Vulnerable Emperor

The French are beginning to call him le Vieux--the Old One. At 76, Charles de Gaulle moves a little ponderously. But le Vieux refers as much to political vulnerability as it does to venerability. During the Middle Eastern crisis, De Gaulle was exposed as an emperor without clothes. Suddenly it turned out to be unimportant for anybody to take his advice, or even listen politely. His condemnation of Israel has left much of French public opinion outraged and many in his own party dissatisfied. Last week, by putting more barriers in the way of British entry into the Common Market, De Gaulle further alienated his European allies, who feel that Britain belongs in.

Le Vieux argued that Britain's membership would create "an Atlantic situation," or a Market "under U.S. predominance." He said that the renewed application of the British should be rejected until they become more European in their outlook and policies, "until they are more like we are." Despite these imperious words, West German Foreign Minister Willy Brandt succeeded in bringing the issue of British membership before the Market's Council of Ministers in Brussels. There French Foreign Minister Couve de Murville produced the novel argument that an enlarged Market might seem threatening to the Communist nations and thus cause them to reconsolidate their bloc, harden their line, and heat up the cold war all over again. Other council members scoffed at the idea, just as, in private, they more and more scoff at the capricious positions of De Gaulle. Said Belgium's Foreign Minister Pierre Harmel: "The European Economic Community is a living organism. You cannot restrict its growth without killing it."

One Consolation. De Gaulle's blackball of the British came while he was visiting the West German capital of Bonn for the semiannual talks on the Franco-West German pact signed in 1963. He was greeted by Chancellor Kurt Kiesineer, who was somewhat exasperated because his French ally had gone off on his own during the Middle East crisis and ignored him while consulting Soviet Premier Aleksei Kosygin. De Gaulle explained that his policy was to assure that at least one Western nation (his own) would remain on friendly terms with the Arabs. He also told Kiesinger about his feeling that Russia is now an inward-looking, sluggish bear and that the real threat to world peace these days comes from U.S. attempts to police the world. De Gaulle had, though, one consolation for Americans: "I feel neither aversion nor hostility toward the U.S."

De Gaulle's increasingly autocratic attitude goes down badly in the French National Assembly, where the Gaullists have a slim majority that barely managed to hold together until the summer adjournment this month. Politicians of every party, except the Communists, protested De Gaulle's condemnation of Israel. Defense Minister Pierre Messmer and Minister of State Pierre Billotte particularly deplored French policy during the crisis; so did Gaullist Coalition Partner Giscard d'Estaing, leader of the independent Republican Party. The Catholic newspaper Figaro attacked France's recent pro-Soviet votes in the United Nations. "Where does De Gaulle want to take us?" asked the front-page editorial. "By what roads? And why this leap in the dark?"

The Treatment. De Gaulle still has tremendous presence. If he did not change Kiesinger's mind on the critical issues, he did move the German Chancellor to exclaim: "Whether you agree with him or not, what a man!" Next week Canada will be exposed to the treatment. On a five-day visit, the general will float grandly up the Saint Lawrence River on the French cruiser Colbert, motor from Quebec to Montreal, greeting thousands of French Canadians along the way, then look over Expo 67. Only afterward, despite the Canadian governments entreaties, will he condescend to touch down at the English-speaking capital of Ottawa.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.