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These small and medium-sized enterprises have strong influence in the National Assembly. They have formed the political basis of all the French governments of the last years, particularly those of Pinay and Laniel. Today these men of the old regime are trying very hard to bring the new government down. They tried to do so in the confused EDC debate. Their big offensive failed. They have now opted for a classic gambit in the history of nations: they appealed to foreign powers. These "friends of America" messaged Washington and even Bonn that the new government had dangerous schemes in mind; they hinted that it was seeking a "neutralist" foreign policy.
Mendès-France refuses to make promises to the allies that are incapable of being kept. He is a less easy man to handle than his predecessors. Foreign diplomats who were loth to see their postwar arrangements crumble were only too eager to listen to Mendès-France's internal enemies. Washington's attitude suggests that American diplomacy may have joined the ranks of those who seek Mendès-France's downfall.