some from the groups which had been absorbed. The historian J. Meilof Yben (formerly of Neerlands Toekomst) was secretary.109 5. Forms of Activity. EA intends on the one hand 'to popularize the unification of the countries of Europe on a federal basis by means of the press, lectures, conferences, and pamphlets', and on the other hand 'by making contacts with politicians and authorities to promote all inter-European projects in the economic and cultural fields. It also intends to prepare the ground through working parties who will co-ordinate the different interests of the countries of Europe in a wide variety of fields.'110 The great merit of this Dutch group was that during the discouraging first post-war year it was the first to react to the disappointing situation with an appropriate response, while continuing to absorb like-minded associations and to work on its programme. 'The same energy as was shown in resisting tyranny must be displayed in the struggle against defeatism', against the passive acceptance of European anarchy and the possibility of a confrontation between the superpowers on European soil. It is this response which accounts for the leading role played by Europeesche Actie during the realignment of the European federalist associations that began in the autumn of 1946. (E) FEDERAL UNION Federal Union was founded in Britain in November 1938 by Derek Rawnsley, Charles Kimber, and Patrick Ransome. With a panel of advisers that included such well-known personalities as Lionel Curtis, Lord Lothian, Wickham Steed, and Barbara Wootton, it reached the height of its effectiveness in 1940-1, having grown with astonishing speed (by June 1940 it had 225 branches with 12,000 members) and produced an equally astonishing output of books and pamphlets. The movement's initial publications included Lord Lothian's pamphlet The Ending of Armageddon, June 1939, W. B. Curry's The Case for Federal Union, issued as a Penguin special in the autumn of 1939, a symposium edited by M. Channing-Pearce entitled Federal Union, and L. Robbins's The Economic Causes of War, 109 The names are in the pamphlet: De Europeesche Actie, The Hague {Dec. 1946), p. 5 f.; the statutes, articles 2-10, ibid., pp. 6-14 (cf. n. 96, version of May 1945). It was also provided that between the national sections and the central committee 'groups of countries', each consisting of several sections, would be formed, corresponding to the proposed European subfederations. When the statutes were revised in Oct. 1947, these and the central committee were dropped, and only one national association was envisaged for what was to be the Netherlands association within the framework of the UEF (cf. chap. HI, n. 445 f.). 110 In the pamphlet already mentioned (n. 109), p. 5. From autumn 1946 onwards there was a drive to attract new members and form new groups etc. 'Working committees' (as provided by Article 11 of the statutes, that is, one for each district and combining to form sectional working committees) were set up for the proposed world federation (cf. n. 103), for the question of Germany etc. (cf. Chap. II/5, nn. 176 and 185). In 1947 Nieuw Europa began to appear (as it still does) as a monthly periodical. that national sovereignty creates 'international anarchy' and war, and that the prevention of war depended upon the establishment of a federal government which could manage common affairs between nations. In this phase, before an Annual Conference met to formulate an official programme on a democratic basis, a 'statement of aims', formulated in the spring of 1939 by eminent members, declared: National sovereignty leads to competition in armaments, economic self-sufficiency and internal regimentation, and thus inevitably to war, imperialism, poverty and loss of individual liberty, because where sovereign States fail to agree there is no remedy save report to violence in the form of power politics or war. No international order based on co-operation between sovereign States will prove either efficient or durable, since all sovereign States in the last resort seek their own national self-interest. Nothi:ng less than a union of the peoples can end this anarchy and give peace, justice and freedom to all. Accordingly we advocate: I. A Federal Union of those nations which hold that the State exists for the freedom and responsibility of man, and that government must be conducted with the consent of the governed. II. That this constitutional Union will assure national self-government to all units within the Union in those affairs which are solely of national interest, and will establish legislative, executive and judicial organs representative of and responsible to all the citizens of the Union for such common affairs as defence and order, currency, trade, communications and migration, and will possess the taxation and borrowing powers necessary to finance its own activities. III. As a first step a Federal Union of the established democracies to form a nucleus of the future world federation; such a nucleus to be open to accession by other nations which accept its basic principles, and to act as a loyal member of any larger organizations designed to promote international co-operation.111 The general formulation in favour of a union of democracies had thus been proposed and defined, though not as yet politically focused upon an area which might actually federate in practice. This gap was soon filled by the work of the Federal Union Research Institute, set up at Oxford in March 1940 under the direction of Sir William Beveridge with Patrick Ransome as Secretary, which suggested that a manageable area for this post-war 111 'Statement of Aims' printed in Lord Lothian, The Ending of Armageddon, London (Federal Union), June 1939, p. 16 f. According, to Channing-Pearce, Federal Union, London 1940, the statement was formulated by a number of eminent members of Federal Union. On all activities, the numerous meetings etc., detailed information can be found in the Association's periodical 'Federal Union News' which appeared weekly from May 1940 (the editor from Sept. 1939 to Feb. 1944 was C. Kimber). A selection from all main Federal Union documents and publications, collected by J. Pinder, will shortly be published as part of a Documentary Series dealing with wartime plans for European Union. On the early heyday of Federal Union, with its renewal of the concept of federalism in Brita.n, a special monograph is needed. The subject is apparently deah with in chapter 3, 'Federalism and European Unity', of a thesis by N. Forman: written under the supervision of Prof. R. Pryce: The European Movement in Great Britain 1945-1954 (Dissertation Manuscript, Univ. of Sussex, 1966, 438 pp.), but it is not accessible to the public and I was unable to make use of it. iPH^IPP^^^^^PWRlülHPI! 144 Europe's Mood of Resignation federation should initially comprise Britain, France, Germany, and the smaller European democracies. The proposal was subsequently developed in a flow of publications printed in 1940, at a time when Barbara Wootton was Chairman of Federal Union's Executive Bureau. Among them were A Federation of Western Europe by Ivor Jennings, Sir William Beveridge's pamphlet Peace by Federation, and R. W. G. Mackay's book Federal Europe, containing a draft constitution, concentrated on a Western-Europe Federation as the nucleus of a future world government. The first Annual Delegates' Conference of Federal Union, held in February 1940, presented a draft programme entitled 'Aims and Policy', which was finally adopted by the Federal Union Council on 31 March 1940. This focused on a federation of 'the Allies' with the emphasis on a nucleus of Britain and France, but with the future accession of Germany explicitly foreseen. Thus, while the general goal of the movement repeated the need for a 'common government' of 'free peoples' as a first step towards 'ultimate World federation' and a' secure peace', the specific policy of Federal Union was formulated as: 1) To work for an Allied Statement of Peace Aims challenging the idea of race superiority with a declaration of the rights of man, and the method of aggression with a declaration of readiness to federate with any people whose government is prepared to recognise these rights. 2) To welcome any steps towards such a federation of the Allies or any other groups of peoples, provided that at the time of its formation the federation is declared open to accession by other nations, including Germany.112 A deeper study and further elaboration of this programme was accomplished at regular meetings of the Constitutional, Economic, and Colonial Committees of the Federal Union Research Institute. The results were propagated in Federal Tracts published during 1941, when Mackay was Chairman of the Executive Bureau. These included: Economic Aspects of Federation by Lionel Robbins; Tke Colonial Problem and the Federal Solution by Norman Bentwich; What Federal Government is by K. C. Wheare; The Philosophy of Federalism by C. E. M. Joad; Socialism and Federation by Barbara Wootton; and Federation and the Colonies by Lord Lugard. This is not the place to describe in detail the heyday of Federal Union (1940-1), which was fertile in enterprising ideas and dynamically effective. 112 'Aims and Policy', Federal Union News, No. 29, 6 April 194(1, pp. 2,3; reprinted in a leaflet entitled Federal Union, with a foreword by Sir William Beveridge, 12 June 1940, London (Federal Union), 1940, p. 3. Of the persons so far named (cf. J. R. Butler, Lord Lothian, London, 1960, and J. Harris, William Beveridge, Oxford, Í977, esp. pp. 367-70) by far the most important during 1945-50 was Ronald W. G. Mackay, born in Australia in 1902, lecturer in Philosophy, History, and Economics at Sydney University; settled in England as a solicitor in 1934, Labour Party parliamentary candidate, 1935-1942. His book Federal Europe (1940) provided the most thoughtful analysis, with a detailed constitutional draft, of a 'United States of Europe' with a close definition of the federation's 'exclusive' and 'concurrent' legislative powers, built around the nucleus of a British-French-German federation. From 1942 to 1945 he worked in the Ministry of Aircraft Production; from 1945 to 1950 he was Labour MP for North-West Hull, in 1950-1 for Reading North; 1947-9 vice-- . " ti i- .. ________ tt„:— ,--------1„„ T„A*,V\- rV,*„l iqfin Europe's Mood of Resignation 145 It is a theme which lies outside the scope of this book and deserves a separate study. The 'Aims and Policy' document with its principles of pooling sovereignty and a federation of nations remained valid for the next decade, but their development and effectiveness were interrupted by the impact of the war. With the collapse of France the movement lost much of its impetus and began to waver about its aims. Kimber wrote in the Federal Union News of 22 June 1940: 'Europe is now dominated by the Germans ... We must launch a crusade for the world beyond Hitler ... a union of free peoples.' Britain's complete concentration on the war not only brought leading members of FU, who hitherto had been able to give their time to the association, into government posts (Lord Lothian as ambassador to Washington, Lord Beveridge as chief of the Planning Staff, and Mackay to the Ministry of Aircraft Production); it made it increasingly difficult to divert the public's attention from the war, to resist the tendency to draw a sharp distinction between friendly and enemy nations, and to speak of a future federation that would include Germany. Another trend in Federal Union, caused by the series of defeats on the Continent, dependence on the United States, and growing uncertainty about the future, was revealed in an article published in September 1941 which urged 'the setting up of permanent joint institutions with the United States' and 'preparation for a postwar conference of authoritative representatives from the Commonwealth, the United States and the European nations to discover which nations were prepared to federate with us and to draw up a constitution'.113 At Federal Union meetings, where she was the most effective speaker, the Liberal politician Miss F. L. Josephy did her best to dispel these doubts and to prevent the fading-out of a European federation as a practical goal. From August 1941 till September 1945 she succeeded Mackay as Chairman of FU's Executive Bureau. At first she tried to clarify the association's programme by setting up a 'Peace Aims Committee' to which she, Kimber, Joad, and Zilliacus belonged.114 113 Article (probably by Kimber) in Federal Union News, No. 71, 13.9.1941; this and the preceding facts quoted from: Josephy Archives, Report J., pp. 5-11, a collection of material written about 1970 by Miss F. L. Josephy on the history of FU from 1938 to 1948. Questions were even asked in the House of Commons, where in Nov. 1941 Churchill was asked by Sir W, Smithers 'whether, in view of the fact that the declared policy of the organization known as Federal Union is to surrender sovereign powers to a federal government, he will take the necessary steps to stop the activities of FU as being inimical to our war effort'. Churchill answers: 'I am advised that the activities of this body have not so far called for such action as the Honourable Member suggests.' The Home Secretary, Herbert Morrison, replied to a similar question in Dec. 1941 that the special powers conferred on him were not intended 'to be used for the purpose of restricting the expression of opinion' on a matter of'improving the organization of international co-operation after the war' (ibid., p. 14). il4,Miss F. L. Josephy, born about 1910, studied French and German language and literature; as a member of the Liberal Party she was a British delegate (often the only one) at meetings of the Liberal International in the inter-war years and thus became acquainted with Continental problems. Between 1939 and 1959 she was a Liberal parliamentary candidate six times; she joined FU after attending a Liberal Summer School in Aug. 1939 at which P. Ransome explained its principles, and a FU meeting in Hampstead wherejoad and Brailsford did the same. Because of her JIIMIIHIIIIÜBI^^ 146 Europe's Mood of Resignation Yet the ''Peace Aim- War Weapon'' report subsequently submitted to the main Annual Conference in Easter 1942 remained an evident compromise between the two emerging wings in Federal Union, as Josephy and Joad pressed for an emphasis upon European federation plans, while Kimber and Zilliacus insisted upon the overall confederal world order into which regional federations should be fitted. Thus, although the initial part of the report seemed to indicate a consensus in favour of a federal rather than a confederal order as the best theoretical form for combination between states, at a practical level the overriding need for a broader 'intergovernmental' approach was also conceded. Hence the report started from the assumption that 'Experience of confederations in general and of the League in particular has proved that the only effective form of international government is supranational government - that is, a federal government to v/hich the member States have surrendered jurisdiction over certain specifically defined matters, and which is elected by, responsible to, and has a direct claim on the loyalty of the citizens of the federating States' but that at a global level not all states at the end of the war would be ready for federation. Accordingly, 'a World Confederation containing a Federation of Democracies' was proposed (a confederation being defined as 'an association or league of independent States which have signed a treaty pledging them to co-operate for certain purposes; such co-operation is through conferences of government delegates'). Similarly, t be report at first repeatedly stressed that a 'Federation of Democracies' was the 'distinctive proposal' in the plan and would serve as the 'distinctive contribution' to a general peace, since as one unit it would form the 'most important part' of the broader confederation. But the text as a whole clearly gave weight to the proposal for a new world order and stressed that a federal initiative should not take place independendy or outside of the overall confederal design: 'It will be seen that the world government envisaged after the war comprises two essential features: (1) a Federal Union of Democracies; (2) the World Confederation of States of which it would be the nucleus. Both must be established as parts of a single treaty.'115 gifts as a speaker, using only the briefest notes, she was elected to the executive office in May 1940 and soon became a speaker at almost all meetings arranged by FU. From 1941 to 1946 she was employed as a lecturer by the British army. In one of her first speeches for FU dh 16.5.1940 she said: 'If you can make the separate interests of Germany, France and Britain the common interest of all the three, war in Western Europe is finished for all time. The structure that we want to build ... is a federation which will include the democracies and a de-Nazified Germany. (Josephy Archives, Report J., p. 4a, and information from Miss Josephy on 30.11.1974).-Cyril Edwin M. Joad, born at Durham on 12.8.1891, was from about 1920 to 1930 an official in Ehe Labour Exchange Department of the Board of Trade; from Í930 head of the Philosophy Department at Birkbeck College, London; from 1939 a member of the Executive Office of FU, 'British Brains Truster No. ľ, and in 1945 Professor of Philosophy at the University of London. His books included Decadence (1948) and The Recovery of Belief {\952); he died on 9.4.1953. 115 In this compromise form, the report was passed by the FU General Meeting on 28 March 1942 and subsequently published as a leaflet entitled: Federation: Peace Aim - War Weapon - The Peace Aims Report of Federal Union issued with the authority of the Annual General Meeting held at Easter 1942, June 1942 (sixteen pages), distributed with Federal News, No. 88. The report in addition stressed t.iiat several federations were envisaged within the World Confederation, namely: a European Union (including Britain), an American Union (possibly embracing Australia), a Far-Eastern Union and z. Eurasian Union (the USSR). The final goal was the transformation of the World Confederation into a World Federation, though, as the report also stressed: 'Meanwhile, it is not the least of the merits of the "combined" system of world-government, that is an ' 'open'' Democratic Federation as an integral part of a World Confederation, that it is extremely flexible. It permits of all sorts of half-way houses and intermediate ,rr,n™m.nfr Uh.,Ppn PWWntinn aiiH HnrifprWutinn \-n arrnivlmi-p with firriimilanrpi and the Europe's Mood of Resignation 147 Meanwhile, on a proposal by Miss Josephy, an 'International Bureau' was added to the Executive Bureau for the purpose of making contacts with groups of federalists in other countries, a 'European Committee' being attached to the Bureau as a subcommittee. On this committee in 1942-3 there sat, besides Miss Josephy as chairman, exiled politicians from sixteen European countries including the Belgian General M. de Baer, Císař and Vojaksch of Czechoslovakia, Eyriey and J. Métadier of France, Gottfurcht and Westphal (= H. A. Kluthe) of Germany, Gardini and Luzatto of Italy, Kronsten and Szapiro of Poland, and others. This committee produced in July Í943 two memoranda which recommended continued support for European federation as a matter of urgency. The Memorandum on Foreign Policy stated: 'We recognize that supranational government will not be possible on a world scale or even for all the United Nations, but we believe that it should apply to the European Council proposed by the Prime Minister... The European Council, if it is to be successful, must be a legislature whose decisions have constitutional authority ... a European government with definite but limited power.' According to the second memorandum 'Tomorrow's world will be centred around two mains poles of attraction: the USA and the USSR ... A divided Europe would be a mere toy between these two giants. Only a united Europe can hope to make her voice heard tomorrow . . .''l() Federal Union's annual general conference in August 1943, at which Miss Josephy was able to announce that the number of members had stabilized (moving up slightly from 2,810 at the end of 1941 to 3,131 at the end of 1942, with 130 branches), took favourable note of both memoranda, but no resolution was passed. The European Committee with Miss Josephy in the chair drafted a resolution in the form of a request, but in more pressing language: 'FU should encourage the establishment of any federations and international organizations which tend to lead to ultimate world federation.' Kimber resigned as editor of Federal Union News, which since the middle of 1942 had appeared monthly, and Miss Josephy herself took over the editorship of the periodical, which was renamed Federal News in March 1944 and kept this title until after 1950. It published a series of articles on the French and Italian Resistance urging the formation of a federal Europe: 'Underground Europe is asking for it, but a lead from Britain is essential.' Against the wishes of a bare majority of the Executive Bureau, from which Curry, Wootton, Ransome, and Kimber immediately resigned, Josephy as chairman sent a memorandum to all members of the next annual general conference describing the choice that lay before them: 116 Memorandum 'On Foreign Policy' and another memorandum, 'Federation and the Four Freedoms', which in other respects, especially in its concern for Freedom from Want, recommended a more markedly Socialist policy: 'A central economic plan must direct economic life in the whole federation. The federation itself must have sufficient control of the key industries' (Josephy Archives, Report j. List ol'membersofthe'European Committee', p. 26 f.; the memoranda, p. 27, f.). 148 . Europe's Mood of Resignation FU can say (a) that, because world federation is not practicable at the end of this war, FU has no political function and must become a purely educational organization, or (b) that WF is not possible at the end of the war, but that if it is ever to be attained the loose world organization that will have to be set up must be able to function ... Twice in 25 years a war has broken out in Europe; Europe is at apoint of development at which its people can elect a Federal Parliament; therefore ... the immediate job of FU must to be press with ever)' means in its power for the inclusion in the postwar settlement of a provision setting up a European Federation, open to accession by other nations, as the most urgent first step to World Federation. At the annual general conference on 23 and 24 September 1944, following a searching debate, a resolution to amend Federal Union's basic guide-lines was proposed by Philip Edwards, a member of the Executive since July 1939, supported by Mackay, Joad, John Parker MP, and others, and passed by a two-thirds majority. The amendment embodied the following statement of objectives: '(a) World Federation as the long-term aim; (b) educating the public in the meaning of and need for federation; (c) immediate aim the promotion of a democratic federation of Europe as part of the postwar settlement.'117 This decision, which cleared away many doubts, was conveyed to all members in a personal letter from the re-elected chairman headed ' Clearing the Decks for Action'. The work of the association thereupon took on a new lease of life with a series of meetings to publicize what a FU report for 1944 described as 'really practical policy'. It began with a meeting at Caxton Hall, Westminster, on 30 November 1944, billed as 'United Europe - the Key to Peace'. An audience of 1,300 heard Tom Horabin, MP, Lord Huntingdon, Professor Joad, Miss Josephy, and Commander Stephen King-Hall expound the need for Europe to form a federation including Britain. A new series of booklets with the same message was started."8 The series of meetings continued until the summer of 1945. The annual general conference of 29-30 September 1945 declared that: (a) the 117 All facts and quotations Írom Josephy Archives, Report J., pp. 30-6. The value of this resolution lay in its rejection of the illusory belief in the progressive character of the policy of the Big Three and in the endorsement of the principles developed by the FU, including their practical application to Europe despite the absence of Allied support at that date (1944). n,ů Josephy Archives, Report J., pp. 37-41. The FU Report for Sept.-Oct. 1944, referring to the renewed acknowledgement of a European federation as an 'immediate objective', stated that 'There had been an encouraging response both inside and outside the movement, and a number of well-known people who had thought FU was too Utopian decided to join' (ibid., p. 37). A number of new publications appears, including F. L. Josephy, Europe-the Key to Peace. London, Oct. Í944 ('Europe, containing 27 separate sovereign states, presents the greatest danger area. . . . For the sake of our own security, as well as for the sake of world peace, we must have a government which will be ready and anxious to join with the new governments of Europe in creating a democratic European Federation'). Other new publications were Federal Union, Federation - Target Jot Today, London, Nov. 1944 ('The future of Europe as a whole can be safeguarded only within the framework of a federation which includes Britain, France and all other democracies'); and Federal Union, Resistance Speaks, London, May 1945 (an impressive collection of statements from the French, Italian, etc. Resistance urging a federation of Europe, including the Geneva Declaration, cf. n. 56 above, and the Resolution of the Paris Federalists' Conference, see n. 82 above). Europe's Mood of Resignation 149 existence of the atom bomb underlined 'the imperative need for a World Federal Government' and that (b) 'the advocacy of a democratic federation . in Europe is part of Federal Union policy'.119 In the light of this, FU's policy may be defined as follows: 1. Design for Europe. The undisputed conviction of Federal Union was that peace and welfare could be ensured only by a federation of nations, as the failure of mere co-operation as tried by the League of Nations had shown. The first official programme, 'Aims and Policy', adopted by Federal Union at its first annual conference in 1940, formulated the following clear list of powers which should be exercised by the ' common Federal Government': 'The Federation would control foreign policy, Armed Forces and armaments. It would have substantial powers over tariffs, currency, migration, communications and similar matters. It would also have power to ensure that colonies and dependencies were administered in the interests of the inhabitants and not for the benefit of any particular country.'120 From 1941 to 1944 there was controversy about whether to aim in the first instance for a federal Europe as an essential step towards a wider federation. In September 1944 this course was confirmed and given detailed justification: European Federation is needed primarily for five reasons: (i) as a framework for Germany; (ii) as the only way of preventing the smaller European states from endangering peace because they cannot defend themselves against potentially predatory neighbours; (iii) to prevent a clash between the Great Powers of East and West over backing rival ideologies in Europe; (iv) to give Europe a common voice in world affairs and make a common contribution to world defence; (v) to raise living standards by supra-national planning.121 A report from the 'Federal Power Committee' adopted by the annual general conference in August 1943 had defined the minimal powers required by a federal 119 Report of the Annual General Meeting, 29 and 30 Sept. 19Í5 in Federal News, No. 128,Nov. 1945, p. 12. This basic programme then remained unchanged until 1950 and even later. Cf. nn. í 30 and 131 for a falling-off in the number of meetings in the second half of 1945 and 1946, and for further resolutions passed by the AGM of 30.9.1945 etc. 120 Official programme of Federal Union Aims and Policy, see footnote 112. It was entirely in this spirit that, for example, at a Brains Trust held in London on 12.3.1945, the FU point of view was explained by Prof. Joad, Missjosephy, and Sir Walter Layton as 'the people of each federating state elect two sets of Members of Parliament - one to the home parliament to deal with matters of purely national concern such as housing, health services and marriage laws; the other to the Federal Parliament to deal, in conjunction with the other members from all the other federating states, with matters of common concern to all the peoples, such as control ofarmed forces, foreign policy and trade relations' (quoted from Federal News, No. 122, April-May 1945, p. 10). 121 Leading article (probably by Josephy) in Federal News, No. 116, Oct. 1944; cf. the texts quoted in nn. 116 and 117, At the Brains Trust on 12.3.1945 it was stated: 'Great Britain dare not stand out, for her own safety .. . Germany should be invited to join the Federation as soon as the German people are in a position to elect their members to the Federal Parliament, and as soon as she can genuinely accept and maintain the Charter of Rights. . . Unfortunately we cannot wait until Socialism is adopted by every nation before setting up an organization to prevent war, even if Socialism in itself were a means of preventing war, which does not necessarily follow. Socialist solidarity up to now has never stood the test of war.' (Federal News, No. 122, April-May 1945, pp. lOand 12). 150 Europe's Mood of Resignation government as follows: 'A Federal Judiciary, with Courts of First Instance in the federated states and a Federal Supreme Court', would be responsible for 'maintenance of the political rights set out in the Federal Charter' and would decide cases of dispute, but 'there must be individual right of appeal'. The Federal Parliament would have oversight of defence forces and of the 'Federal Police Force', and would decide basic questions of foreign policy; it would supervise the Federal Government in its handling of economic policy and would introduce a 'common second language, to be taught compulsorily in all schools in the Federation from the earliest stages'.122 2. Europe in the World. FU always emphasized the fact that it was a European federation as an integral part of a future world federation and, meanwhile, as an essential contribution to the organization of world peace. In a telegram to Eden on 21 April 1945 the Council stated that FU 'strongly urges the formation of a democratic federation of European countries as a first step to ultimate world federation. We believe this will prove the only basis for European reconstruction and will eliminate the danger of future wars breeding in Europe.' The Federal Union Brains Trust was realistic and more specific: 'Federalists have never suggested that federation will prevent war except within the area federated. That is why their ultimate objective remains World Federation. European Federation is proposed merely as the first necessary step ... But the world organization, which for many years to come can probably be nothing better than a League, will have a greater chance of functioning if the great powers on whom it mainly rests are not torn asunder by European quarrels leading t o world war.'m 3. Plan of Campaign. This for FU was always strictly democratic. 'Federal Union will be achieved only by the power of public opinion. There are too many vested interests concerned for it ever to be offered from the top.' When the next general elections were held after the war ' it will be for those 122 It was stated that the Federal Government would need the following Departments: 1) Foreign Office 6) Ministry of Trade 2) Ministry of Defence 7) Ministry of Planning 3) Ministry of Justice 8) Ministry of Communications 4) Ministry of Internal Security 9) Mandates Board 5) Ministry of Education (. . . to control the teaching 10) Ministry of Finance (. . . to raise taxes to of. . . federal civics . . .; Federal Universities. . .) pay for the federal forces . . .) See Report of the Federal Powers Committee (set up on 11.9.1942 wiih Prof. Joad, Keeton, Kimber, and Josephy), printed in Federal UnionNews, No. 101, July 1943. 123 Telegrams to Eden quoted m Josephy Archives, Report J., p. 46 f. Cf. the quotations in nn. 116, 117, and 121 ('To give Europe a common voice in global questions'). At the Federal Union's Brains Trust (quoted from Federal News, No. 122, April-May Í945, p. 11), members of the audience asked if the Soviet Union was to be included in the United States of Europe; Lord Strabolgi, in a first repiy, said Yes; but the chairman of the FU, Miss Josephy 'did not think that Russia should, or would wish to, be included, as she already is a federation of states and her economy is based on a system totally different from anything European' (ibid., p. 9). As for the Dominions, they 'would decide for themselves whether they wished to become members of the European Federation because Britain was a member, or whether for defence and economic planning they would prefer to be attached to some other world unit. In any case the loose organization known as the Commonwealth would still be bound together by its present ties' (ibid., p. 12). Europe's Mood of Resignation 151 who believe that federation is necessary for the winning of the peace to ensure that only federal-minded M.Ps. are returned to Parliament'.124 After having sought and obtained by means of general elections a general mandate to ratify the draft federal treaty as an integral part of the peace treaty setting up a World Confederation, the national parliaments and governments concerned should put into practice the Federal 'Constitution' which would be based upon 'democracy, social justice and racial equality', along with a 'Charter of Rights', a 'common democratically elected Parliament and a common government', and a 'single defence system'.125 4. Purpose and Character of the Organization. Great stress was laid in FU policy on the principle of educating the public so as to form a mass movement transcending party ties, with such influence on the electorate that as many federal-minded MPs as possible would be elected to parliament. The annual general meeting, at which every branch was represented in proportion to its number of members, met for a weekend in the autumn (usually with about a hundred persons present), decided on the broad lines of policy, and elected new members of the National Council of thirty-one as vacancies occurred through death or retirement. The National Council met two or three times a year between the annual general meetings, decided what course to take on important political issues, and managed the financial side; it also elected from its own ranks the real governing body, the Executive Committee of twelve which met every fortnight to take practical decisions within the framework laid down by the guide-lines.126 These decisions were prepared by two committees, one for finance and general purposes with de Peyer as chairman, the other for meetings and publicity with Miss Newlands in the chair. Other members of the National Council sat on these committees, for example Ota Adler on the former and Professor Joad on the latter. Other committees were set up as necessary: 124 Federal Union's Brains Trust, ibid., p. 13. 'It has never been suggested that the European Federation could be set up all at once. The first stage should be a union of the existing democracies; the second, the adherence to that Union of the other European states as they become democracies; the third stage will be the incorporation of Germany when she too has a democratic government' (ibid., p. 1Í). 125 Official programme of Federal Union (1942) Federation: Peace Aim- War Weapon, seen. 115. 125 Cf. reports on the Annual General Meeting in Federal News; complete collection of minutes of all meetings of the National Council and the Executive Committee in Federal Union Archives (with the help of which a detailed history of the association could be written). At the AGM in Sept. 1945 Miss Josephy announced her resignation as chairman of the executive 'as she could no longer afford to spend practically every day in the office as full-time voluntary chairman' (Josephy Archives, Report J., p. 50). Philip Edwards was elected as the new chairman; he had been a member of the executive and secretary of the organization since July 1939. The executive from autumn 1945 onwards was composed as follows: P. Edwards (chairman), S. F. Sheridan (deputy chairman), R. B. Bucknell and Monica Wingate {ex officio chairman and deputy chairman of the National Council), E. E. V. de Peyer (ex officio hon. treasurer of the National Council), Miss F. L. Josephy (editor of Federal News and chairman of the International Bureau), Keith Killby (the new secretary), the newly elected MPs John Hare, Col. E. M. King, and H. C. Usborne, aiso Cmdr. Innes Hamilton and Miss H. M. L. Newlands (cf. minutes of the executive, 7.12.1945 at the House of Common, FU Archives). 152 Europe's Mood of Resignation. e.g. between January and July 1945 there was an elections committee for questioning and influencing the views of all parliamentary candidates, and so on. In addition, in 1945 as a successor to the FU Research Institute an independent 'Federal Research and Educational Trust' was formed.127 5. Forms of Activity. These were briefly summarized in a circular letter sent out by Miss Josephy for the new phase of Federal Union which began in October 1944: 'large public meetings, press advertising, a parliamentary pressure group, by-election activity, preparation for the forthcoming general election, co-operation with other national or international bodies with similar objects,' etc. Federal News, FU's monthly periodical, was important as a means of keeping the association united; it made forceful comments on political events from a federalist point of view, as did pamphlets in so far as financial resources, derived wholly from members' contributions, made possible their publication.128 A special source of strength for FU was its public meetings, organized not only in the British fashion with several speakers, but mostly in the form of brains trusts: with a neutral chairman, two speakers for Federal Union would debate against two more or less anti-federalist invited MPs on questions put to them by the audience.129 For years FU had emphasized the need for a federation of nations, and since 1944 it had once more explicitly made a federation of Europe its immediate aim. It is not surprising that for a number of reasons the association was in the doldrums in the second half of 1945: the lack of any prospect of this aim being realized in the foreseeable future in a Europe occupied and divided by the two superpowers, the relative ineffectiveness of Federal Union's attempt to influence the 1945 general election, and finally the renewed awareness that they were a tiny minority. Another disadvantage was that Miss Josephy herself was away fox several months 127 For Subcommittees, cf. for example the minutes of the executive of 5.10. 1945, p. 3. For the re-establishment of a 'Federal Research and Educational Trust', especially tharjks to the co-operation of Mackay and the services of D. W. Sanders (member of the National Council for South-West England and first trustee), cf. the minutes of the Council of 13.1.1945, p. 3 (decision that the Trust should be financially independent with its own office etc.). Revision of the 'federal tracts' and new federalist publications, in which P. Ransome and C. Kimber were again to co-operate, were planned (cf. minutes of the executive meeting of 7.12.1945, p. 2; all in FU Archives). 12H Josephy, 'Clearing the Decks for Action', quoted from summary m Josephy Archives, Report J. p. 41. According to the minutes of the executive meeting of 7.12.1945 Jack Fidkr (temporary editor of Federal News in the absence of Miss Josephy, see n. 130) was anxious to bring the number of copies printed to 10,000; hence the total must have been somewhat less. New publications were also discussed: 'Policy Leaflet', a revised edition of 'Questions and Answers', and a new pamphlet explaining federation {Federal Union Archives). For the number of members, cf. p. Í47 in this chapter and n. 86 of chap. II. 129 For example H. M. L. Newlands, 'Fun with the "Brains" ', in Federal News, No. 122, April-May 1945, pp. 9-13; at this meeting of 13.2.1945 Leslie Mitchell, a member of FU and 'well known to film-goers as chief British Movietone News commentator', acted as chairman. B. Baxter, a Conservative MP, Lord Strabolgi (Labour), Sir W. Layton, Prof. Joad, and Miss Josephy took part in the discussion. Summer Schools for members, lasting between one and three weeks, were also influential; they were resumed in the summer of 1946, according to Council minutes of 27.4.1946. Europe's Mood of Resignation 153 and it took time for the other members of the executive to replace her effectively. In October a mass meeting that had been planned had to be cancelled 'owing to the difficulty of obtaining speakers'.130 Yet in September Miss Josephy herself had shown how the association, despite the temporary frustration of attempts to form a European federation, could point to the unleashing of atomic energy as a reason for urging the case for a world federation even more strongly: 'EF, though still an essential part of the whole, is no longer enough even as a first step, WF, far from being a Utopian dream, becomes at one jump a practical necessity. The atom is a world force, and a world organization is needed to control it.' Accordingly, the annual general meeting at the end of September 1945 underlined as 'a re-statement of Federal Union policy ... the imperative need for a world federal government' as well as 'the advocacy of a democratic federation in Europe'.131 By restoring equal weight to both aims the Executive Bureau was able to get the organization moving again in December 1945, to assign new tasks to new members, to win back former members, and gradually to reactivate the programme of meetings for both objectives in 1946. This was the position when, from the autumn of 1946 onwards, the revival of Continental federalism brought the European objective back into the foreground, while, in February 1948, the Communist coup in Prague ended all present hope of establishing a world federation.132 130 In the election campaign of June-July 1945 every candidate was to be asked: '1. Are you in favour of a United States of Europe? 2. If elected, are you prepared to advocate the establishment of a democratic federation of Europe, including this country, as part of the new world order?' -but the results were clearly disappointing. Only nine FU members sat as 'federalist M.P.s' in the new House of Commons: Boyd Orr, Gruffydd, Horabin, Mackay, Parker, Scolefield Alien, Usborne, Zilliacus, and John Hynd (Josephy Archives, Report J., pp. 47 and 51; cf. n. 87 to chap. II on the growth of this group). Miss Josephy, already in June and July busy as prospective parliamentary candidate for Devizes, was 'abroad lecturing to the Forces' between Nov. 1945 and May 1946, first with British troops in Italy, then in Ceylon, Singapore, and India, finding genuine interest everywhere in the idea of federation (ibid., p. 51, f.). The results of the October meeting are given in the minutes of the executive of 5.10.1945, p. 2 {FU Archives). 131 Josephy in Federal News, No. 126, Sept. 1945, p. 1; AGM resolution of'30.9.1945 in Federal News, No. 128, Nov. 1945, p. 12. Perhaps Miss Josephy herself believed for a time that reason would prevail in the sphere of world politics: 'In a few years', she wrote in Federal News, No. 127, Oct. 1945, 'if not in a few months, at least all the Great Powers will have found out the secret for themselves. If we and America offer it to them now with World Federation ... as a quid pro quo, the price paid will be a million times worth the sacrifice . . .' A memorandum of the 'European Committee of Federal Union', of which she was the chairman, demanded direct election of the UN General Assembly so as to be able to control a Security Council which would have atomic weapons at its disposal (Report J., p. 51). Yet in view of the unwillingness of the superpowers to act, this demand soon became for her, as it did for the majority of the executive bureau, simply another tactical move in order to leave the world federalists some scope inside FU. (Information from Miss Josphy, 30.11.1974). 132 Between the autumn of 1945 and 1947 the bulk of the membership and of those who attended the annual general meetings were no doubt world federalists of unimpeachable goodwill; but the most intelligent and active members (such as Bucknell, Joad, Miss Josephy, Mackay, and Killby) considered it futile to hope that the United Nations would develop into a world government, and urged that a start be made with what was possible, a federation of Western Europe (information