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Voice of the Church. Many West Germans do not share Strauss's desire for the Bomb, but there is a rising clamor in many quarters for a more "active" foreign policy in Bonn. Adenauer's Free Democratic coalition partners, led by Erich Mende, constantly press the government to be more independent. And recently a memorandum approved by top leaders of Germany's Protestant church took a similar line: "The foreign policy of the government appears to us too one-sidedly defensive . . . We expect our Western Allies to assume the risk of a nuclear war in order to defend West Berlin's freedom" and to reunify divided Germany.
The spokesmen of the "new nationalism" have many faces. Most, like Adenauer and Strauss, are firm advocates of a strong Atlantic alliance and argue that they are merely trying to strengthen it. Others are more concerned with German unity. They would reject nuclear armament and would make other concessions to Russia for the sake of reunification. Off on another tangent is brash Hans Kroll, West Germany's ambassador in Moscow, whose loud advocacy of rapprochement with Russia last fall earned him a personal dressing down from Adenauer himself. Last week Kroll was again ordered home by the angry Chancellor, following press reports that in private talks he had been urging an astonishing array of concessions to Russia, among them a demilitarized West Berlin, admission of both East and West Germany to the United Nations, and a $2½ billion West German credit to help the Soviet economy.
Few Germans would accept such a scheme, which is far closer to the old spirit of Rapallo than to the New Nationalism. But the Berlin stalemate tends to stifle West Germany's spirit, restricts its activities in other fields; the resulting irritation forces many to the conclusion that something must be done, though no one knows quite what. The fact that the West Germans are even considering "direct" talks with Russia reflects a significant psychological shift. It will require some getting used to by West Germany's allies, but it is not necessarily dangerous to Western unity. As TIME'S Bonn bureau sums up: "The new German nationalism is born not only of cold war fears and hopes, but also of the simple fact that West Germany is militarily and economically the most powerful nation of Western Europe, the second most powerful of the Atlantic alliance. With this to back them up, the West Germans are raising their voice, and they mean to be heard."