500.A15A4 General Committee/877: Telegram
The Ambassador in Italy (Long) to the Secretary of State
[Received April 20—3:05 p.m.]
78. My telegram No. 76 [75], April 19, noon.12 The Italian Government is terribly disappointed at the French note to England. Suvich said today Italy had been led by France to entertain considerable optimism in regard to the French attitude and they are stunned at the text. He said they had information to the effect that Tardieu has been the official responsible for the change in the French attitude and that he had practically dictated the French reply. He also said that Tardieu did not understand conditions in Germany and based his idea of French policy upon the misconception that the Hitler regime was to be short-lived.
Suvich said the French note left the following alternatives: (1) To abstain from attending the Geneva meeting; or (2) to attend the Geneva meeting which was foredoomed to failure in the absence of Germans for the reason that if there should come out of Geneva any agreement signed by the attending powers those powers would be bound by it but Germany would not be bound and Italy could not subscribe to bind herself unless Germany should be bound. He said Italy would attend but had no hope of accomplishing anything.
Suvich leaves tomorrow for London and will stop on his way a few hours in Paris where he will talk to Doumergue in the absence of Barthou and will try to obtain some modifications of the French position. However, he does not expect to succeed. In London he will get the reaction of the British Government and possibly seek circumstances under which cooperation on some plan to [may?] be mutually agreed upon to bring some pressure upon France to change her attitude.
Suvich thinks it a great mistake to meet in Geneva without Germany and is equally of the opinion that Germany would not attend a meeting Under the circumstances that now exist. In short it is apparent that Italy expects France to remain obdurate, Germany to abstain from Geneva, and the Geneva meeting to be either adjourned to a date in the distant future which would mean the end of the Conference or a frank public acknowledgment of failure. This would be followed by a race for armament. Above repeated to Paris and London and mailed to Berlin and Geneva.
While Suvich made no secret of his extreme anxiety and indicated an entire lack of program except such as indicated above it was apparent that they are considering the possibility of a meeting of the [Page 55] heads of the four interested Governments to be held either in Rome or in London, preferably in Rome. He placed Paris and Berlin as out of the range of possibilities because of the disinclination of either one of those Governments to go to the seat of the other. Such a meeting would be held after Geneva in a last effort to get some kind of agreement, even if it be to maintain the status quo in armament.
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