741.5111 European Co-operation/28
The Ambassador in Germany (Sackett) to the Secretary of State
[Received August 20.]
Sir: With reference to my despatch No. 1849 of July 27,49 I have the honor to report that, during the course of a conversation with the Foreign Minister the other day, I casually alluded to the diversity of German interpretation of the Government’s action with regard to the Anglo-French Consultative Pact.
Baron von Neurath smiled significantly and, without attempting to state explicitly whether he considered Germany’s action to constitute full or qualified adherence to the pact, he said that the Government found no difficulty in making a declaration of readiness to participate in future exchanges of opinion concerning European questions, inasmuch as this really meant nothing at all; the disparity between the French and British conceptions of the scope and meaning of the pact, and the unwieldly development which it had assumed as a result of the adherence of so many small Powers, had, as a practical matter, in his opinion, rendered the pact meaningless.
Respectfully yours,
- Not printed.↩