Britain’s plot in EuropeWhat does Britain stand for in the world to-day? The liberated peoples of Europe are asking this question; they will ask it with increasing insistence as the trials of reconstruction replace the sufferings of war. They look on Britain as their nearest neighbour among the Big Three,and not only in geographical terms. They share with her a heritage of Western civilisation. They expect that she will emerge from the war, having been spared the horrors of occupation, or with resources far superior to theirs. They want to know what leadership she means to give. On questions concerning the future sample of Europe,Britain appears to be taking her cue from Russia. In things of economic reconstruction she appears to be chary of any action which might be displeasing to business interests in the United States. Her friends in Europe are inclined to wonder whether she has any positive purpose of her own. Britain’s difficulties are plain. The war has placed her between two powerful Allies, far removed from one another in outlook. But her middle position gives her also a special responsibility towards the rebuilding of Europe.
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Source: theguardian.com