Back in September 1929, when world prosperity still nourished world idealism, that great dreamer Aristide Briand started talking about "The United States of Europe." He even went so far as to send a circular to 26 Governments asking them what they thought about federation. Only three were enthusiastic. Their names are significant: Poland, Czecho-Slovakia, Yugoslavia.
Since war broke out, Aristide Briand's dream has walked again. When the first Allied shot was fired, many thoughtful Britons began worrying less about what war would be like than about what possible peace could follow it....