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An International Meeting

Some active members of the resistance movements of Denmark, France, Italy, Norway, Holland, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia and the representative of an active German anti-Nazi group met in a town in occupied Europe on March 31st, April 29th, May 20th and July 7th. They drafted the following declaration which they have submitted for discussion and approval to their respective movements and to the other European resistance movements. They wish now to bring this draft to the notice of international public opinion; it will be published in its final form as soon as it has been accepted by the movements, groups and parties to whom it had been submitted.

Manifesto

I.

"The peoples of Europe are united in their resistance to Nazi oppression. This common struggle has created amongst them a solidarity and unity of interests and aims which demonstrate their significance and value by the fact that the representatives of the European resistance movements have come together to draft this declaration expressing their hopes and aspirations regarding the future of peace and civilisation.

The members of the resistance movements are well aware that their relentless struggle on the home front against the enemy's war machine is an important positive contribution towards the war effort of the United Nations; it gives their countries the right to participate in the reconstruction of Europe side by side with the other victorious powers.

They accept the essential principles of the Atlantic Charter and maintain that the life of their peoples must be based upon respect for the individual personality, security, the planned exploitation of economic resources for the benefit of the whole community and the autonomous development of national life.

II.

These aims cannot be achieved unless the different countries are willing to give up the dogma of the absolute sovereignty of the State and unite in a single federal organisation.

The lack of unity and cohesion between the different parts of the world make it impossible to tackle immediately the task of creating a federal world organisation. At the end of this war we shall have to limit ourselves to the building up of a less

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ambitious world organisation - which should however permit of development in a federal direction - in the framework of which the great powers will have the task of guaranteeing collective security. It will not be, however, an effective instrument of peace unless the great powers are organised in such a way that the spirit of peace and understanding can prevail.

It is for this reason that, within the framework of this world organisation, a more radical and direct solution must be found for the European problem.

III.

European Peace is the keystone in the arch of world peace. During the life time of one generation Europe has been twice the centre of a world conflict whose chief cause was the existence of thirty sovereign States in Europe. It is a most urgent task to end this international anarchy by creating a European Federal Union.

Only a Federal Union will enable the German people to join the European community without becoming a danger to other peoples.

Only a Federal Union will make it possible to solve the problem of drawing frontiers in districts with mixed populations. The minorities will thus cease to be the object of nationalistic jealousies and frontiers will be nothing but demarcation lines between administrative districts.

Only a Federal Union will make possible the economic reconstruction of the continent and the liquidation of monopolies and national self-sufficiency.

Only a Federal Union will allow a logical and natural solution of the problems of the access to the sea of those countries which are situated in the interior of the continent, of a rational use of those rivers which flow through several States, of the control of the straits, and, generally, of most of the problems which during recent years have disturbed international relations.

IV.

It is not possible at present to determine the geographical frontiers of a Federal Union which would guarantee peace in Europe. We must, however, state that from the outset such a Union must be strong enough to avoid the risk of either being used as a mere sphere of influence by a foreign State or of becoming the instrument of the political ambitions of one of its member States. Furthermore it must from the beginning be open to all countries which entirely or partly belong to Europe and which wish to join it and are qualified to do so.

The Federal Union must be based upon a declaration of civil, political and economic rights which would guarantee democratic institutions and the free development of the human personality, and upon a declaration of the rights of minorities to have as much autonomy as is compatible with the integrity of the national States to which they belong.

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The Federal Union must not interfere with the right of each of its member States to solve its special problems in conformity with its ethnical and cultural pattern. But in view of the failure of the League of Nations, the States must irrevocably surrender to the Federation, their sovereign rights in the sphere of defence, relations with powers outside the Union, international exchange and communications.

The Federal Union must possess the following essential features:

1. A government responsible not to the governments of the various member States but to the peoples, who must be under its direct jurisdiction in the spheres to which its powers extend.
2. An army at the disposal of this government, no national armies being permitted.
3. A Supreme Court acting as authority in interpreting the constitution deciding cases of conflict between the member States or between the member States and the Union.

The peace which will follow this war must be based upon justice and progress and not upon vengeance and reaction. It should, however, treat the war criminals with ruthless severity; to let them escape their punishment would be an insult to all who have fallen in this war and especially to the unknown heroes of the resistance movements throughout Europe. Germany and her satellites must take part in the economic reconstruction of the regions they have devastated. But Germany must be helped and if necessary, compelled to change her political and economic structure with a view to qualify for membership of the Federal Union. For that purpose she must be completely disarmed and temporarily subjected to a Federal control, which will have in the main the following tasks:

To entrust power to those truly democratic elements which have consistently fought against Nazism.

To build up a decentralised democratic State free from the last trace of Prussian militarism and bureaucracy.

To secure the liquidation of feudalism in the agricultural and industrial life of Germany.

To integrate German chemical and heavy industries into the European industrial organisation so as to prevent their use for German nationalistic ends.

To prevent the education of German youth in accordance with Nazi, militaristic and totalitarian doctrines.

V.

The signatory resistance movements recognise that the active participation of the United Nations is essential for the resolution of the European problem, but they demand that all measures taken between the cessation of hostilities and the establishment of peace shall be in conformity with the requirements of a Federal organisation.

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They appeal to all the spiritual and political forces of the world and in particular to those of the United Nations to help them to attain the objectives indicated in this Manifesto.

They undertake to consider their respective national problems only as particular aspects of the general European problem and they intend immediately to establish a permanent bureau with the function of co-ordinating their efforts on behalf of the liberation of their countries, the organisation of a Federal Union of European peoples and the establishment of peace and justice throughout the world."

This Manifesto was sent to the Resistance movements of a number of European countries accompanied by the following letter:

[The letter] " TO THE PARTIES, MOVEMENTS AND RESISTANCE GROUPS OF ........
A NUMBER OF ACTIVE MEMBERS OF THE RESISTANCE MOVEMENTS OF FRANCE, HOLLAND, ITALY, POLAND, CZECHOSLOVAKIA, YUGOSLAVIA AND GERMANY:

Having had occasion to meet and discuss together the problems of European reconstruction, declare their agreement on the following: Liberty and civilisation will be assured on the European Continent if a Federal Union replaces the existing anarchy of thirty sovereign states. The solidarity which at present unites all peoples and movements struggling against Nazi oppression must not cease when the latter is defeated; on the contrary, it must be strengthened and developed into sound federal links between the European peoples.

The struggle which the various resistance movements are waging does not permit the holding of a general public congress in which this determination could be affirmed. In these circumstances, we active members have thought fit to issue a joint declaration to be sent to every accessible country, in order that it may be subscribed to by all parties, movements and resistance groups which are aware of the need for close unity amongst the European peoples. In this way, this Manifesto, the work of a few individuals, will become a solemn expression of the will of great movements to prove that free civilised peoples can live together in peace.

We have established a Provisional Committee as provided for in the Manifesto. Its object is to maintain the necessary contacts, to carry our research and propaganda, to register affiliations as they come in and to prepare for a European Federal Congress as soon as possible after the cessation of hostilities.

We send you this document so that you can forward to us your affiliation as quickly as possible. In your study of this document please concentrate your attention upon its fundamental idea, the need to rebuild Europe on a federal basis. We ask you to decide whether to affiliate on the basis of your agreement or disagreement with this principle. Doubtless it would have been best if the final text had been drawn up after all corrections and amendments had been received. We ask you however, to overlook this point or at least to make your comments on the understanding that you accept the project even if the other signatories do not accept your amendments. The discussion of details can be postponed until the general Congress which will follow the cessation of hostilities.

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This unusual procedure is imposed upon us by the conditions in which we work: It is of the utmost importance that a federalist declaration should be made by the Resistance Movements and immediately publicised by press and radio throughout the occupied and Allied countries. If we continue to seek agreement by the exchange of secret messages, months and months will pass before we decide upon a final text and we shall lose the opportunity of saying clearly and definitely what we have to say. Moreover, it should be borne in mind that the present text is already the result of much discussion among the representatives of different countries, and different points of view have therefore been taken into account.

We ask you to seek the maximum support for this Manifesto. Send us at least the affiliation even of single parties, movements and groups, for it is better to begin our campaign with relatively small forces and to establish a European nucleus than to wait for an unanimity which it may be too difficult to attain.

In addition we enclose in this letter a draft of a declaration in which the solidarity and the common will of the European Resistance Movements are expressed. If the Manifesto about the organisation of Europe would require too long a study on your part we ask you immediately to return this declaration of solidarity so that we can give it the maximum publicity as soon as possible.

With reference to the constitution of a permanent committee as proposed in the last paragraph of the Manifesto, we ask you to approve its immediate establishment. Its function will be to give effect to the two declarations enclosed and to study any questions which the parties, movements and resistance groups may submit to it. In no case will the Committee commit the parties, movements and resistance groups represented on it without their express authorisation."

A European Federation

The French M.L.N. (Mouvement Libération Nationale, consisting of seven resistance organisations: Franc-Tireur, Combat, Libération, Défense de la France and three others) responded to the Manifesto by issuing the following statement on foreign policy which was printed on leaflets and posters distributed throughout France, particularly in the region of Lyons, Grenoble and Annecy after the liberation of these districts:

"1) We are in full agreement with the main ideas of the Atlantic Charter: respect for the individual personality, social justice, the security and free development of national life must be guaranteed to the peoples. These aims can be fully achieved only by a federal organisation of the world. To build up such an organisation is a tremendous task for the future which cannot be successfully tackled unless first a solution has been found for the problem of Europe, the site of origin of the catastrophes which periodically shake the world.

2) We think it impossible to build up a prosperous, democratic, peaceful Europe while the various States of Europe are divided by political barriers and tariff walls and preserve their national

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sovereignty; a League of nations composed of sovereign States would be just a trap. We therefore fight for the creation of a democratic European Federation, open to all European peoples, including Great Britain and the U.S.S.R.

3) The national States must federate and transfer to the Federal Government the right to organise the economic life of Europe; the sole right to have an army and to suppress any attempt to re-establish a fascist régime; to be in charge of foreign affairs; to administer such colonies as are not yet ripe for independence; to create a European citizenship in addition to a national citizenship. The Federal Government shall be democratically and directly elected by the peoples, not by the national States.

4) A European Federation does not conflict with national life in its progressive aspects. The national governments will be subordinated to the Federal Government in those matters which concern the Federal States as a whole. The national governments will, however, have their own laws, and will be autonomous in the administrative, linguistic and cultural spheres.

5) Such a Federation alone will be able to eradicate the roots of fascism and race hatred by establishing public ownership and control of German heavy industry on a European Scale, by destroying the Junker and officer caste, and by thus permitting the German people ultimately to join the European community without becoming a danger to other peoples.

Such a Federation alone can guarantee peace and prosperity to the peoples of Europe and pave the way to economic progress and true democracy. Such a Federation alone, by its very example, can inspire the peoples of the world to move towards a World Federal Organisation."

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