Churchill the Provocative

For a brief span of years in the 9th century, through a combination of armed might and wisdom, the Prankish King Charlemagne succeeded in establishing a measure of unity in war-torn Europe. Last week, 1,142 years after Charlemagne's burial in Aix la-Chapelle (the German city of Aachen), Sir Winston Churchill journeyed to Aachen to accept its Charlemagne Prize* for his own efforts to promote European understanding.

At 81, Britain's great wartime leader looked a figure who already belongs to history. In contrast, Germany's Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, only a year younger, seemed almost youthful as he bustled about, looking solicitously to the welfare of his guest. Rheumy-eyed and bowed with fatigue, Churchill, at Lady Churchill's side, doggedly dragged his weight up the 23 steps into Aachen's city hall, putting on a brave show for the 5,000 Germans gathered in the square to greet him.

The Old Fire. Once inside, however, there were 52 more steps to be negotiated. To spare the old man's pride and health together, the city fathers of Aachen had herded the 300 invited guests into the auditorium ahead of Sir Winston, then, discreetly sealing'the staircase from prying eyes, had the great guest carried up by four city firemen.

Facing a battery of microphones, Sir Winston managed to summon up a spark of the old fire, audaciously talked of making Russia a partner with NATO. His audience was more startled than inflamed."A new question," said Churchill, "has been raised by the recent Russian repudiation of Stalin. If it is sincere, we have a new Russia to deal with, and I do not see myself why the new Russia should not join in the spirit of this solemn agreement. In a true Unity of Europe, Russia must have her part. I was glad to see that Poland was already not unaffected by the changes in Russian outlook [see below]. It may be that other changes will follow; Czechoslovakia may recover her freedom. Above all, Germany will be reunited.

"We should be rash and blameworthy were we to attempt to solve the problem of European unity by any violent stroke. The only unity that might come might be a unity of ashes and death."

"Equally, it would be fatal for NATO now to relax and let apathy overtake what has been achieved." Nevertheless, in the long run, "our main theme of salvation should be the Grand Alliance of the European powers, linked with Canada and the U.S. The spirit of this arrangement should not exclude Russia and the Eastern European states. It may well be that the great issues which perplex us could then be solved more easily than they can by rival blocs confronting each other with suspicion and hostility. That is for the future."

It is certainly no salvation for the present, said West Germany's Foreign Minister Heinrich von Brentano next day. He and the Adenauer administration are having trouble enough to meet their minimum obligations to NATO in the prevailing apathy. Until the Russian changes prove much more trustworthy, he indicated, it is premature to let wolves into the same pen with the sheep.

*An illuminated document bound in red calf, a medallion on a ribbon, and $1,190 in cash.

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