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From Labor Action, Vol 14 No 22, 12 June 1950, p 5.
Transcribed & marked up by Einde O’Callaghan for ETOL.
In the past three weeks, we have run a series on the Allied occupations’ program of German dismantling, based on a semi-confidential report mimeographed for Washington circulation by Congresswoman Katharine St George We have labeled it a cold war crime, and the published information bears it out
For good reason most attention in the world today is fixed on the struggle between the Western world of capitalism and the Stalinist world of totalitarian bureaucratic collectivism But within the former camp, the struggle between the rival capitalist imperialisms goes on The case of Ger- [text missing] mantling is a case in point
Behind the scenes of the dismantling issue, only partly uncovered even by the material we have published, is a crisscrossing of imperialist interests among the ruling classes of the US, Britain France and Germany
The main point behind the St George report is the conclusion that the dismantling program has not been directed against Germany’s war-making power as such, out of fear of future aggressions nor for any other reason than this: the desire to cripple German industry, or important sectors of it, for the sake of such crippling itself
Chief power behind the drive, the evidence says, has been Britain, obeying the needs of its capitalist class’s interests against German competition It underlines the fact that the Labor Party government, in its foreign policy, has pursued a line of imperialism indistinguishable from that of its predecessors
France too has played a part, possibly out of the traditional French fear of a powerful Germany France, as always, has ambitions to be supreme on the Continent. An industrially shattered Germany could scarcely challenge its political and social influence France, to be sure, cannot hope to take Germany’s place industrially, as can Britain at least in part, but it can dream
As usual, the paths of US imperialism have been more devious and more amorphous, partly out of the position of US imperialism in world affairs, and partly out of sheer confusion in Washington
On this point, first let us quote the Report again, under its heading, America’s Share of Responsibility in the Dismantling Crisis
“In view of the recommendations for retaining these major steel plants, made by all four of the US technical missions sent to Germany during the past fifteen months to investigate the effects of the dismantlings upon the recovery effort, certain highly-placed American officials must bear a heavy responsibility for the approaching crisis brought on by a continuation of the dismantlings. These officials include:
“(1) Officials in the Department of State who ignored the recommendations of the Humphrey Committee and surrendered these most critical steel plants in the Washington agreement
“(2) The administrator of the ECA, who has publicly admitted that ‘the dismantlings cannot be justified on economic grounds,’ but who has violently defended continuation of the dismantlings on the ground of ‘security considerations’ The security argument appears specious on the very face of it Even if the critical steel plants surrendered in the Washington agreement were to be saved, they would result in only a 2½-million-ton increase in German steel production The present permitted level of 111 million tons in the Trizone would be increased accordingly to 136 million tons which would be less than Germany was producing during the peaceful days of the Weimar Republic, and which would represent only 219 per cent of the total production planned for the ERP countries by 1952
“Furthermore, such unsubstantiated claims that Germany would represent a future security threat, completely ignore the security threat of our present reparations dealings with Rusesia As late as March of this year, the last shipment of the great Krupps-Borbeck armament works was sent out of the British Zone directly to Russia Over 50 per cent of the total of dismantled equipment shipped from West Germany has gone to Russia or Russian satellite countries
“(3) The newly-appointed senator from New York State, who has vigorously sought to stop Congressional investigation of the dismantlings on the ground that only selfish big American cartel interests are behind attempts in this country to stop dismantling in the steel and forbidden industries The reductio ad absurdam of this argument is the fact that of two of the great hydrogenation plants on the ‘forbidden industries’ list, one with American oil interests behind it and the other with British Shell Company interests, the former is slated for complete dismantlement by the British, beginning on August 15, while the British-controlled plant is to continue in operation”
US interests have been faced by internal contradictions on the dismantling question, as a result of the clash of capitalist interests in the West
Washington wants to see Europe capable of sustaining itself without the dole, and for this the heartland of European economy, Germany, is a necessity Washington wants to see Europe’s economy integrated, and for this a crippled German heartland would be a great obstacle Its own competition with German industry is not so acute as Britain’s
But a revived German industry means an industry once more capable of export – – to the US as well as Jo the rest of Europe and the world While not so acutely opposed as Britain’s, US interests also are unwilling to open their own markets to German rivalry
There is a tug-of-war within the framework of US Imperialism – the St George report itself was one of the tugs Outside of the economic considerations are two political ones, also counterposed:
In the face of these conflicting pulls, all wholly within the framework of its own needs and desires, it is no wonder that Washington’s record on the question of German dismantling has been one of vacillation, half-measures and contradictions, with a general trend in the direction of slowing it up The Morgenthau plan for the virtual agrarianization of Germany died a while back in this country in the face of the cold war
Within Germany itself, dismantling faced a united front of all classes, for obvious reasons. To the German capitalist class, dismantling meant the end of their power To the German working class, it meant the end of their livelihood and a perspective of increasing misery A foreign drive to cripple a country’s whole economy produces such a united interest
It is with regard to the ALTERNATIVE to dismantling that the struggle between the classes shows itself in Germany also Rebuilding German industry does not have to mean returning power to the same class which pushed Hitler to the top It can mean building a socialist Germany
Insofar as the US has taken a line against dismantling, in whatever hesitating fashion, it has at the same time acted to raise again to the top the same industrialists, even as to personnel, who were behind Nazism
That is why, in opposing and exposing the Western imperialists’ dismantling program, the other side of that fight takes place within Germany.
There have been three forces involved in the dismantling fracas: the imperialist rivals who wish to cripple German industry, the German capitalists who wish to recapture their power, and the Geramn working class which wishes to rebuild German economy on a socialist basis Our voices are with tire last, as the only progressive force against this cold war crime
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