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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, 
 
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