862t.01/47: Telegram

The Ambassador in France (Wallace) to the Secretary of State

911. Mission. Your 666, April 2, 1 p.m. Meeting of Ambassadors’ Conference called this morning to consider German note of April 3d transmitted in my 903 April 5, 5 p.m., was postponed at the request of British until tomorrow afternoon, Wednesday, so that Derby may be present.

I saw Millerand this morning on another matter and informed him as regards his inquiry of March 2926 relative to the question of guarantee, that it seemed to you that German offer was ample and that in event Allied officers with German forces should consider they were needed beyond fixed period, then further occupation of German territory should be reconsidered. I also stated your views as regards troops still interned in British zone.

[Page 313]

Mr. Millerand stated that he had not been able to consider the German proposal as a guarantee but rather a progress [prolongation?] of the war which he would have been prepared to accept from anyone but the Germans. In explanation he cited a recent instance to show how little faith could be placed in German statements. On April 3, while the French Chargé d’Affaires in Berlin was being informed by Chancellor Muller that the German troops would not advance into the Ruhr and that nothing would be done without the consent of the Allies, in another room, General Barthelemy was informed by the Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Von Haniel, that General von Waiters commanding the Government troops in the Ruhr region had been authorized by Berlin to act in the matter.

Millerand explained the situation with which he was faced on Saturday. The Germans had sent their troops into the Ruhr in the face of his refusal to permit any violation of articles 42 and 44 of the treaty. In view of the situation thus created he had been forced to take gages to ensure the withdrawal of the German forces. He had so informed the German representatives and as I knew by the press this morning the French troops had occupied the Frankfort area.

Millerand cited the principles of [the principal] steps which had [led] up to the present action. He recalled the fact that the first request for permission to send troops into the Ruhr had been made on March 15 by the Kapp government and that the second request had been made on March 17 by Von Haniel in charge of Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The Germans probably knowing that he was the one Ally who had opposed their request had come to ask him for permission to break the provisions of the treaty. They had claimed various reasons to justify their request. He had replied to them that he would concede to their demand provided he were convinced of the absolute necessity therefor. As he had already informed me his information had not concurred [accorded?] with that of the Germans. Not only was it reported by French officers but also by British and Belgian officers that the Reichswehr were not needed in the Ruhr. As the infraction of articles 42 and 44 of the treaty to which France attached such great importance, particularly as they had been referred to in the first article of the projected Franco-American treaty, was a most serious matter, he had refused to permit the German troops to enter, inasmuch as he had not been convinced that it was necessary for them to do so. He had at that time told the Germans that he believed that the introduction of the Reichswehr forces would lead to trouble and possibly the destruction of the mines. He has now just heard that some sabotage had already taken place.

Millerand stated that the conditions on which the French troops had entered the Frankfort area were fully set forth in proclamation [Page 314] issued by General Degoutte and he laid stress upon the fact that this action was in no way to be considered as a hostile act. As an instance of the attitude of the French force he stated that the battalion [of the] Sicherheitspolizei which had been found in Frankfort had been set at liberty after being disarmed.

I have just heard that Millerand has sent a note to the German delegation reiterating the assurance set forth in the Degoutte proclamation to the effect that the French troops would be withdrawn as soon as the German force had completely evacuated the neutral zone.

Wallace
  1. See telegram no. 848, Mar. 29, from the Ambassador in France, p. 300.