BOOKS OF THE DAY
Continental Planning
Europe versus America. By. R. H. M. Worsky. (Cape. 8s. 6d.) Tins interesting study of the Nazi "New Order" in the occupied territories seems to have suffered from a disadvantage which, un- fortunately, is normal today. I think the material was not only collected but also, in the main, brought into shape before the entry of America into the war. For the chief burden of Miss Worsley's argument is that the pan-European Empire of Nazi Germany must always be a deadly menace to the United States and to Latin America. She has made this point ably and convincingly, but today the argument is slightly out of focus.
Even so Miss Worsley's contribution must be listed among the none too numerous serious studies about Nazi rule abroad. She has had access to many non-published sources, and with their help has drawn a fairly comprehensive picture of the economic aspects of Nazi rule in France, Belgium, Holland, Norway and Denmark, and of the effects of Nazi domination of Europe upon Sweden. Country by country she points to certain characteristic common features of the "New Order." The Nazis advertise it a§ the beginning of a new age of co-operative creative effort, but in fact the only deter- mining consideration in all they do are the needs of the German war machine. Agriculture is everywhere developed, but at the same time the high-grade production of Holland and Denmark is forced down to a less intensive level, because Germany cannot provide sufficient fodder and fertilisers for a highly intensive cattle-breeding agriculture. Also, while in some countries yields rise, rations go down, because the best is carried away to Germany. Armaments industries flourish, to the extent that the present armaments pro- duction of France is higher than while France was at war, but con- sumption industries are systematically curtailed. Everywhere deep structural changes are imposed, to the disadvantage of the countries concerned and to the sole advantage of the master nation. All the countries studied had their main economic ties with Britain and the U.S.A., and a re-planning of their economic structure in view of the needs of war-making Germany implies a forcing down of their economic level. At the same time, the European capital holdings of those countries, and in the first place of France and Holland, are systematically transferred into German hands, " Aryanisation " playing a considerable part in the process. Finance is probably the most fantastic chapter of the New Order, and also the one where the author is at her best. It appears that, in fact, the huge exports from the occupied countries to Germany are financed by the central banks of the subject countries, with nothing but " temporarily " frozen mark accounts to balance the burden. No wonder, therefore, that strong inflationary tendencies are distinguishable in all the occupied territories. Real wages are constantly falling, though, the author maintains, unemployment is not very considerable. I am inclined to doubt this last statement. There is, I should think, a huge unemployment in the occupied territories, hidden through the more or less compulsory recruitment of labour for Germany. Altogether, labour and social questions are not dealt with quite adequately all through the book.
The author maintains that the novelty of the Nazi methods consists only in this that "for the first time in wild history, a nation had chosen die path of systematic full-scale mobilisation of man-power, finance, production and trade," and that "for the first time in history, an element of fanaticism had been introduced into the field of economic activities." The second statement makes the student of revolutions smile, and both, at any rate, apply also to Soviet Russia. Altogether, as a doctrine, this view seems to be much too simple. As far as I can see, there are at least three factors to be distinguished in the Nazi New Order. There is, first, war economy, not a specifically Nazi thing at all ; many of its features could easily be paralleled in all belligerent countries. There is, secondly, the ruthless exploitation of subject races by a master race. This is the specifically Nazi aspect of the New Order, and the one which must go completely. There is, thirdly, continental and super-continental Planning, and of 'that, I believe, as much as possible should be pre- served, under Anglo-American leadership. The author has a final chapter on post-war reconstruction, but her suggestions, which seem to be on the lines of Dr. Milan Hodza's ideas, are not far-reaching. It is important that the necessary struggle against the Nazi slave- bolding economy should not degenerate into a reaction towards the bad old times when no more than lip-service was paid to super-
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