The U.S. State Department last week issued a special communique on the battle for Western Europe. The Communists, reported State, have lost about a third of their party membership in Western Europe since war's end. The country-by-country breakdown:
Membership %
1946 1950 Loss
Austria 150,000 100,000 33
Belgium 100,000 35,000 65
Denmark 60,000 22,500 63
France 850,000 600,000 29
Italy (1948) 2,300,000 1,600,000 31
Luxembourg 3,000 500 83
Netherlands 50,000 33,000 34
Norway 40,000 14,000 65
Sweden 60,000 33,000 45
U. Kingdom 60,000 40,000 33
W.Germany 300,000 200,000 33
Part of this Red shrinkage is undoubtedly due to Moscow's own policy, which is to tighten the Communist parties and weed out lukewarm...
