Word: laniel
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...nearly two weeks-until the National Assembly dispersed for vacation-France's canny Foreign Minister Georges Bidault kept a document locked up in his desk. Then, one day last week, he took out the paper, got Premier Laniel to summon the Cabinet to consider it. It contained Britain's terms for "associating" with the proposed European Defense Community, an association which Paris demanded as one of three major preconditions to France's final decisions...
...Replace Me." Immediately, the leader of the Gaullists in Laniel's Cabinet objected. "The government is not entitled to sign an agreement which implies effective creation of EDC" protested Edouard Corniglion-Molinier. The Minister of Overseas Territories supported him: "I consider the British terms hollow...
...discourse grew louder, more ill-tempered. Half the ministers were on their feet at once; the several Gaullists and so-called "dissident Gaullists" huddled in a corner to consider whether to withdraw from the Laniel government, which would almost certainly bring it down. Corniglion-Molinier came back to the table and asked for a recess until 5 p.m. so that the matter might be discussed with party leaders. "Not even five minutes!" snapped Bidault. "This text must be signed today, because it must be presented to the House of Commons before it goes on holiday...
...Cabinet voted its mind, Bidault might well have been beaten, but in France it is not customary to take a vote in Cabinet meetings. Instead, Premier Laniel nodded to Bidault. Bidault left the room, telephoned France's representative to sign the formal agreements by which Great Britain will blend some of its military forces with the European Army while retaining full control over their use and disposition (see box}. That took care of Precondition...
...Gaulle placed seven-star Marshal Juin in his niche-"a great military chief who led to victory . . . the army I had confided to him"-and noted that the anti-EDC sentiments espoused by Juin (TIME, April 12) had been De Gaulle's for a long time. The Laniel government-with its "unspeakable mediocrity"-had no justification for firing the marshal...