 1945. And as Western armies sweep across Germany, voices crackle on the field radios, speaking in English and in Russian. Until finally those allied in the struggle come together on the River Elbe. For Europe and the world, an unforgettable moment. And if only all had continued to act in the spirit of that moment, what a Europe, what a world might then have emerged. West of the Elbe runs the River Rhine for centuries the highway, yet the divider. The river of the Goths and Romans, Christians and pagans, three men and slaves. A river with a history of strife. For it runs through the heartland of Europe, the continent so long torn between races and factions that only dreamers like Charlemagne could visualize it as a peaceful unity. But in spite of the bloodshed, most of it so recent, one Europe is at last becoming a fact, born out of the very dragon's teeth of war, a harvest from the seeds of Europe's own destruction. 1945 and the end of yet another European war. And who has won when in fact all have lost? A war in which more civilians died than fighting men, not in hundreds, but in millions. But they at least were spared the aftermath, much had gone forever. And what was in its place? In the aftermath but mere existence, where an undamaged roof made a palace, a loaf of bread, a banquet. One long line up with want ever there in the queue. What a Europe to grow old in. What a Europe to grow up in. A black market where even pride was for sale to the highest bidder. A Europe in which degradation had brought the end of self-respect and human values harked back to the jungle. But in order that queels could turn again, some had to put faith in others, they had to trust and sit round the same table to find by agreement the means of putting Europe, indeed the whole world, to rise. Already it was evident that the Europe of 1939 had gone forever. The annexation of the Baltic states, the huge advances of the Red Armies had placed enormous areas of Eastern Europe under Soviet domination. And Marshal Stalin was hardly the man to yield over the table that which he had seized and battled. Nevertheless he had agreed on free elections and amid the ruin of countries such as Poland, they were held. Though how free they were was a matter of opinion. With communists already in key posts, it was little surprise that things went their way. And if anything else was needed to make their victory certain, there was always the presence of the secret police and the numberless soldiers of the occupying Red Armies. And peoples exhausted by war were hardly likely to resist such coercion with determination, for all their energies were engaged putting one brick back upon another. In Western Europe where destruction had been lighter, morale was much higher. Here regimentation had been accepted only because without it, winning the war would not have been possible. Now with the end of that war, the essential freedom of democracy burst out with new vigor. There was determination to see to it that such a disaster would never happen again. And for the more reflective there was to the realization that to be done with insecurity, Europe must be united. But how could these Europeans be united when they're all so different? Here was the blood of many races, nationalities each with their own traditions and ways of life, not to mention the score of different languages. They might smile at each other, but as neighbors they seemed to have little in common. Sometimes a frontier was a natural barrier, a river or a channel. But more often than not it was merely an invisible line across fields or streets, an invisible line and an attitude of mind. Yet even in this time of preoccupation with essentials, there were those who realized already what must be done. It is not a movement of parties, but a movement of people. It must be all for all. Europe can only be united by the heartfelt wish and vehement expression of the great majority of all the people in all the parties, in all the freedom-loving countries, no matter where they dwell or how they vote. All very well for such as Winston Churchill to make speeches in 1947. He had self-respect. He had enough to eat. He had a place in which to live. Unity. Was this the earth in which to plant such seeds? At such a time, unity was well down the list of priorities. Anyway, unity was supposed to stem from the United Nations. And their lack of progress was such that when delegates from east and west sat down together, hopes were so thin that even they were cynical about them. How could there be a chord when the east blocked every move in its direction? In the economic chaos of this post-war period, communism saw its greatest chance. Wherever there was dissatisfaction, there they could fan the flames of revolt. World revolution, the end justified any means. In countries like Czechoslovakia, infiltration overcame the obstacles. At first, communist leaders paid lip service to democratic principles, treating the veteran President Benish with the respect he deserved as head of state. But then, they whipped up left-wing popular feeling into a mood of taking drastic measures to obtain, not just the power due to them by the votes cast, but total control of the traditionally democratic Czech state. Soon, President Benish was forced to retire and die broken-hearted in virtual exile. In the Czech parliament, the new leaders of the land made their debut with enthusiastic demonstrations of support. Then, in an exhibition of cruel irony, they stood in silence to pay homage to an absent member, the great liberal Democrat, the son of the founder of his country, Jan Masaryk. Jan Masaryk now lay in state after a fall to his death from a window. By accident, suicide on murder no one knew. Except that for the communists, it could not have come at a better moment. And if infiltration failed, there was always the threat of strength based on Moscow. While their wartime allies had demobilized, they had retained their armies. Here was a powerful factor in any arguments. In an attempt to gain control over the vital Bosphorus, the Russians had offered to renew a treaty with Turkey only if they could have bases within her frontiers. By standing firm, the Turks called the bluff. But their neighbors in Greece were not so lucky. In Greece, the communists staged open revolt, a desperate struggle in which the government only kept control after bitter fighting. And already, war-impulverized people were brought to the very limits of hunger, suffering and despair. The method of settlement might be with guns, but what good were guns without bread? And so, for the world, there came the realization of the basic truth that Europe's problems stemmed not just from the recent war, but mainly from the neglect and indifference of centuries. What good were guns against backwardness? What good were guns against the malaria which sapped the strength of whole peoples? What good were guns against the tuberculosis, the rickets, the squalor and filth? Feed the needy children, but what of their hungry fathers, mothers, grandparents? Now was the time to lift the stone and reveal the horrors that lay beneath. Far from Europe's shores, there were those who cherish what they owed to their European origins. And these were people never prone to let human suffering exist without protest. True, they gave from a wealth the greatest in the world, but this in no way detracts from their Christian intent. In Washington, George C. Marshall made known the principles of the plan that was later to bear his name. The whole situation is critical in the extreme, but there's no doubt whatever in my mind that if we decide to do this thing, we can do it successfully. And there's also no doubt in my mind that the whole world hangs in the balance as to what it is to be in connection with what we're endeavoring to put forward here. Thank you. Later, President Truman drove to the capital to put the Marshall plan for European aid before Congress. I'm here today to report to you on the critical nature of the situation in Europe and to recommend action for your consideration. I believe that it must be the policy of the United States. In Europe, the response had been immediate. In Paris, world statesmen met to discuss how and where the proper American aid could best be applied. Among the delegates was Soviet Russia's Mr. Molotov, for the Marshall plan took no regard of politics, only human need. But for the Communists, human need was there stuck in trade. Such a plan could only put back their own plans of revolution by means of economic chaos. And so, out of the Paris conference, stalked Mr. Molotov to be followed by the delegates from Communist Poland and Czechoslovakia. But a few dissenters could not call a halt to the greatest humanitarian step in history. And so the cargoes began to move across the Atlantic, food, grain and raw materials. And it wasn't just a matter of feeding the hungry. From Chicago, Illinois, Douay, France, a giant press for steel production, not only to put French mills back on their feet, but also to make them among the most mottled. Truly, the power of the New World come to redress the balance of the ocean. In Paris, the Organization for European Economic Cooperation was set up. A council of 16 nations, whose task it was to ensure that Marshall plan aid was used to the best possible advantage, to rebuild the shattered economy and to re-establish inter-European trade on a basis of strength. By their agreement, for instance, Holland could import three quarters of the cotton needed to keep her textile looms in full production. By their recommendation, could Britain receive the carbon black she needed to make the tires for her all-important automobile industry. Thus could France bring into her ports the sulfur needed to make fertilizers to maintain her world-famous vineyards at their best. Then there were tractors and other equipment for Turkey to bring her agriculture into line with that of her more fortunate neighbors. Then steel for the shipyards of Italy, for Trieste, Genoa and Naples. But over and above revitalizing Europe's economy, the Marshall plan had longer term aims. With its funds and technical assistance, vast areas of Italy, whole islands like Sardinia and Cyprus became battlegrounds in the fight against the malarial mosquito. Everywhere, health teams went out to battle with the scourges of centuries. For thousands, such undertakings often meant the difference between life and death. A new hope for Europe was read in the eyes of children. But this is mere sentimentality. Revolution first, humanitarianism afterwards. The Marshall plan has put a scheme to gain control of Europe and feather the nests of capitalists. So down with the Marshall plan, down with the Marshall plan by strikes, unrest and even sabotage. Alarmed by Soviet and communist structures, statesmen of western Europe came together to discuss common defense. The place, Brussels, with memories only too painful and close to that field called Waterloo. Only a handful of nations signed the Brussels Treaty. But in terms of European unity, it was an historic step and the continent owes much to the foresight of the five. The treaty brought tried and tested warriors to Fontainebleau in France to make the first tentative plans for meeting if need be, force with force. But there was little military strength with which to do it and already events were outstripping their efforts. The next hot spot, the city of Berlin, occupied by French, British, Americans and Russians. Ever since the failure to establish free elections throughout the whole city, Berlin's situation between east and west had grown steadily more uncomfortable. Now the Soviets felt strong enough to take action. Their efforts to starve the western population were frustrated as all the world knows by the fame of Berlin airlift. But in a few short years of peace, the Soviet area of domination had spread alarmingly over Europe. How could the Brussels powers alone halt further advance? And so for poor old Europe, talk of war yet again and one brick hardly back up in another. What hopes now for the Marshall Plan? And so it wasn't surprising that the Europeans read their papers with not a little cynicism and despair. And then they read how 12 nations in Washington had signed what came to be known as the North Atlantic Treaty. And if they had doubts about the new organization, NATO, the need for it was proved at once by the virulence of the Soviet and communist reaction. This was driving a rift between east and west. This was an affront to all peace loving peoples. They paraded the dog as a symbol of peace. And peace was their slogan. But was this the peace for which so many had died? In Normandy, in Alamain, in front of Stalingrad and the hills of Italy and the streets of Paris? Was this the aftermath they had envisioned? And so the peoples of western Europe pondered a new step and decided that it was indeed the only way. And so they backed the Atlantic Pact and gave strength to its council. For they saw that there were worse things than war and that to avert war was to be prepared for it. And so Europe took the move towards defensive rearmament very calmly. And in spite of all the threats, when NATO's first supreme commander, Dwight D. Eisenhower, arrived in Paris to take his post, the planned demonstrations came to naught. In a temporary headquarters in Paris, the military staff of the Alliance began their task of building the continent's defenses. And although they didn't realize it, they were taking the first steps to a western unity that was to extend far beyond the military field. Soldiers of many nations working together in peacetime for a common cause. The growth of NATO's strength moved a pace with the progress of the Marshall Plan. So that and mingled with the goods pouring into European ports were traded weapons and other armaments. Goods for peace and goods to safeguard that peace. And as well as the goods, men, soldiers, sailors and airmen from across the Atlantic, from Canada and the United States, here this time to prevent the guns from sounding. Month after month the buildup continued. The buildup for war to prevent war. And as the camps and airfield began to mushroom on her landscape, old Europe took it all in as tried. For those from overseas who visited her in those critical days, there was plenty to see. Farmers from the Middle West, for instance, who came over to see whether France's farm products were all they were cracked up to be and found they were and then some. But for all visitors, whatever their mission, one thing was obvious. The changing face of Europe. The nations receiving Marshall aid dollars were putting their own cut and say free by those dollars, the counterpart funds to good work. Roads, railways, bridges, dams, hydroelectric schemes, everywhere the rattle of cranes and concrete mixers. And in the factories from Turin to Aberdeen, there was ever growing roar and bustle. The Marshall Plan was the stimulant, NATO was the shield. But the effort itself came from hundreds of thousands of men and women who worked now with a will because they saw a mighty purpose. Now they were working for peace, working for themselves and working for tomorrow. In Strasbourg, the Council of Europe was meeting regularly and at its conferences, many European nations, NATO members and others discussed the future of their country. The council had no executive powers and its members could only advise their governments of the general trend of its thinking. But it was at least a common meeting place, somewhere where Europe could be viewed as a whole. A start, but there was a long way to go. The arteries of the continent might be throbbing now with new life, yet still the age old barriers loomed up. It seemed that little short of atomic bombs could shift the walls of rubber stamps, secure and rock-like as Cologne Cathedral or the Citadel of Kakasan. And yet the solution was easier than anyone imagined, for the necessity for unity affected millions where it hurt most, in their pockets. The needs of trade and the higher standard of living were the factors that finally pushed down the walls. Once the steelworks and coal mines of the Tsar, the Ruhr and Lorraine were the crucibles of war. Some then came all the cannons and without them war would have reverted to an affair of bows and arrows. And then in one step, by one agreement, all were brought together under one community, the European community of coal and steel, the dream of Francis Schumann turned into reality. In the city of Luxembourg, the community set up its headquarters and went quietly to work. In point of fact, the idea was purely an economic one. Six Western European nations who dealt in coal and steel decided to cooperate to prevent overlapping, waste of effort and unrealistic prices, to establish in this field one common market. A praise of the world was soon to hear more of. There are reasons for economic, yet by this one act a handful of practical visionaries had done more for European unity than all those who had striven by blood and force throughout centuries. The business of making swords had been turned into making plowshares because there was little future in swords. In the meantime, at NATO headquarters in Paris equally important moves had been made. A project to form a true European army to include forces from western Germany had failed. But in its place, by general agreement of all the NATO nations, the Federal Republic of Germany was invited to become their 15th ally. A step vital to the alliance, a step vital too for European unity. For it placed the Federal Republic firmly within the western orbit and out of the old no man's land. That was 1955 and since then old Europe has seen much. Profitless summit meetings, frustration, Hungary, Cuba and yet all the while the changing face. Now in the heartland of Europe, the defensive forces of NATO provide routine spectacles, for by now they've been around for more than a decade. But familiarity does not always breed contempt. Many of the bystanders were themselves born after the Atlantic pack was signed. Naturally they are more interested in how things work rather than why. And why is not now quite so clear as it once was. Why in the heartland can there still be seen men and women wearing uniforms of states far across the ocean? Why NATO today? Today the river Rhine is too busy to consider strife and warring factions and hostilities between Christian and pagan. It's a long haul from Switzerland to the sea and the customers are waiting. Besides the Rhine is now bridged in more ways than one. Today the tanks on NATO exercises are ferried across, not for the purpose of conquering the other side but merely to practice how to cross water. For now, German, American, British, Canadian, French, Belgian and Dutch all work together to safeguard not only the heartland but all Western Europe as a whole. And now there are more than just ruins to defend. Today on the sleek new international trains there are still those who must examine passports and ask if you have anything to declare but they do it rather half-heartedly while they express it in full dash for prosperity cannot wait. Dear sir, with reference to your order of the 15th we are pleased to be able to state that the desired consignment will reach you on time even though your order is for half as much again as your last. And here in Brussels there's something else to see now. For out of that first idea of the coal and steel community there has emerged an even more ambitious move. Here in Brussels the headquarters of what is now called the common market. International cooperation across the table in terms of practically everything that men produce and consume. Today just the six but tomorrow without doubt the 13 with perhaps even some more from outside the old continent. Only the beginnings but there for sure but only there for sure because of the watch and ward of NATO because of the men and equipment keeping 24 hour guard by land, sea and air for still across from the heartland only a few miles east of Hamburg and Frankfurt men toil ceaselessly to add yet more miles of wire to the already enormous web of the iron curtain. Over there working with or even passing the time of day with the west is strictly forbidden and so these scuttle away like mice because they are afraid. And where there is no wire there is the wall the wall of shame dividing peoples and families without rhyme or reason. This is why NATO today just in case those beyond the wall who sneer and smile might still be tempted to do something desperate but for us no time for walls we have a train to catch. If they over there can't join us then more is the pity because Europe is now moving ahead so fast there's a real danger of being left behind and much as we wish them with us even without them we over here are going full speed ahead together.