My Life

My Life - Oswald Mosleyarmaments until universal disarmament is achieved; unfortunately, an ideal stillremote.Closely related to the question of frontiers and armaments is the vital question of thereturn of Europe's lost lands. Frontier questions between these nations and the fear ofarms in the hands of Germans are the main inhibiting factors. The only solution is theend of frontiers and the complete merging of German military strength with Europe asa whole: again, Europe a Nation. There will be no final peace and ease in Europe untilthe union of Germany is achieved and other lost European lands are free. The problemis soluble once the questions of frontiers and armaments are realistically settled.Fourteen times in the period of Khruschev the Russians offered to withdraw fromEurope, if America would likewise withdraw. The offers were ignored because thesmall and divided European powers feared to live in face of Russia without thesupport of American occupation. Fear was the begetter both of military dependenceand ultimate economic servitude. Again and again in these years I pressed that theseoffers should be seriously considered, together with the related policies which alonecan translate possibilities into achievement. Europe a Nation has the sole chance ofregaining the lost lands, because it can eventually eliminate European fears andRussian fears by the strength of Europe deployed in a wise and conciliatorydiplomacy, which will combine the physical impossibility of an individual Germanattack with further guarantees such as no military installations in liberated lands.Balance of payments in EuropeThese three questions of frontiers, armaments and the return of the lost lands aredifficult enough to settle—in fact insoluble in the long run—without the fullconstitution of the European community with European government. Yet theeconomic problem in the present situation presents an even greater difficulty, which isalready becoming evident. The fog of economic debate is now pierced by one clearfact, to which I have drawn attention for years, but it has long been ignored as politelyand firmly as the presence of the Devil in the Holy of Holies. This fact is indeedblinding in its unanswerable simplicity: it is impossible for everyone to have afavourable balance of payments at the same time. All nations cannot simultaneouslysell more than they buy; this simple fact would not elude a child in an elementaryschool, but its studious avoidance in current economic debate is at the root of ourdifficulty in finding a solution. First one nation then another is in trouble, because allcannot together attain this beatitude of the system, a favourable balance of payments.At regular intervals each country must restrict credit, deflate and create depression inorder to put itself again in surplus on external account. This means that the country inquestion can again sell more than others on world markets, and consequently pushessome other country into deficit with compulsion to adopt the same measures.Countries only get a favourable balance of trade by mounting on the backs of othersand pushing them by successful competition into the deep waters of deficit, anadverse balance of trade. These countries in turn deflate and accept artificialdepression in order to scramble back to solvency on the backs of others. This is anextreme over-simplification of the economic problem, but it is useful to state theserealities because they go to the root of the matter, which will not be settled until wetranscend the narrow nationalisms.The entry of Britain into the Common Market will not solve our balance of payments402 of 424