The Battle For Europe's Mind

I suppose, Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen, that of all the well-known lines which have come down to us through the centuries, from the mind of William Shakespeare, no words are more familiar than these, from the play, "As You Like It"

"All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;"

I would link with those words, the less-known lines which come immediately before them, and they are these "This wide and universal theatre

Presents more woeful pageants than the scene Wherein we play in."

Today, Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the privilege of being with my fellow-members of this Club. I would invite you to accompany me to Shakespeare's "Universal Theatre", and to look out upon the broad stage of the world, where scene after scene passes before us.

At the moment, I see this world-wide stage set with three scenes, each separate and distinct, yet all on the same world-stage.

On one side is the Canadian scene: Here the stage is well set; all the properties needed for dramatic action are there--science, industry and nature have provided these--allowing a bountiful choice. There is an atmosphere which only the things of the spirit--a free spirit--can produce; education, the humanities and freedom of religious faith have contributed their subtle influence. Then, there are the actors, the men, women and children of Canada, and for these actors, by comparison, life is abundant, life is free and life is relatively secure.

On the other side of this great world-stage, there is another very different scene. It is the Soviet Russian picture. Here a dark curtain hangs in the front of the stage; no action is visible; no characters can be seen, and at present we can only conjecture on what is actually going on behind that dark curtain.

We shall return to that scene later, but now, I would ask you to look at the centre of the world-stage, for there is the European scene. The curtain is up: there are only scattered and damaged properties; the actors, tired, but hard working, at times seem thwarted in their performance. But the first thing which draws our attention is the Back-drop, for there, on the Back-drop of the stage, is a vivid picture,--drawn in vital strokes--depicting the material destruction and human suffering brought about by the war.

There, we see Norway and Denmark! The agony of five years of Nazi occupation; stripped of their assets; schools destroyed and some 700 Norwegian teachers put in slave labour camps and tortured because they refused to Nazify the schools-martyrs in the cause of freedom! There, we see Holland! More than 20% of her land destroyed by enemy flooding. Famine, in the winter of 1944-45, when people died at the rate of 1,000 per week. Schools wrecked, and more than 70,000 Dutch children with no means of education until the work of reconstruction got underway.

There, too, on the Back-drop, we see France! The Normandie Invasion coast, and elsewhere, show terrific suffering. The Nazi-occupation has affected the entire pageant; Universities and schools demolished; world-famous works of Art lost and great Cathedrals in ruins!

Then, there is Belgium, Land of Learning, and the traditional "cock-pit of Europe"; high-lighted by vast areas of appalling damage. As I look on that scene, I cannot forget the remark of a high Belgian official. "We have the custom of being destroyed, but we have the energy to start again!"--"The custom of being destroyed" -What are the results this time? 2,500 of Belgium's bridges demolished, many of them on two occasions. One-half of all the elementary school destroyed. Once again, the historic Universities of Liege and Louvain seriously damaged. The Library at Liege having lost more than 50,000 books. Louvain, with ancient manuscripts and many rare volumes gone forever. We see Public Libraries, like those of Ostend and Tournai completely destroyed: the Public Library of Tournai, alone, with 72,000 volumes lost. Those are only some of the pictures in the Backdrop of the stage. Add to them the stark revelation of

Italy, with its widespread damage to schools, universities, and means of communication.

The appalling conditions still continuing in Greece. The colossal destruction in Poland, yes, and in Russia too.

The plunder and devastation by the Nazis, in Jugoslavia.

And their suppression of Czechoslovakia.

And then, the inestimable destruction in Germany itself.

The entire picture is part of the balance-sheet of World War II, which left as a legacy, a multitude of orphan and suffering children, and a wrecked and shaken humanity. How true are Shakespeare's words that "This-universal theatre

Presents more woeful pageants than the scene Wherein we play in."

The destruction, and forced closing of schools and institutions of higher learning, the wanton burning and looting of libraries, the wrecking of families and home life, the wholesale liquidation of teachers, professors, scientists and religious leaders, which took place in the Nazi-occupied lands,--all these combined to tear clown and destroy the things of the Mind and the Spirit. For, let us remember this important fact: In time of War, as wars are now conducted, it is the intellectual life, the mind of the nation, which is the very first to suffer, and it is the last to recover when the fighting is over.

And so it is that, since the end of the War, Europe, in the face of that Back-drop, has had to cope with three gigantic problems

First: A Material Problem: Rebuilding and re-equipping thousands upon thousands of educational institutions.

Second: A Human Problem: Rebuilding the lives of millions of children and young people who have been without normal education and home life.

Third: A Mental and Spiritual Problem: Restoring intellectual life and thought among the people of those lands, building up self-confidence, and renewing faith in themselves and in the fundamental things of life, in the concept of freedom and the value of the individual personality.

But now, today, just when this process of recovery was getting underway, the European scene has become the main battle-ground of a new War. This time it is a War o f Ideas! For, there is taking place on the world-stage, a gigantic struggle for the minds of people everywhere. Primarily, it is a battle for the mind of the people of Europe.

This is not a political or economic battle.

There are two great opposing forces: On the one side, the idea, the almost fanatical religion of world-wide Communism, as taught and practised by the Soviet Republics, and as controlled and directed by the Soviet-dominated Cominform. On the, other side are being mustered all those vast and intangible forces which embody the conception of freedom, in its broadest and deepest sense: the freedom of man, his mind and his soul.

Just about a year ago, by a sudden move from behind the dark curtain, there came the tragic fall of Czechoslovakia. It made a most profound impression upon the people of Western Europe. It increased their feeling of insecurity. It also destroyed the fund of good-will which Russia had built up by her stupendous efforts and sacrifices during the War. In Czechoslovakia, as in all Sovietdominated countries, there followed coercion and suppression in the realms of art, of science, of thought and of religion. I venture to suggest that the future will show- that the greatest mistake which the Soviet leaders have made has been their relentless attack upon the freedom of the mind and the spirit. It may well prove the eventual undoing of the Communist ideological aggression. For, above all else, the people of Europe want to maintain their own way of life, and their intellectual and cultural freedom. As Mr. Churchill said last week "You can never quench freedom".

In this great struggle for the freedom of the mind and spirit, let us consider for a few moments, what are some of the forces mustered on the side of freedom.

Today, I would mention only three A. UNESCO.

First, there is one agency of the United Nations, which may, and should be able, (I underline those words), to--play a most significant role. That agency is UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, with Headquarters in Paris. Forty-six nations, including Canada, are members of UNESCO. Thus, it cannot represent any particular political or economic system. Essentially, it is a Peoples' Organization. Its main purpose is to help the cause of Peace by taking a stand and working against certain things, and by taking a stand and working for other things.

UNESCO is working against Ignorance, Prejudice, Intolerance and Coercion in all its forms and wherever found.

UNESCO is working for Knowledge, Understanding, Tolerance, Human Sympathy and the Freedom of Man. It is dedicated to the task of breaking down national barriers, so that the people of all lands may see each other, study each other and understand each other, so that, eventually, they may co-operate with each other. Unfortunately, and I think, significantly, the Soviet Union has never joined the UNESCO organization. Nor have some of its satellites. It is equally significant that three countries--Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary, at present dominated by the Soviet,--are members of UNESCO. That, in the long run, may mean a great deal. It is encouraging and important to note, Gentlemen, that everything UNESCO stands for, is the very antithesis of the restraints, the coercions, the bondage and all the evils of the Soviet Totalitarian System. For, in that System, as we know full well, there is no freedom of the mind and spirit, no freedom of expression in the realms of science, art and literature; no freedom in economic and social life and no freedom in religious faith.

The major problem on the world-stage today is the threat to freedom, and all that is wrapped up in the term "Iron Curtain". The Challenge of UNESCO is to bring together People and Ideas!

Of all the agencies of the United Nations, UNESCO is the one most likely to penetrate the Iron Curtain. "Ideas have Wings"! No curtain has ever been made, which can keep out Ideas, no matter how vigorous a censorship is maintained behind it. A few of the people come out from behind, and return again. The radio waves are hard to imprison, and in those lands there are heroic souls struggling to keep alive the sparks of freedom. Nothing can prevent the basic ideas of UNESCO from infiltrating the countries of Eastern Europe.

In this battle for the mind, the greatest responsibility rests upon those who have faith and are free to express it. That imposes a special obligation upon the peoples of the British Commonwealth, and the great English-speaking World, For, among all our peoples, we enjoy as a gift and a heritage, the essential freedoms which are now in danger.

Gentlemen, in this great struggle for the minds of men I am confident that the British Commonwealth will continue to stand, as it has stood firmly in the past, a strong bulwark for peace and freedom.

Canada, now expanded with her ten provinces, her ever-widening horizon and her increasing responsibilities, must be a solidly cemented corner-stone in the Peace structure, confident, prepared and unafraid.

The task and the challenge in this grave hour are embodied in simple words which came to me from that little island across the sea, Britain, which, down through the long centuries, has done so much in the cause o f justice and liberty. The lines are these:

"And we who have inherited the Trust Must also pay the price that it demands, And share the burden faithfully, as they Who gave their all, to place it in our hands. Thus shall we prosper, thus undaunted, free, Shall we fulfil our splendid destiny."