EUROPE A NEW & OBSCURE DESTINATION IN AN ALLIANCE IN WHICH PARTNERS 
HAD BECOME INCREASINGLY MINDFUL OF ONE ANOTHER'S SENSITIVITIES, IN WHICH VICTORIES 
WERE TACTFULLY NOT CROWED OVER, AND TOGETHERNESS IN ITSELF WAS REGARDED 
AS A GOOD THING, CHARLES DE GAULLE LAST WEEK REMINDED THE 
WORLD OF WHAT ONE MAN WITH A WILL CAN DO . 
OVER THE PAST 20 YEARS, ON HIS OWN PEOPLE AND ON 
THEIR NEIGHBORS, CHARLES DE GAULLE HAS PERFECTED HIS NATIVE TALENT FOR 
HANDING OUT RUDE SURPRISES . EMPLOYING THE LOFTY DISDAIN THAT USED 
TO INFURIATE ROOSEVELT, CHURCHILL AND STALIN, DE GAULLE SUCCEEDED IN INFURIATING 
KENNEDY, MACMILLAN AND A HOST OF OTHERS BY VETOING BRITAIN'S ADMISSION 
TO THE COMMON MARKET . HE MIGHT HAVE BEEN GENTLE ABOUT 
IT, ALLOWING NEGOTIATIONS TO SPUTTER OUT IN A CONFUSION OF DETAILS 
. HE CHOSE TO BE BLUNT AND HIS PURPOSE WAS NOT 
JUST TO SHUT OUT BRITAIN OR MERELY TO HUMILIATE HER . 
HE ALSO SHOOK THE ATLANTIC ALLIANCE TO ITS ROOTS, SET OUT 
TO CONTEST ITS LEADERSHIP AND TO PUT IN QUESTION THE FUTURE 
ROLE OF THE U.S . IN EUROPE . FOR THE WEST 
! HE CREATED A DRAMATIC HISTORICAL TURN, AN OBSCURE DESTINATION . 
DEAD MECHANISM . WESTERN EUROPE HEARD THE NEWS WITH ANGER AND 
DISMAY . WEST GERMANY'S ECONOMICS MINISTER LUDWIG ERHARD BLAMED DE GAULLE 
FOR A " BLACK DAY, " DECLARING THAT " THE COMMON 
MARKET IS NOW ONLY A MECHANISM AND NO LONGER A LIVING 
THING . " ALFRED MULLERARMACK, WEST GERMANY'S CHIEF NEGOTIATOR AT BRUSSELS, 
QUIT HIS JOB IN DISGUST . JEAN MONNET, THE DYNAMIC OPTIMIST 
WHO IS THE FATHER OF THE COMMON MARKET, LAMENTED THAT " 
THERE NOW LOOMS DISUNION WITH ITS INHERENT DANGERS . " BRITAIN'S 
PRIME MINISTER HAROLD MACMILLAN TOLD HIS COUNTRY ON TV : " 
WHAT HAPPENED AT BRUSSELS WAS BAD . BAD FOR US, BAD 
FOR EUROPE, BAD FOR THE WHOLE WORLD . " , " 
BRUTAL " WAS THE WORD HEARD MOST OFTEN IN WHITEHALL AND 
AROUND THE WHITE HOUSE TO DESCRIBE DE GAULLE'S BEHAVIOR . ARCHITECT 
OR AT LEAST CO-DESIGNERS OF THE ATLANTIC ALLIANCE, U.S . POLICYMAKERS 
WERE PLUNGED INTO GLOOM . " MOST UNFORTUNATE, " SAID THE 
STATE DEPARTMENT . IN CONGRESS THERE WERE REVIVED MUTTERINGS ABOUT THE 
INEFFICACY OF FOREIGN AID AND THE INGRATITUDE OF ALLIES . ARKANSAS' 
SENATOR WILLIAM FULBRIGHT TALKED OF THE " TEMPORARY ABERRATION " OF 
THE MAN . A NATION THAT HAD HOPED TO BE IN 
A POSITION TO PROFIT FROM THE COMMUNIST SPLIT BETWEEN RUSSIA AND 
RED CHINA FOUND A DEEP CREVICE OPENING AT ITS FEET . 
AND THOUGH THE KENNEDY ADMINISTRATION DID NOT SPEAK OF AN " 
AGONIZING REAPPRAISAL " OF ITS RELATIONS WITH A RECALCITRANT FRANCE AS 
JOHN FOSTER DULLES ONCE HAD U.S . MILITARY AND DIPLOMATIC POLICY 
TOWARD EUROPE WAS PLAINLY IN NEED OF ONE . COMMUNITY TWILIGHT 
. EXCEPT FOR A GLOW OF PRIDE, TEMPERED WITH NERVOUS CONCERN, 
AMONG SOME FRENCHMEN, THE ONLY CHEERFUL VOICES WERE BEING RAISED IN 
MOSCOW, WHERE SOVIET IDEOLOGISTS SUDDENLY THOUGHT THEY SAW CONFIRMATION OF THE 
HOARY MARXIST-LENINIST TENET THAT CAPITALIST COUNTRIES WILL INEVITABLY BE DESTROYED BY 
THEIR " INNER CONTRADICTIONS . " CRIED A RUSSIAN SPOKESMAN : 
" THIS IS THE TWILIGHT OF THE SO-CALLED EUROPEAN COMMUNITY . 
A DIFFICULT NAVIGATION NOW AWAITS THE AMERICAN SHIP OF STATE . 
" NOT JUST THE FACT OF WHAT CHARLES DE GAULLE HAD 
ALREADY DONE TORMENTED HIS ALLIES : IT WAS WHAT HE MIGHT 
YET DO . AND THEY SEARCHED HIS PRESCIENT PRONOUNCEMENTS FROM THE 
PAST (SEE BOX) FOR CLUES . FOR 20 YEARS THE U.S 
. HAS BEEN ACCUSTOMED TO LEAD THE FREE WORLD, AND IN 
THAT TIME WESTERN EUROPE ROSE FROM THE ASHES BEHIND A SHIELD 
OF U.S MEN AND MONEY . FRANCE ITSELF HAS RECEIVED $9.5 
BILLION IN OUTRIGHT AID AND $1.8 BILLION IN LOANS SINCE 1945 
. THERE HAVE OF COURSE BEEN DISPUTES AND DIFFERENCES OF OPINION, 
BUT UNTIL LAST WEEK, NO DIRECT CHALLENGE OF U.S . LEADERSHIP 
. WHAT THE U.S . NOW FACED WAS A PROPOSAL THAT 
EUROPE RALLY ROUND FRANCE TO CREATE A THIRD FORCE IN THE 
WORLD CAPABLE OF DEALING INDEPENDENTLY WITH BOTH THE U.S . AND 
RUSSIA . THIS HAD BEEN DE GAULLE'S PROCLAIMED GOAL FOR YEARS, 
BUT EVERYONE HAD COUNTED ON HIS OWN REALISTIC APPRECIATION OF THE 
INCREASING GAINS TO FRANCE AND EUROPE OF THE CURRENT COURSE OF 
ATLANTIC PARTNERSHIP . IT WAS A CROWNING IRONY THAT DE GAULLE'S 
EFFORT TO GIVE EUROPE A NEW VOICE, DIRECTION AND SELF-ASSURANCE IS 
PRECISELY WHAT THE U.S . HAS BEEN TRYING TO DO EVER 
SINCE WORLD WAR II . BUT THE U.S . HARDLY EXPECTED 
THINGS TO WORK OUT QUITE THIS WAY . PICTURES IN THE 
LOUVRE . THAT THEY DID IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF ONE MAN 
CHARLES ANDRE MARIE JOSEPH DE GAULLE, 72 . HIS ABILITY TO 
BRING A SKILLFUL INFLUENCE TO BEAR UPON EVENTS SHOULD BE ENOUGH 
TO SEND A BELIEVER IN IMPERSONAL HISTORICAL DETERMINISM BACK TO HIS 
BOOKS . TALL AND UNGAINLY, SO DIM-EYED THAT HE CONSTANTLY STUMBLES, 
SO SELDOM A LISTENER THAT HE SEEMS DEAF, DE GAULLE SHOULD 
BE A FIGURE OF FUN (AND SOMETIMES IS), BUT THE GREATNESS 
IN THE MAN USUALLY SURVIVES THE MOCKERY . HIS MIND IS 
LIKE THE LOUVRE, FILLED WITH BATTLE PICTURES IN WHICH THE FRENCH 
ARE ALWAYS WINNING ; HIS HEART THROBS WITH SIMPLE EMOTIONS LABELED 
PATRIE, DIEU, GLOIRE, AND HE HAS A GIFT FOR PROPHECY THAT 
IS MORE OLD TESTAMENT THAN 20TH CENTURY MODERN . DE GAULLE'S 
FAULTS ARE COMMON TO MANY MEN HE IS BULLHEADED, ARROGANT, TOUCHY, 
MORE RESPONSIVE TO FLATTERY THAN CRITICISM, INSUFFERABLY PROUD OF HIS INTELLECT 
AND INSIGHT . HIS VIRTUES, HOWEVER, ARE RARE IN ANY AGE, 
AND ARE SUMMED UP IN THE WORD CHARACTER . WHAT HAPPENED 
LAST WEEK IN BRUSSELS WAS A HEAD-ON COLLISION BETWEEN CHARLES DE 
GAULLE'S DESIGN FOR EUROPE AND THE WIDER, WORLD-EMBRACING ATLANTIC POLICY FOLLOWED 
BY THE LAST THREE AMERICAN PRESIDENTS AND BY MOST OF THE 
PARLIAMENTARIANS OF EUROPE . LOFTED UMBRELLA . THE U.S . ATTITUDE, 
ON WHICH ONE PRESIDENTIAL SPEECHWRITER HUNG THE AMBITIOUS PHRASE " GRAND 
DESIGN, " IS TO ACCEPT AND WORK FOR THE CONCEPT OF 
A STRONG, UNITED EUROPE LINKED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH NORTH AMERICA, BOTH 
ACTING TOGETHER TO RAISE THE LIVING STANDARDS AND SECURE THE INDEPENDENCE 
OF THE NATIONS OF AFRICA, ASIA AND LATIN AMERICA . TO 
MAKE THIS DESIGN ENDURING, THE U.S . INSISTED THAT BRITAIN BECOME 
A MEMBER OF THE COMMON MARKET, FOLLOWED BY THE SCANDINAVIAN AND 
OTHER NATO COUNTRIES . THE DEFENSE OF THIS GRAND DESIGN WOULD 
BE TWOFOLD : CONVENTIONAL ARMS AND ARMIES SUPPLIED BY EUROPE, AND 
THE NUCLEAR UMBRELLA HELD ALOFT BY THE U.S . DE GAULLE'S 
EUROPEAN DESIGN IS INTROVERTED, SMALLER, AND DEPENDENT MORE ON AUDACITY AND 
CLEVERNESS THAN ON SHEER POWER . IN EFFECT, IT REPRESENTS ANOTHER 
OF THE HISTORIC EFFORTS TO CREATE A UNIFIED EUROPE UNDER FRENCH 
LEADERSHIP AN AMBITION THAT WAS PURSUED IN THE PAST BY CHARLEMAGNE, 
LOUIS XIV, NAPOLEON BONAPARTE AND NAPOLEON III . TO DE GAULLE, 
EUROPE'S RIVERS AND MOUNTAINS ARE NOT BARRIERS, BUT THE OCEANS ARE 
. SINCE 1940 HE HAS DREAMED OF PERSUADING THE " STATES 
ALONG THE RHINE, THE ALPS AND THE PYRENEES TO FORM A 
POLITICAL, ECONOMIC AND STRATEGIC BLOC ; TO ESTABLISH THIS ORGANIZATION AS 
ONE OF THE THREE WORLD POWERS, AND, SHOULD PICKUP STRATEGIC BLOC 
; TO ESTABLISH THIS ORGANIZATION AS ONE OF THE THREE WORLD 
POWERS, AND, SHOULD IT BECOME NECESSARY, AS THE ARBITER BETWEEN THE 
SOVIET AND THE ANGLOAMERICAN CAMPS . " GARGANTUAN STOCKS . CONCEIVABLY, 
DE GAULLE AT ONE POINT MIGHT HAVE BEEN WEANED AWAY FROM 
HIS DREAM . WHEN HE RETURNED TO POWER IN 1958 TO 
LEAD A FRANCE STILL RIVEN BY THE ALGERIAN WAR, HE DEMANDED 
ADMISSION TO A THREE-POWER DIRECTORATE OF NATO, BUT THE IDEA WAS 
BLACKBALLED BY EISENHOWER AND MACMILLAN . HE PROBABLY WOULD HAVE BEEN 
AS INTRANSIGENT AS A CO-DIRECTOR AS HE HAS BEEN WITHOUT BECOMING 
ONE . SINCE THEN, HE PROGRESSIVELY WITHDREW FRENCH GROUND AND NAVAL 
FORCES FROM NATO COMMANDS, BANISHED U.S . NUCLEAR WARHEADS FROM FRENCH 
SOIL, AND SANK BILLIONS OF FRANCS INTO A CRASH PROGRAM TO 
CREATE A NUCLEAR FORCE DE FRAPPE OF HIS OWN . AS 
OF LAST WEEK THE FORCE DE FRAPPE CONSISTED OF A HANDFUL 
OF ATOM BOMBS AND A DELIVERY SYSTEM OF EXACTLY FOUR MIRAGE 
IV JETS, EXTREMELY FAST (MACH 2), HIGHALTITUDE, TWO-SEAT LIGHT BOMBERS . 
THE MIRAGE IV'S RADIUS IS ONLY 1,000 MILES . ADMITTEDLY THE 
FORCE DE FRAPPE IS A MODEST OPERATION AND ONE THAT COULD 
SWIFTLY BE KNOCKED OUT OF THE AIR, EVEN WHEN, BY 1965, 
THE FRENCH HOPE TO HAVE 350 PLANES CAPABLE OF CARRYING ATOMIC 
WEAPONS . DE GAULLE CONCEDES THAT HIS NUCLEAR WEAPONRY WILL NEVER 
MATCH THE GARGANTUAN AND LETHAL STOCKPILES OF RUSSIA AND THE U.S 
. BUT HE THINKS THAT IT IS BIG ENOUGH AND MURDEROUS 
ENOUGH TO GIVE ANY POTENTIAL AGGRESSOR PAUSE AND BESIDES, IT IS 
HIS OWN . UNFIT ISLANDERS . IN DE GAULLE'S EUROPE, FRANCE 
IS FIRST, GERMANY SECOND, AND THE REST NOWHERE THEY CAN TAG 
ALONG RESPECTFULLY AS CAMP FOLLOWERS, WITH LITTLE MORE WEIGHT OR VOICE 
THAN TINY LUXEMBOURG . BRITAIN IS REJECTED AS UNFIT ECONOMICALLY OR 
POLITICALLY TO JOIN THIS BAND OF CONTINENTAL BROTHERS BECAUSE IT 1) 
IS AN OFFSHORE ISLAND, AND 2) HAS " SPECIAL TIES " 
WITH THE U.S . AND THE COMMONWEALTH . TO DE GAULLE'S 
JAUNDICED EYE, THE BRITISH ATTEMPT TO ENTER THE COMMON MARKET WAS 
SIMPLY A TROJAN HORSE MANEUVER (AN EXPRESSION USED WITH SUSPICIOUS FREQUENCY 
IN PARISIAN EDITORIALS AND SALONS LAST WEEK) STAGED BY WASHINGTON TO 
MAKE SURE THAT THE U.S . DOMINATION OF EUROPE WOULD NOT 
BE FRUSTRATED . BRITAIN DID MUCH TO ARRANGE HER OWN FATE 
. IN 1950, LONDON WAS OFFERED MEMBERSHIP IN THE EUROPEAN COAL 
AND STEEL COMMUNITY AND REFUSED . SEVEN YEARS LATER, LONDON WAS 
INVITED TO JOIN IN THE FOUNDING OF THE COMMON MARKET, AND 
AGAIN REFUSED . AS THE COMMON MARKET GOT UNDER WAY, BRITAIN 
TRIED TO CRIPPLE IT BY SETTING UP ITS OWN RAGTAG RIVAL 
BLOC, THE SEVEN-NATION EUROPEAN FREE TRADE ASSOCIATION (WITH AUSTRIA, DENMARK, NORWAY, 
PORTUGAL, SWEDEN, SWITZERLAND) . BUT THE RUNAWAY ECONOMIC SUCCESS OF THE 
COMMON MARKET CAUSED BRITAIN'S CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENT TO REVERSE ITSELF, AND, IN 
AUGUST 1961, BRITAIN PENITENTLY APPLIED FOR THE MEMBERSHIP IT HAD ONCE 
SPURNED . IT ASKED FOR FULL, NOT ASSOCIATE MEMBERSHIP, WITH ALL 
THAT THIS IMPLIED IN DECLARING ITSELF EUROPEAN . THE APPLICATION MIGHT 
HAVE BEEN RECEIVED IN BRUSSELS, DE GAULLE INSISTED THAT BRITAIN BRING 
IT TO PARIS INSTEAD . / MATTER OF DAYS . " 
DURING THE SLOW FIRST YEAR OF THE BRUSSELS NEGOTIATIONS, DE GAULLE 
WAS NOT ACTIVELY IN OPPOSITION . BUT HE SOON MADE IT 
CLEAR HE CONSIDERED THE BRITISH AS SUPPLIANTS, NOT EQUALS :. THEY 
COULD NOT HOPE TO CHANGE THE RULES AS A CONDITION OF 
JOINING THE CLUB . THE TECHNICAL DISCUSSIONS RANGED FROM SUCH OBSCURE 
ITEMS AS THE TARIFF ON KIPS AND PIGMEAT TO IMPORTANT ONES 
CONCERNING FUTURE TRADE WITH AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND . BY LAST 
MONTH, OF MORE THAN 2,500 BIG AND SMALL QUESTIONS, ALL BUT 
26 HAD BEEN AMICABLY RESOLVED . BRITAIN'S CHIEF NEGOTIATOR, EDWARD HEATH, 
WAS SO OPTIMISTIC THAT ON JAN . 21 HE CONFIDENTLY TOLD 
A U.S . OFFICIAL : " IT IS ONLY A MATTER 
OF DAYS BEFORE THE QUESTION IS SETTLED IN OUR FAVOR . 
THIS WAS BRAVE BUT FOOLHARDY DISREGARD OF THE IMPERIOUS NON UTTERED 
JUST A WEEK BEFORE IN DE GAULLE'S CELEBRATED PRESS CONFERENCE, THE 
THEATRICAL SHOCKER IN WHICH THE " INSULAR, MARITIME " BRITISH WERE 
HAUGHTILY TOLD TO TRANSFORM THEMSELVES INTO " EUROPEANS " BEFORE JOINING 
THE COMMON MARKET . DE GAULLE HAS LONG BEEN SUSPICIOUS OF 
BRITAIN'S CLOSE TIES WITH THE U.S., AND SUSPECTS THAT SECRETS CAN 
BE EXCHANGED IN THE COMMON ENGLISH LANGUAGE . BUT DE GAULLE'S 
DETERMINATION TO VETO BRITAIN'S MEMBERSHIP APPARENTLY CAME JUST BEFORE CHRISTMAS, WHEN 
THE NEWS ARRIVED OF THE KENNEDY-MACMILLAN MEETING AT NASSAU . AT 
NASSAU, BRITAIN GOT FORMAL WORD THAT THE U.S . WOULD NOT 
SUPPLY IT WITH SKYBOLT, THE AIRBORNE MISSILE ON WHICH THE BRITISH 
HAD PINNED ALL THEIR HOPES FOR DELIVERING THEIR NUCLEAR DETERRENT . 
SKYBOLT SHATTERED THE BRITISH, AND DISQUIETED THE FRENCH AS WELL, SINCE 
IT WAS REGARDED AS PROOF THAT NUCLEAR DEPENDENCE ON ANOTHER POWER 
WAS RISKY . IF THE U.S . COULD TREAT IN THAT 
FASHION AN ALLY TO WHOM IT WAS TIED BY BLOOD, LANGUAGE 
AND TRADITION, WHAT COULD FRANCE EXPECT ? DE GAULLE WAS FURTHER 
ANGERED BY MACMILLAN'S AGREEMENT TO SHARE POLARIS WITH THE U.S . 
INSTEAD OF MOVING TO SHARE NUCLEAR KNOWLEDGE WITH FRANCE . THAT 
WAS WHEN THE PHRASE " TROJAN HORSE " FIRST BEGAN TO 
BE USED IN PARIS . OVERNIGHT CASE . BRUSSELS, THE SCENE 
OF BRITAIN'S DASHED HOPES LAST WEEK, IS A DOUR, NEON-LIT OLD 
MAID OF A CITY . ON MONDAY, THE COBBLED STREETS WERE 
SLIMY WITH BLACK SLUSH AND BLANKETED WITH CHILLING FOG AS BRITAIN'S 
CHIEF NEGOTIATOR, EDWARD HEATH, ARRIVED WITH HIS AIDES, MINISTER FOR COMMONWEALTH 
AFFAIRS DUNCAN SANDYS AND AGRICULTURE MINISTER CHRISTOPHER SOAMES . THE FRENCH, 
WITH A FINE SENSE OF ECONOMY, TRAVELED LIGHT ; ONLY LUXEMBOURG'S 
FOUR-MAN DELEGATION WAS SMALLER . FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTER MAURICE COUVE DE 
MURVILLE BROUGHT ONLY AN OVERNIGHT CASE, FOR HE KNEW THAT HE 
WOULD NOT BE STAYING LONG . COUVE ARRIVED AN HOUR LATE 
FOR THE START OF THE MEETING AT QUATRE BRAS, THE MODERN 
FOREIGN MINISTRY BUILDING . NEWSMEN'S QUESTIONS TO HIM DIED IN THE 
AIR AT THE GRIM SET OF THE FRENCHMAN'S FACE . A 
PATH TWO FEET WIDE MIRACULOUSLY PARTED THE CROWD AND, LIKE AN 
APPARITION OR A LEPER COUVE MOVED UNMOLESTED TO THE ELEVATOR . 
WHEN THE DELEGATES EMERGED FROM THE MEETING AT MIDNIGHT, WEST GERMANY'S 
ECONOMICS MINISTER LUDWIG ERHARD, A STAUNCH SUPPORTER OF BRITAIN, GRUNTED, " 
WE MADE ONLY LINGUISTIC PROGRESS . " A FRENCH DELEGATE LIGHTLY 
ADDED, " IF WE REACH AN AGREEMENT, IT WILL BE BASED 
ON A MISUNDERSTANDING . " ON TUESDAY MORNING, U.S . AMBASSADOR 
JOHN TUTHILL HURRIED AROUND TO THE DELEGATIONS TO DELIVER A LASTMINUTE 
WARNING FROM PRESIDENT KENNEDY, POINTING OUT THE GRAVE CONSEQUENCES OF A 
BREAKDOWN IN THE NEGOTIATIONS . THE SIX RECONVENED AT NOON TO 
HEAR THE WEST GERMAN PROPOSAL THAT WAS INTENDED TO SAVE FACE 
FOR EVERYONE BY POSTPONING A DECISION FOR TWO MONTHS . A 
STORMY DISCUSSION FOLLOWED, AND COUVE DE MURVILLE ICILY PROFESSED ASTONISHMENT THAT 
A PLAN COULD EVEN BE PROPOSED IN SUCH BAD PARLIAMENTARY FORM 
. MONSTROUS THING . IN TURN, THE DELEGATES OF THE OTHER 
FIVE WARNED OF THE CONSEQUENCES OF A RUPTURE, BUT FRANCE'S COUVE 
DE MURVILLE WAS ADAMANT . WALTER HALLSTEIN, CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMON 
MARKET COMMISSION, TRIED TO CHANGE THE WORDING OF THE PROPOSAL TO 
MAKE IT MORE ACCEPTABLE TO THE FRENCH . HE FAILED . 
THERE WAS NOTHING TO DO BUT SUMMON HEATH TO HEAR THE 
FINAL VERDICT . EACH HEAD OF DELEGATION READ A PREPARED STATEMENT 
. BELGIUM'S SPAAK CALLED THE RUPTURE A "MONSTROUS THING ." DUTCH 
FOREIGN MINISTER JOSEPH LUNS WAS EQUALLY BITTER, WHILE GERMANY'S SCHRODER POINTEDLY 
TOLD THE FRENCH THAT THE BUNDESTAG HAD ONLY RATIFIED THE TREATY 
OF ROME IN THE FIRST PLACE ON THE ASSUMPTION THAT IT 
WOULD BE WIDENED TO EMBRACE NEW MEMBERS . THEN AT LAST 
IT WAS COUVE DE MURVILLE'S TURN . COUVE, A BRILLIANT, CIVILIZED, 
HIGHLY TRAINED DIPLOMATIST, WHO AMONG HIS COLLEAGUES WOULD USUALLY BE SEEKING 
ANY NEW AVENUE OF COMPROMISE, WAS NOW PLAINLY LITTLE MORE THAN 
A MESSENGER BOY FOR LE GRAND CHARLES . "IT IS BEING 
SAID THAT WE BROKE OFF THE NEGOTIATIONS," HE DECLARED . "IN 
REALITY, OUR RESPONSIBILITY HAS BEEN THAT OF MAKING CLEAR THAT THE 
NEGOTIATIONS HAVE BEEN TAKING PLACE IN A VACUUM SINCE OCTOBER, AND 
OF HAVING SAID THAT IT IS PREFERABLE TO FACE THE FACTS 
. THEN HE ECHOED THE BOSS AGAIN . WHEN BRITAIN CAN 
ACCEPT ALL THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE TREATY OF ROME, NOTHING CAN 
STOP HER FROM ENTERING THE COMMON MARKET . BUT IT IS 
UPON HER AND NOT ON US THAT THE BURDEN OF PROOF 
LIES . IT WOULD HAVE BEEN A LITTLE LATE IN THE 
DAY, BUT MANY AT THE TABLE THOUGHT THAT IT WOULD HAVE 
BEEN WONDERFUL HAD HEATH GIVEN IN ENTIRELY AT THIS POINT AND 
TAKEN COUVE UP ON HIS OFFER WITH NO MORE HAGGLING . 
BUT THE BRITON LIMITED HIMSELF TO A DISPASSIONATE REBUTTAL . "IT 
HAS BEEN CONTENDED," HE SAID ,"THAT BRITAIN IS NOT EUROPEAN ENOUGH 
. THERE ARE MANY MILLIONS IN EUROPE WHO KNOW PERFECTLY WELL 
HOW EUROPEAN BRITAIN HAS BEEN IN THE PAST AND ARE GRATEFUL 
FOR IT ." ADDED HEATH :"THE TRUTH IS THAT SOME PEOPLE 
REGARDED THE NEGOTIATIONS AS BEING TOO CLOSE TO SUCCESS, THOUGH THEY 
GAVE OTHER REASONS FOR BREAKING THEM OFF ." WHEN HE STOPPED 
SPEAKING, ALL THE DELEGATES CROWDED AROUND TO SHAKE HIS HAND ALL 
BUT FRANCE'S MEN, WHO LEFT UNSMILING . FIVE STATELESS ONES . 
THE COMMON MARKET AS IT NOW EXISTS OFFERS A SUPERB INSTRUMENT 
FOR DE GAULLE'S STRONG HAND TO WIELD, EVEN THOUGH HE WAS 
CONTEMPTUOUS OF IT AT THE START, AND DISMISSES THE EUROCRATS WHO 
WORK FOR IT AS LES APATRIDES, THE STATELESS ONES . AFTER 
FIVE YEARS OF OPERATION ITS GROSS NATIONAL PRODUCT STANDS AT $210 
BILLION, AND INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION HAS SOARED 40 PER CENT . THE 
COMMON MARKET POURED ALMOST 80 MILLION TONS OF STEEL LAST YEAR 
(COMPARED WITH THE U.S .'S 98 MILLION TONS), AND IS THE 
WORLD'S SECOND LARGEST AUTOMOBILE MAKER . AS THE WORLD'S BIGGEST TRADER, 
THE COMMON MARKET IS FIRST IN IMPORTS, SECOND ONLY TO THE 
U.S . IN EXPORTS . SINCE 1958, IMPORTS FROM THE REST 
OF THE WORLD HAVE RISEN 39 PER CENT, THOSE FROM THE 
U.S . A GIANT 59 PER CENT, THUS AIDING WASHINGTON'S DESPERATE 
BALANCE-OF-PAYMENT PROBLEMS . THE QUESTION MOST ASKED LAST WEEK WAS WHETHER 
THE OTHER FIVE WEST GERMANY, ITALY AND THE BENELUX COUNTRIES WOULD 
PERMIT LE GRAND CHARLES TO MAKE THE MARKET HIS DEVICE FOR 
POWER . WHAT DE GAULLE HAS DEMONSTRATED IS THAT HE CAN 
BLACKBALL ANY NATION HE DOES NOT WANT IN THE COMMON MARKET 
("FRENCH SHOULDERS ARE BROAD ENOUGH TO BEAR THE BURDEN," SAID A 
SPOKESMAN) . BUT DE GAULLE HAS YET TO SHOW THAT HE 
CAN REMAKE EUROPE IN FRANCE'S IMAGE . BRITAIN AND THE U.S 
. ARE BETTING THAT HE NEVER WILL . INDEED, THE UNANIMOUS 
OUTCRY FROM THE OTHER FIVE COMMON MARKET NATIONS LAST WEEK WAS 
AMPLE TESTIMONY THAT THEY ARE CURRENTLY DETERMINED TO RESIST FRANCE'S GRASP 
FOR LEADERSHIP . LAST WEEK THE FIVE ABRUPTLY FORCED POSTPONEMENT OF 
A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE COMMON MARKET FINANCE MINISTERS CALLED BY 
THE FRENCH TO INVESTIGATE THE EXTENT OF U.S . INVESTMENT IN 
EUROPE, A PET HATE OF DE GAULLE'S THESE DAYS . THIS 
REBUFF DISTURBED FRENCH MINISTER OF FINANCE VALERY GISCARD D'ESTAING NOT AT 
ALL . HE REPORTEDLY REMARKED THAT THE FIVE HAD MERELY DEPRIVED 
HIM OF HIS DESSERT MEANING, PRESUMABLY, THAT FRANCE HAD ALREADY ENJOYED 
THE BRITISH LION FOR BREAKFAST . THE FIVE HAVE ALSO SHOWN 
SIGNS OF BLOCKING OTHER FRENCH PROJECTS, E.G ., ALGERIA'S ASSOCIATION WITH 
THE SIX . SHARP DIVISIONS . BUT AS THE INITIAL AND 
GENUINE ANGER DIMINISHED, THERE WAS A QUESTION WHETHER THE SMALLER COUNTRIES, 
IN THEIR ANXIETY TO BRING BRITAIN IN AS A POLITICAL COUNTERBALANCE 
TO FRANCE AND GERMANY, WOULD BE WILLING TO ENDANGER THE COMMON 
MARKET ITSELF . THEIR ECONOMIES ARE SO DEPENDENT ON THE MARKET 
AS A TRADING PARTNER THAT IT IS INCONCEIVABLE THAT ANY OF 
THEM WOULD BE ABLE TO SEPARATE OUT THEIR OWN MARBLES TO 
TAKE THEM HOME . IT IS WEST GERMANY'S SUPPORT THAT CHARLES 
DE GAULLE NEEDS TO WIN THE WHIPHAND OVER EUROPE . HE 
HAD A STALWART PARTNER IN 87-YEAR-OLD CHANCELLOR KONRAD ADENAUER, THE RHINELANDER 
WHOSE LIFELONG DREAM HAS BEEN FRANCO-GERMAN RAPPROCHEMENT . AS IT HAPPENED, 
ADENAUER ARRIVED IN THE ELYSEE PALACE LAST MONTH TO SIGN THE 
TREATY OF FRIENDSHIP AND COOPERATION WITH FRANCE AT THE VERY TIME 
WHEN DE GAULLE HAD SPRUNG HIS LARGE SCHEME ON EUROPE . 
BY ALL ACCOUNTS, ADENAUER DID NOT FULLY REALIZE THAT THE DOCUMENT 
HE HAD SIGNED WAS THE REINFORCING SEAL OF DOOM FOR BRITAIN'S 
MEMBERSHIP IN EUROPE AND THAT HE WAS NOW PUT AT ODDS 
WITH THE U.S . SCHEME OF THINGS . AT THE CEREMONY 
IN PARIS, ADENAUER GENTLY ASKED DE GAULLE NOT TO FORCE THE 
GERMANS INTO THE AWKWARD POSITION OF CHOOSING BETWEEN THE U.S . 
AND FRANCE . TUT, TUT, REPLIED DE GAULLE REASSURINGLY, "FRANCE HAS 
NO INTENTION OF PUTTING GERMANY INTO A POSITION WHERE SUCH A 
CHOICE WOULD BE NECESSARY . DESERVED WHIPPINGS . WHATEVER KONRAD ADENAUER 
DESIRES, HE IS NO LONGER UNDISPUTED MASTER AT HOME . WITH 
ECONOMICS MINISTER (AND POSSIBLE NEXT CHANCELLOR) LUDWIG ERHARD THREATENING TO RESIGN 
IF THE ADENAUER-DE GAULLE TREATY IS RATIFIED BEFORE CONCESSIONS ARE GRANTED 
IN THE COMMON MARKET, WEST GERMANY'S SUPPORT FOR LE GRAND CHARLES 
IS IN JEOPARDY INDEED . ALREADY LEADERS OF OPPOSITION FACTIONS IN 
THE BUNDESTAG HAVE WARNED THAT THEY WOULD BLOCK RATIFICATION OF THE 
FRANCO-GERMAN TREATY . IT WAS A MEASURE OF DE GAULLE'S RAPID 
RISE OF PRESTIGE THAT ALL THE GERMAN PAPERS POSED THE MATTER 
AS A QUESTION OF CHOOSING BETWEEN THE U.S . AND FRANCE 
. MOST, UNDERSTANDABLY, CHOSE THE U.S . THE INFLUENTIAL PROTESTATION IN 
WASHINGTON RESTS ON ITS FIRM LOYALTY TO AN AMERICAN-LED NATO . 
THE AMERICANS WILL SOONER OR LATER WITHDRAW FROM THE CONTINENT IF 
THEY GET THE IMPRESSION THAT THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC FAILED TO OPPOSE 
DE GAULLE'S INTENTION TO UNDERMINE NATO FROM WITHIN . SIBYLLINE DELIGHTS 
. LE FIGARO'S GIFTED COMMENTATOR RAYMOND ARON, WHOSE ADMIRATION FOR DE 
GAULLE IS QUALIFIED, REMARKED LAST WEEK THAT HE IS CONVINCED THAT 
THE GENERAL TAKES "LONELY PLEASURE IN THE SPECTACLE OF THE ARGUMENTS 
HE CAUSES ." WHAT DISTURBS MANY AMERICANS IS NOT DE GAULLE'S 
EFFORT TO ASSERT A REVIVING CONTINENT'S STRENGTH, BUT HIS FUTURE PLANS 
FOR EUROPE . AND WHAT DISTURBS MANY CONTINENTALS IS DE GAULLE'S 
READINESS TO BE FAR MORE DISREGARDING OF THEIR SENSIBILITIES THAN THE 
U.S . HAS BEEN . A DE GAULLE AGREEMENT TO CONSULT, 
AS ADENAUER AND OTHERS HAVE FOUND OUT, MEANS HIS WILLINGNESS TO 
GIVE THE OTHER PARTNER AN AUDIENCE TO HEAR DE GAULLE'S INTENTIONS 
. DE GAULLE ACCEPTS THE COMMITMENTS FRANCE ENTERED INTO WHILE HE 
WAS NOT IN POWER, BUT DISTORTS THEM TO FRANCE'S ADVANTAGE . 
AFTER VETOING BRITAIN, DE GAULLE LAST WEEK INVITED DANISH PREMIER JENS 
OTTO KRAG TO JOIN THE COMMON MARKET EITHER AS FULL MEMBER 
OR AS ASSOCIATE AN INVITATION THAT THE OTHER FIVE MEMBERS INDIGNANTLY 
THOUGHT WAS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF ALL SIX TO EXTEND . KRAG'S 
OWN SURPRISED REACTION WAS TO SAY THAT DENMARK'S HOPES WERE "BASED 
ON THE ASSUMPTION THAT BRITAIN WOULD JOIN THE COMMON MARKET ." 
SIMILARLY, THE OTHER PARTNERS WERE SUSPICIOUS OF DE GAULLE'S INTENSE SIDE 
CULTIVATION OF SPAIN LAST WEEK, AND HIS LONG PRIVATE TALKS WITH 
SOVIET AMBASSADOR SERGEI VINOGRADOV, WHO IN THE YEARS DE GAULLE WAS 
NOT IN POWER KEPT UP HIS CLOSE CONTACTS WITH HIM . 
LAST WEEK FRANCE SIGNED A BILATERAL TRADE AGREEMENT WITH RUSSIA, CALLING 
FOR A 10 PER CENT INCREASE IN TRADE BETWEEN THE TWO 
POWERS . WILL DE GAULLE TAKE IT UPON HIMSELF TO NEGOTIATE 
SEPARATELY WITH THE SOVIET UNION ? HIS ANTI-COMMUNIST BONA FIDES HAS 
BEEN AMPLY PROVED BY HIS STANDS ON BERLIN AND CUBA, WHEN 
HE FIRMLY BACKED KENNEDY . THERE IS A STORY THAT, IN 
1941, WHEN HITLER INVADED RUSSIA, DE GAULLE TOLD AN AIDE, " 
NOW WE MUST BEGIN THINKING OF STOPPING THE COMMUNIST PUSH IN 
EUROPE . " THE AIDE PROTESTED THAT THE PROSPECT SEEMED REMOTE, 
AND DE GAULLE REPLIED, " REMEMBER THESE HOURS . I OFTEN 
MAKE MISTAKES IN WHAT I DO, BUT NEVER IN WHAT I 
PREDICT . " ACTS, NOT WORDS . IN TALKING TO HIS 
FRIENDS, DE GAULLE MAKES IT PLAIN THAT HE THINKS THE SITUATION 
BEHIND THE IRON CURTAIN OFFERS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE WEST . 
HE ARGUES THAT THE SINO-SOVIET SPLIT, THE ECONOMIC PULL OF WESTERN 
EUROPE, THE GRADUAL " BOURGEOISATION " OF RUSSIA ALL CONTRIBUTE TO 
TURNING THE COMMUNISTS, AND ESPECIALLY THE EASTERN EUROPEAN SATELLITES, WESTWARD . 
AND OUT OF THIS HE CONCEIVES OF SOME KIND OF EUROPEAN 
ARRANGEMENT, NEVER FULLY DEFINED, " STRETCHING FROM THE ATLANTIC TO THE 
URALS . " HOLDING THIS VISION, DE GAULLE HAS NEVER RULED 
OUT NEGOTIATION WITH MOSCOW HE MERELY SETS THE CONDITION THAT THE 
RUSSIANS MUST FIRST PROVE THEMSELVES IN ACTS, NOT WORDS . THOSE 
WHO FEAR DE GAULLE'S INTENTIONS WONDER WHETHER HE WILL AT SOME 
FUTURE MOMENT CONSIDER A DISENGAGEMENT IN EUROPE IN WHICH THE 400,000 
U.S . TROOPS WOULD GO HOME IN RETURN FOR A RUSSIAN 
PULL-OUT OF EASTERN EUROPE . THIS MAY BE ONE REASON WHY 
HE WANTS HIS OWN NUCLEAR FORCE . NO ONE IN THE 
WORLD, PARTICULARLY NO ONE IN AMERICA, CAN SAY WHETHER, WHERE, WHEN, 
HOW AND TO WHAT EXTENT AMERICAN NUCLEAR WEAPONS WILL BE USED 
IN DEFENSE OF EUROPE . " AND, HE ARGUES, " IT 
IS INTOLERABLE FOR A GREAT STATE THAT HER FATE BE LEFT 
TO THE DECISIONS AND ACTION OF ANOTHER STATE, HOWEVER FRIENDLY SHE 
MAY BE . " IT IS A POWERFUL POINT, AND IS 
NOT FULLY MET BY OFFERING U.S . NUCLEAR WEAPONS TO A 
EUROPEAN NATO GROUP, SINCE THE FINAL DECISION TO LAUNCH ANY BOMBS 
WOULD STILL PRESUMABLY BE IN U.S . HANDS . PURGED BRITAIN 
. TIME WAS WHEN THE U.S . CALLED THE TUNE ON 
SUCH CRUCIAL QUESTIONS . DE GAULLE'S DRAMATIC ACTION RAISES THE QUESTION 
WHETHER THE U.S . CAN, OR SHOULD, CONTINUE TO DO SO 
INDEFINITELY . IN HIS FINAL WORDS TO HIS COMMON MARKET PARTNERS, 
FRANCE'S COUVE DE MURVILLE SOMBERLY EXPRESSED DE GAULLE'S THOUGHTS ON THE 
MATTER . " I WILL SAY ONCE AGAIN THAT WE ARE 
NOT SEEKING TO MAINTAIN A LARGE OR SMALL EUROPE, BUT TO 
KNOW IF THE EUROPE WE ARE CREATING IS A EUROPEAN EUROPE 
. " IN EFFECT, HE SEEMED TO BE SAYING : IF 
BRITAIN ONE DAY TRULY PURGED ITSELF OF ITS CLOSE AMERICAN CONNECTION, 
IT MIGHT PROVE ITSELF ELIGIBLE AT LAST, IN CHARLES DE GAULLE'S 
EYES, FOR COMMON MARKET MEMBERSHIP . IRRITATING AS IT MIGHT BE, 
IT WAS AN IDEA WITH SOME FORCE . SO SYMPATHETIC A 
TRANSATLANTIC FIGURE AS BRITAIN'S VISCOUNT HAILSHAM, SPEAKING IN MANHATTAN FORTNIGHT AGO, 
GENTLY WARNED PRESIDENT KENNEDY NOT TO THINK THAT HE IS THE 
" COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF THE FORCES OF THE FREE WORLD 
. " IN FACT, SAID LORD HAILSHAM, " THIS IS PRECISELY 
WHAT HE IS NOT IF THE ALLIES TO WHICH HE IS 
BOUND ARE NOT TO BE DEPRIVED OF THE VERY INDEPENDENCE FOR 
WHICH THEY ARE PREPARED TO UNITE . " THE SUPERIORITY IN 
NUMBERS, WEALTH AND STRENGTH, AND THEREFORE IN INFLUENCE AND INITIATIVE, OF 
THE U.S., IS NOT IN QUESTION . NOR IS ITS INTEGRITY 
. . . (BUT) HAVE THE AMERICANS PAUSED TO REFLECT THAT 
AN ALLIANCE IN WHICH ALL THE ADVANCED AND SOPHISTICATED TECHNOLOGIES WERE 
LEFT TO ONE OF THE PARTNERS, AND THE REST WERE RELEGATED 
TO SUPPLY A COMPLEMENT OF CONVENTIONAL ARMS IN WAR, AND IN 
COMMERCE A MODEST CONTRIBUTION OF SCOTCH WHISKY AND COMPACT CARS . 
. . WOULD NOT ULTIMATELY SUCCEED IN RETAINING THE LOYALTY OF 
EUROPEAN ELECTORS ? 