col laborating w ith the N azis . A `thirrdgroup, w ith mem bers both inside andoutside France, determined to cagyon the s t ruggle u nder Ge neralCharles de Gaulle and the Unde rground Resistance leaders.

Could the French General Staffhave carried out a defense in depths t ra tegy s imi la r to tha t usedsuccessfully in Russia ? W hy ?W h at a re th e f ac ts ab o u t th etheory that " France was rotten " ?Did the ac t ions of the Frenchreveal a knowledge of the causes

Gen . de Gaulle Emerges

To Lead Fighting FrenchEveryone now knows how a little

known French G eneral escaped toEngland and, w ith the support ofWinston Churchill, organized remnantsof the French forces to fight on againstGermany . General de Gaulle's radiobroadcast appeal of June, 1940, to theFrench nation stirred the whole world

and reminded us all in those black daysthat " France has lost a battle . Shehas not lost the war " The Frenchcontinued the battlein the Pacific, inAfrica, on convoy duty to Russiawith their remaining t roops andsupplies.

Under the pressure of many andgrave difficulties, de Gaulle has made

mistakes . Those very qualities whichmade him continue a last ditch fighthave also made him, on occasions,not an easy person to deal with.

The Free French Movement underde G aulle soon took on a kind ofpolitical trusteeship for the mothercountry which, under German oppres sion, was unable to speak for itself.

.The de Gaullist movement became akind of Government in Exile.

Leaders were UnknownThis Fighting French Government

in London differed from other ExileGovernm ents in that it was not the

`' *last government voted by the people of'France before the collapse, but was

formed from elements then little known

to the ' French people . It was for thisreason that the American and BritishGovernments never recognized deGau lle and his followers as theGovernment of France . However, theFighting French were given full lendlease aid and armed protection in thePacific

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The United States took the positionthat no government could be consideredthe rightful government of France untilsuch time as the people of France were

free to choose for themselves . T h ede Gaullists in their, devoted loyalty totheir leader and their sensitive feelingsover the m ilitary " humiliation " ofFrance w ere quick to resent thisseeming refusal on the part of GreatBritain and the United States to admitFrance to her position in world affairs.

Misunderstandings ExietedBetween U .S . and France

To say that a misunderstanding,possibly unavoidable, existed betweenthe Fighting French and 'ourselves ishardly putting the case too strongly.The important thing is to face andovercome this misunderstanding . Thebest way to do that is to rememberwhat trouble the French are in . Tryto remember that Frenchmen likeAmericans and that our help to theFrench isn't just money and supplies.

Final judgmen t of the poli t icalactions of de Gaulle and the FightingFrench must be left to the French inFrance when they are liberated fromthe German yoke . The military record

of the F ighting F rench is fu l l ofheroic achievements : the defense ofBir Hakeim in the Libyan desert duringthe Allied retreat to the lines of ElAlamein ; the sinking of two German

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subs. in one engagement by the corvetteAconit ; the superb convoy d uty ofFrench vessels getting supplies throughto Russia . The world w ill not forget

that t he armed forces of the FrenchR epub lic under d e Gaulle and hisFighting French never ceased t o assailthe Axis.

Resistance GroupsAttack Invaders

In France, after the collapse of theGovernm ent , groups of men andwomen who refused to give up thefight, began to organize ResistanceGroups . At first these groups w ereseparate units . As months passed, andthe German pressure grew stronger,the Resistance Organizations unitedtheir forces, until today all France isbound up in a network of Resistance.

Furthermore, Britain did not fall andthe United States entered the struggle.Frenchmen took heart again.

French Communists Held AloofBefore Germany invaded Russia the

French Communists had held aloof,though alfnoot none of them had goneover to collaboration . A f t e r t h eGerman attack on Russia in June, 1941,they became one of the most active

and efficient of the Resistance Groups.By propaganda through clandestinenewspapers and leaflets, by sabotageagainst 'factories working for Germany,by ; strikes `and threats of strikes, by

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23 February 1944

direct guerilla attacks on Germanlines of communications and on Germanpersonnel, the Resistance Groups havegradually roused their countrymen

against, the Nazi invader.By the end of 1943, collaborators andVichy supporters had diminished to asmall group, and the overwhelmingmajority of Frenchmen were back inspirit in the fight once more . Thesemen and women await the momentwhen an Allied landing will enablethem to help throw the Germans out.

Landings were Dram aticNovember 7, 1942, was a dramatic

moment fo1 patriotic Frenchmen every where . ; The first result of the AngloAmerican landing in French NorthAfrica was to bring to a head gravepolitical problems . General de Gaulleand the Fighting French were notincluded in the plans or landing

operations . The Am erican officialswho had remained in Vichy and inNorth Africa, because their Governmenthad been able to maintain relationswith unoccupied France, based theirreports on conditions as they saw them.The United States and British Army.Chiefs' made their decisions on thosereports.

Vichy Held PowerIn North Africa

North Africa was dominated' null

tarily and politically by a rabid anti deGaulle group of Frenchmen makingmoney on the V ichy Petain basis.They were prepared to fight us to the

end if we tried to force upon themleaders of our own choice . Darlan waschosen eventually because he was theonly man with authority to order thefighting to stopor to give the orderfor the battle between French andAmericans to continue.

Agreement With DarlanAvoided a Civil War

Given the pro Vichy conditioning ofthe Frenchmen, both military andCivilian, who ran North Africa, thepact concluded on the spur of themoment with the Vichyite Darlan wasthe only way to make sure of themilitary success of the operation with out great loss of American and Britishand Fren ch life . Had the Anglo

Am ericans attempted to install ade G aullis t regime in N orth andW est Afr ica , they would a lmostcertainly have provoked a civil war, andjeopardised the whole operation .

The "de Gaullists would have beenwilling to take this risk of civil war.The U n it e d S t at e s w as n o tat th e e x p e n s e o f A m e ric anlives. A s it was, the A nglo A mericans,with invaluable assistance from theFrench troops of the regular army aswell as Fighting French troops, drove

de Ponce Des Ehrdhxts Un Professesir Uxe Y idinee a Ux Canton d e C a f e D y e P e i n t r e Un Soldat

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the Axis from the African continenta n d p u t a n e w f a c e o n t h e w h o l emilitary situation.

F .C.N .L . Established in Algiers

North Africa caused a division ofFrenchmen outside France which fora time seemed unsolvable . T h e

assassination of Darlan, though notto be condoned, did clear the way forGeneral Giraud to take over . Giraudhad been the B ritish and Am ericanchoice as a Com mander in Nor th

Africa ; but the unexpected presenceof Darlan interfered with the plan.

General Giraud, though unpopularwith the deG a u l l is t s a s amilitary official oft h e o l d r e g im ewho had brought

defeat to France,was none the lessadmitted to be an

honest man without any taint of thecollaborationist in his record.

A f t e r m o n t h s o f a rg u m e n t , t h eFrench forces w ere all united under

the Com mittee of National Liberationat Algiers . The Comm ittee was given

a joint Presidency of de Ga ul le andGiraud . T h e re w e r e 1 2 m e m b e r s,six to be chosen by each President.

U .S ., Br i ta in A nnounce The i rCoopera t ion W ith Comm ittee

In August, 1943, the United Statesand G reat Br i ta in announce d thei rd e c i s io n t o c o o p e r a t e w i th t h eCom mit tee as the French au thor ityresponsible for all French possessionso u t s id e F r a n c e i ts e l f . Formalr ecogn i tion o f any Gove rnmen t o fF rance i s r e se rved bo th by Uni tedStates and G reat Britain until France

i s free of the Germ ans and the 41million French are able to choose byvote wha t their = governm ent is to be.

The U nited States m aintains that it isi h b i i h

A R M Y T A L K S

choose a government for the French.W e may advise ; we m ust g ive help ;but we have no d esire to force our w ill

upon Liberated France.Consulta t ive Assembly Form ed

From V ar ious French Groups

In O ctober, 1943, a Co nsultativeAssemb ly with advisory powers wasformed in Algiers from all the variousFrench groups actively engaged againstGermany, including many representat ives of Resistance groups in Francei tse l f , w ho ha d recen t fi r s t handknow ledge of condi tions a t hom e.T h i s A s s e m b l y w i ll ta k e o n t h efunctions of an informal parl iament,and should he lp greatly to insure thatthe Com mittee of Liberation has realand effective touch with French opinion.Just how much effect this democratic

and very good developm ent will haveon the Com mit tee and i t s membersis still open to question . Time w ill tellwhether the Com mittee which has thepower intends to listen to the Assemblyor ignore it.

Grave Prob lems Rem ain

M any g rave p rob lems s t i ll f aceFrance . A b o v e a l l, th e r e a r e f o rthe mass of Frenchmen at hom e theinescapable and tragic problems of theGerman occupation, with shortages ofgoods of all kinds, semi starvation inthe ci t ies, lack of me dical care andsuppl ies, the cons tant dra in of her

a b le b o d ie d m e n t o G e r m a n y a sconscript laborers . Furthermore, thereis the necessity of subm itting to loss

of French lives and property throughAllied air attacks on G erman installa tions in France, the increasing disorderas Frenchmen s tep up the tempo ofsabotage and guerilla warfare, as youthsflee to the " maquis " (bush) to avoidlabor conscription, as patriotic French men prepare for concerted action on

" D day . " Though F rance m ust stillff tl b f th fi l lib ti

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153 February 1944

from the German occupation, thatliberation is now assured . I t i s theproblems of a liberated France, and thepart which Americans can play in their

solution, that must now concern us.

America and the Future of FranceThere are two extremes of

possible international relationsafter the war . One i s thecontinuation of power politicsamong " sovereign " states.The other is the creasion of an

effective international organiza tion which will have the legal machinery

and authority necessary to decidedisputes am ong m em ber nations.A ctually something in between theseex tremes w ill probably result . T hereprobably will be an international organ ization w ithin w hich " sovereign "nations will continue to carry on in a

restricted way some of the old traditionalpower diplomacy . In such a world it iscertain that A m ericans are going tohave to play an im portant part . I tw ill be to A merican interest to have astrong France willing and able tocooperate w ith the United S tates topreserve peace.

Germany Will be Hostile,We Need a Friendly FranceIf we assume that power politics are

going on w e certainly don ' t wantFrance to be against us . For a genera tion, at least, we shall face a bitter andhostile Germany . We must not allowFrance to drift into a combinationwith Germany . Such a combination

may not seem possible today ; bu tremember that Italy was on our side inthe last war . We must guard against aselfish peace which might do whatHitler tried, and failed, to do . This wasto turn Europe into an anti America,anti British Continent . In term s ofpower politics, then, a friendly Franceis a " must " for the United States

If after the war, however, there isagain order throughout the world, wedon't wa nt a dissatisfied and dis illusioned France to become a bad and

uncooperative member of the Leagueor any such wo rld organization.However you look at the problem, aFrance restored to strength, securityand self respect is essential if the peaceto come is to be a better and morelasting peace than the one that failedin 1919.

France Has to B uildOwn National FutureI t goes without saying that the

French themselves must be the mainbuilders of their future . Neither wenor the British have a right to interferein French internal politics . But theattitude of the American Governmentand of individual American citizens

can help or hinder the true recovery ofFrance . To aid in the so lut ion ofFrench problems, we shall have to usemore tact and more imagination thanwe have yet used in our dealings withFrenchmen.

W e can and indeed are alreadyplanning to help through the United

Nations Relief and Rehabilita

t ion Adm inistration in theindispensable task of assistingFrance to restore the economicbasis of her life . It would be amistake to believe that we canbuy the friendship of France.We cannot afford to limit our

generosity to econo mic ma tters .Nations, like individuals, do not live by

bread alone . Basically, the problem ofour relations with Francethat is withFrenchmenis human and psycho logical . We are dea ling with peoplewho think and feel as we do.

Frenchmen Have Had ShockFrenchmen have suffered a psycho

logical shock. It will not always be easy

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16

for an Ame rican to understand how agood Frenchman feels today . As anation, we ha ve never been bea ten.

We have not known what it means to bethe underdog . The French are andh a v e a r ig h t to b e a p r o u d a n dsensitive people . They may sometimesseem surly and ungra teful even to theirfr iends because of what they havesuffered.

Am ericans are known to be b lunt .We have not always been tactful in our

dealings with other peoples . Like theBri t ish , we g ive the impress ion ofeffortless superiority and con descen sion . Recently, having become awarethat we nee d the friendly cooperationof the peoples of Latin America, weh av e b een a t wo rk o n th e f am o u s" Good Neighbor " policy . W e a r ehaving a hard t ime to overcome the

disl ike which Latin Americans fel ttowards us in the early years when theywere all " greasers " to us.

W e Mu st Not Patronize

If we want to get on with Frenchmen,we m ust learn at once that they areamong the finest peoples of today . Fora while, we must meet Frenchmen evenmore than half way . Just now, theyhave been hurt, and they are touchyand suspicious . W e h a v e to m a k eallowances for this attitude . This doesnot mean that they should be giveneverything they ask for . W e c a n b efirm with them ; but our f irmn essshould be the firmness of one friend toanother . We Am ericans are proud of

ARMY TALKS

our ability to sell our goods and pu tforward our ideas . It is time we realizedt h a t w e a r e f a c e d w i t h th e m o s t

important diplomatic job we have everundertaken . The best that we have tooffer is needed now for the good of thewhole world .

The Statue of L iberty is the f i rs tt h in g t h a t E u r o p e a n s c o m in g t oAmerica see . It has come to sym bolizeliberty to the free peoples at home andto the oppressed peoples of the world.

Standingain the harbor of New Y ork,holding high the Torch of Freedom ,the Statue of Liberty faces towards herbirthplace suffering France andpromises that Americans will not forgettheir fr iendsh ip for France nor theirbelief in her future.

SITJ1~~1~1 It I'A fter the collapse of the French

A rm ies, Underground groups becam eactive under the very noses of theGermans . T he N orth A f r icanlandings, in Novem ber of 1941,cry stalized French opinion butm ade the deal w ith A dm iral jeanDarlan necessary . Our collaboration with Fighting French forcesreveals a true understanding of thecurrent events as they affect theconduct o f the w ar and theestablishment of the Peace.

W ha t i s the F r e nc h Com mi t t eeof Nat ional Libera t ion ? W hy i si t i m p o r t a n t t h a t F r e n c h m e nregard us as troops of l iberation ?

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173 Feb ru a ry 1 9 4 4

Facts About FranceBoundaries : W ith 212,000 square m iles of territory, France rank s third in

size among European states . The country is about twice the size of the State ofColorado . France is bounded on the W est and Northwest by the B ay of B iscayand the English Channel ; on the N ortheast and East by ,Belgium, Luxemburg,Germany , Sw itzerland and Italy and on the South by the M editerranean Seaand Spain . France has good natural boundaries in ev ery d irection but theNortheast where she m ost needs one.

Rivers : East of the great Central Plateau, called in French the " M assifCentral," lies the R hone S aone V alley, a broad highway leading f rom theMediterranean through the heart of France and into Switzerland . Tw o o ther

important rivers, the L oire and the Garonne, f low w estward into the B ay ofBiscay . The f am ous riv ers of N orthern France, scene of bitter f ighting earlyin this war, are comparatively small and not of great importance, except as linksin the country 's river canal system.

Climate : A lthough France is located in the same latitude as Ontario, it hasa much m ilder climate, because of the Gulf S tream . The M editerranean Coast,the f amous " French R iviera, " is like Florida, or Southern California, as far assunshine and palm trees are concerned . A n ample rainfall over the rest of the

country benefits agriculture.

Population : T he pre war population of France w as about 42,000,000 af igure w hich represented an increase of about 7,000,000 in the last too y ears.A birthrate of IS children for each one thousand persons in France during1936 38 m eant, howev er, that the country w as falling behind in the populationrace with Germany, where births averaged 19 per thousand for the same period.This low birthrate meant that the percentage of old people in the population wassteadily increasing and, from 1851 to 1931, this trend resulted in an increase

in persons over 6o years of age from 102 per thousand of population to 140 perthousand.The population was almost equally divided between city and country dwellers.

The last figures available show that approximately 20,000,000 Frenchmen livedin small country villages or towns while approximately 22,000,000 were residentsof communities of 2,000 population or over . Because of war casualties in1914 1918, a little more than 52 per cent . of the population were women.

Provincialism : Provincialism is the group of customs and speech ty pical of

a province or section . Y ou have probably noted such diff erences in fellowA m ericans and y ou w ill also find them am ong Frenchm en . A B reton is asdifferent from a Basque or a Burgundian as a Vermont Yankee is from a Hoosieror a Georgian . These differences in speech and living habits result from thegeography, population elements, history, and economy of the area concerned.

Geographic Influence : The geography of a section often determines how theinhabitants earn their bread and butter, and, finally, how they talk and think.Lorraine ' s iron ore made miners and steel w orkers of the people there . T h e

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18 A I L II IY TA L K S

mountains of eastern France , unfit for ordinary farming, encouraged sheepherding . The nearness of the ocean led many Bretons to becom e sailors . T h e" personality " of a province is largely based on wha t people do for a living, andthat depends on the natural resources available.

Races : L ike ourse lves, the French are a m ixture of races . T h e C e lt s,Germ ans, and R om ans w ere the m ost important elem ents . W here one e lem entw as m ore num erous there is likely to be evidenc e of it in m odern speech and

customs . The influence of the R om ans in Prov ence, the Celts in B rittany andthe N orsem en in Norm andy can still be seen today.

Many of the medieval Kings of France lacked the power to control their powerfulnobles . These amb itious lords each ruled his own area as he pleased, makingwar a gainst his neighbors and sometimes aga inst the king himself . Bad roads,provincial taxes or tariffs and the dan ger of travel discouraged trade an d theexchange of ideas . All these things encouraged local customs and local patriotism.

Language : S ev eral centuries of strong ce ntral gov ernme nt reduced but didnot eliminate p rov incialism . Ev en today ten m illion people in southern Francespeak Prov encal, a language totally dif f erent from the Parisian French taughtin A m erican schools . T he Parisian him self is a distinct type w ith his ow n slangand cosm opolitan v iew point . B oth the B retons and the B asques hav e preserv edtheir separate languages . S im i lar if less s trik ing di ff erences m ay be noted inother sections of France . The A m erican w ho w ishes to understand the Frenchm ust tak e prov incialism into account.

Employment : A bout 8,000,000 people w ere directly conce rned w ith the jobof f arm ing either as laborers or landow ners . Unlike the U nited S tates, about40% of the field w ork w as done by w om en . A round 2,500,000 people ow nedno land and w ork ed as farm hands f or others . O n ly t w o p e r c e n t . of Frenchlandow ners hold m ore than Ioo acres . T he c i ty popula tion inc luded about7,000,000 industrial laborers, I,000,000 of f ice w orkers, 700,000 se rv ants and a

m iddle class of prof essional people and sm all business m en of around 6,000,000.

A griculture : T he French have usually grown m ost of their ow n food . T h emore important crops are listed :

Crop In units of I,000 metric tons193 6 1 937 1 93 8

Potatoes ..W h e at .

15,2516,930

15,9117,01 7

17,094Io,148

Sugar beets 8,256 8,666 8,120OatsBarley

4, 214 4 , 3 4 7 5 , 4 4 91 , 0 1 9 1 , 0 1 7 1, 2 73

Rye 7 1 5 74 0 804Apples and pears (non cider) 282 2 55Small fruits . . 130 142Nuts . . . . . 3 8 4 2

In units of 1,000 ga llonsWine . . 86 8 ,97 8 1,130,259 1 , 2 73,97 6Cider

6 30

,9 24 3 7 9 , 4 0 9 7 6 1 , 2 2 2

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193 February 1944

In 1938 the number of farm animals were : horses, 2,692,000 ; mules, 135,000 ;asses, 185,000 ; cattle, 15,622,000 ; sheep, 9,872,000 ; hogs, 7,127,000 ; a n dgoats, I,416,000 . Horse flesh has frequently been eaten in the past and is probablymore important now . Such names a s Burgundy and Champagne remind usof the importance of French vineyards . In 1937 France 's 136,000,000 acreswere used in this fashion : 26 .5 million forest land, 14 millionuncultivated,and 79 m illioncrops, fallow ; and grass . The average French farmer has17 acres but ove r two m illion hold less than 24 acres.

Industry : T he principal m anuf actures in peacetim e France w ere : tex tiles,clothing, m etal and engineering goods, chem icals, perf um e, autos, jew ellery ,

china, scientific instrum ents, w ines and brandies . L eading ind ustrial cities arePari s , R ouen , L y ons , L i ll e , S t . Et ienne , T oulouse and S trasbourg . The

em phasis on luxury goo ds plus French indiv idualism hav e encouraged m any

small businesses . Great m onopolies do ex ist, how ev er, in som e industries suchas steel production . Good supplies of coal and iron hav e aided industries suchas steel production, Good supplies of coal and iron have .aided industrial growthas has the protective tariff.

Commerce : T h e larger par t of French foreign trad e is handled at the portsof Le Havre, Nantes, Bordeaux and Marseilles . Calais is chiefly imp ort ant as apassenger port

. France's biggest custom ers in 1938 wer e:

Total value imports Total valueexports

$ 1 ,334, 190 ,00 0 $880,686,000from toUnited States 0 0 . . I t .4% Belgium . . . . 13 .7%7 3%

reat Britain . . Great Britain . . . . 11 .6%D S.Belgium .. OS 0 . 6 .9% Switzerland . . 6 .3%Germany 6 .8% Germany . . . . . . 6 %

United States . . . . 5 .5%

Profits from French investm ents abroad and the spending of tourists offset theunfavorable balance of trade . Fuels, raw m aterials, and som e foods were themajor imports.

Transportation : In 1939 France had 390,000 m iles of roads and 26,000 m ilesof gov ernm ent co ntrolled railroad . Ih o the r w ords France had .12 m iles ofrailroad and 1 .37 m iles of roadw ay pet' square m ile as com pared to .o8 m iles of

railroad and 1 .98 miles of roadway per square mile in the United States . A s inthe last w ar French transportation has suf f ered considerably bo th f rom actualdestruction and lack of repairs . The condition found by the invasion arm y w illin large part depend on ho w thoroughly Germ an dem oli tion w ork is carried

out d uring the German retreat.

Governmental Changes : S ince 1798 the French have had at least half a doze nmajor changes in their form of government . Oddly en ough the one w hich lastedlongest, the T hird R epub lic, 1870-19 40, w as at f irst regarded as a tem porary

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20 A Rll I I TA LK `

makeshift . Becau se of this attitude a form al constitution w as never w rittenand the governm ental machinery was set up by a series of fundamental laws.

Gov ernm ental S tructure : T he president w as elected for sev en y ears by theN ational A ssem bly com posed of D eputies, and the S enate . T h i s is a s if o u rA m erican presidents w ere chosen by Congress . The real execu t ive pow er,

how ev er, lay in the hands of the prem ier, w ho, as in B ritain, held off ice so longas he and his Cabinet had the confidence of the legislature . I f def eated on am ajor issue, the Cabinet w as obliged to give up its pow er . Th e C h am b er o fDe puties w as elected directly f or f our years, and the S enate indirectly f or nineyears . T he T hird R epublic, like m ost French gov ernm ent of the last 300 years,

gave m uch pow er to the ce ntral gov ernm ent and little to local units.

M ulti party S ystem : T he tw o party system nev er developed and politics hav ealways inv olved half a dozen groups, no one of w hich had enough support to f orma Cabinet . Consequen tly the gov ernm ent had to be carried on by the un ionof sev eral parties of the sam e general view point . S uch a coalit ion governm entcould last just so long as the m en and parties in it could agree . Government s

changed rapidly u nder this sy stem and the French h ad about f orty diff erent

ministries between 1919 39 . T hese changes, how ev er, w ere not as drastic asthey seem , since in m ost cases som e m em bers of the old m inistry w ould tak e

part in the new one.

M ajor Parties : French political groups are usually described as being eitherof the R ight or the L ef t, thus indicating their conse rv atism or liberalism . T h eissues that have separated the R ight and the L ef t in the past hav e been m onarchyv ersus republicanism , social reforms, the role of the arm y , the place of the Churchin French soc iety . T he m ajor part ies arranged f rom R ight to L ef t w ere theM onarchists (declared illegal in 1936), the N ational Republican Party , the Dem o cratic A lliance , the R adical Socialists (w ho w ere not radical, but in f avo r of a

m iddle of the road policy), the S ocialists and the C om m unists.

Religion : France is overw helm ingly C atholic , there be ing only about amillion Protestants . Und er the T hird R epub lic a bit ter struggle has gone onov er the role w hich the C hurch w as to play in the French state . In m ost m at tersespecially the influence of the anti clerical party w as successf ul . T he statisticsindicate that m any w ho w ere nom inally C atholic supported the anti-clerical

policy politically . S ince 1905 the Church and State have been separate.

Courtesy is Good Policy : T roops op erating on f oreign soil are w ell adv isedto learn the local custom s and respect them . Th e lessons w e have learned inEngland about ,getting on w ith a host nation w ould be of v alue in France . Ofcourse, no self respecting person, English, French, or A m erican, w ants a row dyf or a guest . Good m anners not only show that the indiv idual concerned k now sthe score, but also pay s dividends in the form of good w ill . Eve ry A m erican

oldier can help build a ty pe of f riendship w hich w ill be as v aluable in peace asi t is now in w ar

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2 3 Fe b r u a r y 1 9 4 4

TA L

PreparationIn a previous issue of ARM Y TAL KS you w ere to ld someth ing aboutFrance under the title of " W hat We'll Find in Europe ." Again your attentionis turned to that great , nation, partly because of our un ited responsibility tounderstand its suffering and its courage, partly because in the not distant futuresome of us may be very grateful to know as much about France and the Frenchpeople as we can.

Few Nat ions can be badly defeated in war and m aintain their dignityand self respect . Defeat means, along with un answerable hum iliations, dis illusion and disillusion usually betokens a break in moral enterprise . Whateverthe causes of France's military defeat, and they were many and complicated, theycannot be honestly attributed to the moral corruption of the French people, anymore than today the Vichy government can claim to be representative of theFrench people.

The com plex maze of French p ol it ics during the past decade was boundto result in an ugly quagmire in which the true spirit of the French people wouldbe for the time bogged dow n and stifled . No one who w as well acquaintedwith the situation could have hoped for or predicted any other ou tcome . T h eremarkable fact is that so many of the people have been able to avoid the bogand by sheer audacity range them selves in body and spirit in opposition to theirconquerors . Here is a story w hich has recently appeared in the press that willgive color to what has been said :

" For your own safety for ' the sake of France, of resistance do not go,

young m en born in 1923 ! That was the impassioned warning uttered to theyouth of France ov er the secret transmitter ` Honneur et Patrie ' when, a fewweeks ago, it was known that Hitler was demanding the` 1943 ' class to reinforcethe 800,000 slaves he has already despatched from Fra nce to forced labor inGermany . Honneur et P atrie, speaking for France's resistance movem ent, toldthese young men not to present themselves at the medical . . examinations (forsick men, even consum ptive and cardiac cases, are taken), but to escape fromhome as soon as possible and join the secret arm y of resistance.

" This army now numbers some 200,000 Its membe rs have chosen to liveas ` outlaws ' in the wo ods and mo untains . Their formations are scatteredall over France ; some d istricts, such as Savoy, the Arden nes and B ritanny,have become famous . It is Correz e, with its deep valleys, its tangled c opse s,it small holdings, its plateaux blessed with a mild climate, which beats all recordsso far.

" A high official from Correze, responsible for executing Vichy's orders there,is said to have raised his hands to heave n in despair . ` Not only do the youth

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22 A It AUK`

of Correze refuse to respond to L aval 's appeal , ' he lame nted, ` but they arereinforced by bands of young men from other districts and from the great towns,Paris, Toulouse, Bordeaux . They have form ed cam ps of resis tance against

which we are helpless .'

" The term `maq uis ' has become proverbial . The w ord originally appliedto the broom covered cliffs of Corsica ; it has now become a generic term forall the , hiding places the grottoes, caverns, deserted huts, clearings whereFrance's youth in revolt is awaiting liberation . It is still difficult and dangerousto be anti German and anti Vichy, for the Gestapo is pouring out mone y forits spies and stool pigeons ; it is easy for a well paid spy to give away the employer,who is helping his workers escape conscription, cheap for a Black Market profiteerto denounce the m iller who gives his flour to m en of the m aquis instead of theGerman Army . Yet , though a few traitors have been found to sel l out , i t i suniversally agreed that the people of France cannot be bought over ."

As y o u a r e u n d o u b t e d l y a w a r e France is being systematically bled byGermany . Every year 600,000 tons of corn, io,000 tons of cheese, 65o tons offodder, r,roo,000 tons of hay, 228 tons of meat, 250,000 tons of potatoes and4,400,E gallons of wine are sent to German y not to mention the financial tax.

The w onder is not that the French shou ld be broken in spirit, but that theyshould not be . And the evidence indicates that their old dauntless courage stillcarries on despite a cruel master and traitors among their own p eople.

This issue of ARM Y TAL KS has been carefully prepared in an effort tobring the truth of the present crisis of France before you, and to give you asufficient record of the past so that you will be competent to form a just and afair opinion . It is urged that the discussion leader read the copy with the greatestcare, and that he give out as much of the information contained in it as hisspeaking time permits . The following sugge stions are made :

r . Acquire a large sized m ap of France if possible, and display it before thegroup (See current issue of YAN K for large European map .)

2. Invite a mem ber of the ' Fighting French to attend the mee ting, and askhim to participate in the d iscussion . He m ay be a sai lor, a soldier, or aflyerit doesn't matter.

3. Hang a French flag beside an American and a British flag in the room wherethe discussion is held . If possible get pictures of Gene rals de Gaulle andGiraud and place them where they can be seen . If a phonograph c an besecured, try to get a record of the Ma rseillaise and play it to start off themeeting.

4. If some copies of a Free French paper can be found, have them on display,as well . Many of the men may nee d to brush up on their French . T h e s eideas may seem melodramatic, but they are often effective.

P i i C L d E S N K i L d W 10

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WAS -ESTABLISHED TO INSTILL IN ALL

MILITARY PERSONNEL THE FOLLOWING

1 Confidence in the Command.

2 Pride in service and a sense ofpersonal participation.

3 knowledge of' the causes andprogress of the 'War.

4 A better understanding of ourAllies.

5 An interest in current eventsand their relation to the warand the establishment of the peace.