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present moment. I do not think that it can include Britain which is already
a member of another group, namely the British Commonwealth. Nor do I think
that it can include Russia which is so largely an Asiatic power and whose
social and economic structure are so entirely different. Whether, for
instance, it would include Scandinavia or the Iberian Peninsula with its
close cultural relationships to South America, is the sort of question which
can only be settled by those directly concerned. It may well be that the
initial grouping may leave out a good many countries willing to come in later
on.
While I think this ideal of a united Eurooean Commonwealth is well worth
holding up from the outset, I am not certain that it can be pushed very far
in practice immediately after the war. It may well be that the first stage
in the re-crystallization or better articulation of Europe will be the
formation of actual federations of some of the smaller states in order to
create economic and political units more capable of balancing and holding
their ovm against even a weakened Germany, or, on the other flank, Russia.
Thus for instance there might very well arise an Upper Danubian Federation
including Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, and a Lower Danubian
Balkan federation of the nations to the east and south of it. There are at
any rate indications in the recent Greco-Yugoslav Treaty and in the
CzechoPolish Treaty, of such a process, which, after all, depends entirely
on the states concerned and which outsiders can at most encourage if the
desire to federate is really present.
When it comes to the question you ask about Germany I should be inclined
its neighbours. Secondly, I think we shall have to accept,