[Enclosure—Translation]
French Memorandum in Reply to the British
Memorandum of August 2, 1935
1. The Government of the Republic has studied with the greatest
interest the Memorandum dated August 2, 1935, in which His Majesty’s
Government was good enough to set forth on what bases, as a result
of the conversations relative to naval armaments which took place in
1934 and 1935, it envisages the possibility of a settlement of the
naval question.
2. The Government of the Republic is happy to note its full agreement
with His Majesty’s Government in considering that the essential
object of this settlement should be to determine the qualitative
limits to be respected in future by the constructions of various
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naval powers. With regard to
the exact figures mentioned in this respect in Paragraph 4 of the
memorandum from His Majesty’s Government,—and without dissimulating
that they correspond closely to its own conception of the said
limitations,—the Government of the Republic deems it nevertheless
difficult to make a definite statement as long as certain essential
elements of the problem have not been clarified; in particular, the
nature of the constructions by which the Reich may follow up the
recent Anglo-German naval arrangement, as well as the qualitative
limits that the Powers referred to in Paragraph 5 of the memorandum
will be prepared to accept.
3. As to questions of a quantitative nature, His Majesty’s Government
underlines with reason the difficulties and slowness entailed in
their settlement on the basis envisaged in Paragraph 2 of its
memorandum.
In the opinion of the Government of the Republic, those obstacles
will be the more easily overcome if one limits the declarations on
constructions to those covering a very short period.
4. In that train of thought and among the several points mentioned in
Paragraph 8 of the memorandum from His Majesty’s Government,—none of
which present any difficulties as far as it is concerned,—the
Government of the Republic notes for future consideration the
suggestion of a mutual exchange of information concerning naval
constructions to be undertaken; it wishes to point out that an
agreement on this subject would have an added value if the
notifications of keel-laying were completed by previous notices. In
that way, in fact, the very delicate problem of quantitative
limitations might undoubtedly be directed towards a progressive
solution; a temporary solution might be found permitting the
immediate completion of the settlement which must in any case first
take place from a qualitative standpoint.
5. Such are the observations that occur to the Government of the
Republic with regard to the views which His Majesty’s Government was
good enough to communicate to it with respect to the solution of a
problem which interests to such a high degree the peace of the
world, and to which the approach of the expiration of the naval
treaties in force give a particularly urgent character. It deems it
advisable to bring them without delay to the knowledge of His
Majesty’s Government.
