500.A15A4 General Committee/360: Telegram
The Chargé in Great Britain (Atherton) to the Secretary of State
[Received May 12—2:50 p.m.]
119. From Davis. The German Ambassador von Hoesch came to see me this morning to discuss the situation at Geneva as described in Wilson’s 638, May 11, midnight. He told me he had been in telephonic communication with Berlin and was anxious to clear the matter up. First he wished to explain that Germany had now agreed to accept in principle the standardization of armies in Europe to be worked out in detail and through a reasonable period of time. Next he said knowing that the United States and England are opposed to German rearmament he desired to explain that Germany does not wish any real rearmament but that as a matter of prestige she wishes only specimens of so-called sample weapons but not in quantities which would materially increase her military strength. He emphasized that of course Germany would not ask for any weapons that the other powers were themselves prepared to forego. I told him that Nadolny had practically vitiated his acceptance of standardization of armies by making it conditional upon acceptance of the principles [Page 139] of limited rearmament and that the French and British had logically refused to go ahead with the discussions of the balance of part II, materiel, until this fundamental question is cleared up. I then explained to him that our objective is by progressive stages to reduce all armaments to a purely selective basis, that is to the German level, but that if Germany insisted upon moving up as the others move down to meet her they make it all the more impossible to start the real movement down. In substance I told him that while we would oppose rearmament we would cooperate in all reasonable demands for disarmament on the part of others.
I told him I thought that Germany should agree to accept in principle the standardization of continental European armies on the basis of short term service and that the German delegation should declare its readiness to explore at once the method of carrying this out with the proviso that the final acceptance of any transformation plan would depend upon a satisfactory disarmament convention being concluded and that the Conference should then proceed forthwith to a consideration of the other chapters of part II of the convention. He told me he would telephone to Berlin at once and make this suggestion. Subsequently he telephoned me that he had been talking with Berlin and that while he could not definitely assure me that it would be done he believed that Nadolny would at once receive fresh instructions.
The formula as to procedure indicated above was discussed with Wilson by telephone.
Repeated Geneva and Berlin. [Davis.]