Word: western
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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...brave design faced serious obstacles. Some of them were sourly expressed last week by General Charles de Gaulle. Although no site for the permanent Western command had been determined, De Gaulle feared that it would be London. Said he: "Europe must be defended in Europe ... I simply say that England is an island. I can't do anything about that, neither can she. And I say to you that Europe is not an island but a continent . . . The natural center of a defense plan is France. But for the present, France is hardly present. The problem of European defense...
...felt so sure of his appointment that he had prepared to resign as chief of the Imperial General Staff, was waiting in his new Surrey country house to hear whether or not he had a job. Never a popular general, Monty faced much opposition as "chairman" of Western Europe's command...
This week, a settlement was reached. The French accepted Montgomery as overall "chairman" and British Air Marshal Sir James Robb as head of the air forces. In return, French Vice Admiral Robert Jaujard would be head man of the combined Western fleets. French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny would command the land forces. This was a tremendous portent for the success of Western Union; if the Royal British Navy could stomach a French admiral as its theoretical commander, almost anything was possible...
Will the U.S. Help? The real problem of Western Europe's defense centered in Washington. Very quietly, Washington has started work on a kind of military Marshall Plan; the U.S. Army has drafted a preliminary list of what the Western European alliance will need in the way of military supplies (and what it can produce itself). Request for Lend-Lease legislation would be submitted early next year to Congress and the nation...
...West's watch on the Rhine was far from firmly established; ahead lay much disagreement and bickering of the kind foreshadowed by De Gaulle's statement and the French government's hesitation. Nevertheless, bickering about Western Union was better than no Western Union...