765.84/4748: Telegram
The Consul at Geneva (Gilbert) to the Secretary of State
[Received June 29—12:40 p.m.]
264. In a private conversation with a member of the British delegation concerning the bases of British policy vis-à-vis the present Geneva issues, what he had to say tended strongly to substantiate the opinion described in the latter portion of paragraph 2, my telegram No. 246, June 24, 4 p.m., in other words that any current negotiations between London and Rome did not go beyond an effort to achieve an appeasement which was an end apparently equally desired by both, that such arrangements as may have been reached in this respect partake of the character of only a limited modus vivendi, and that any interpretation of immediate happenings in Geneva as having deeper significance in respect of the great power-European situation should be regarded with extreme reserve.
He stated that the chief present objective of British policy as far as he perceived it was to recapture their freedom of action which had been more or less accomplished by Eden’s speech.90 He emphasized that British policy remained as uncertain as heretofore and that in [Page 173] fact the entire British Foreign Office was aware that the task of the Government following the meetings here would be if possible to arrive at some precisions respecting fundamental policy before September.
He further informed me that the British had reached what they regarded as a satisfactory working agreement with the new French Government which however did not thus far go beyond a general understanding not to take individual action without prior consultation. As characteristic of the general situation, the French and British have agreed to limit the impending Assembly discussions as much as possible and in particular to defer any decisions regarding League reform until September being especially anxious that the discussions here should avoid giving public opinion the impression that the reform was moving in any specific direction. He added that a potent element in the French–British rapprochement was an increasing anxiety in London respecting Germany. The French have generally confirmed the foregoing to me.