852.00/4478
The Ambassador in Spain (Bowers), Then in France, to the Secretary of State
[Received January 25.]
Sir:
United States Neutrality
I have the honor to report that I think it can be unqualifiedly said that in responsible quarters on both sides in the Spanish conflict there is an agreement that the United States has been absolutely neutral and has scrupulously observed all the proprieties. The very first intimation we had of a possible doubt came with the necessary granting of the permit to ship war material before the passing of the legislation making it impossible to prevent the repetition of such action. The supporters of the Government through their papers at the moment were prone to seize upon this incident as evidence of America’s partiality for the Government; but the rebel papers and radio treated the incident at first with extreme caution and without any denunciation of our action. The rebels pointed at once to the announcement that legislative action would be taken to prevent anything of the sort in the future.
Since the enactment of the new law and the attempt to head off the recent shipment, General Queipo de Llano, who for six months has radioed his views nightly from Seville, setting forth the rebel viewpoint, and propaganda, devoted several minutes to the highest praise of the United States. He declared in substance that we alone among [Page 224] the nations had been scrupulously neutral, and that if all other nations had been equally so the war would now be over. Practically every rebel in Spain, who can, listens nightly to his talks.
It seems significant and certainly is gratifying to observe both sides in the bitterest of controversies uniting both in praise of the United States and in their desire to maintain cordial relations with us.
The only exception to this rule has been the protest of Sarrat, the Burgos Foreign Minister, addressed to the British Ambassador here for transmission to the Non-intervention Committee, charging that certain ships with cargoes of war material destined to the Government had sailed from the United States, and rather offensively expressing surprise that a great country should stoop to the support of the “Beds”. The fact that this note was written after we had, with unprecedented speed, passed the needed law, and after we actually had sought to prevent the clearance of the ship which was loaded before the law passed, makes Sarrat’s tone all the more offensive.
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Suppression of Volunteers
I have yet to meet any of my colleagues who attach the slightest importance to the Anglo-French proposal for the exclusion of foreign “volunteers”, and most of those with whom I have talked cynically comment that England has been forced to take cognizance of the appearance here in great numbers of soldiers from the armies of Germany and Italy, but that nothing will be done to stop the influx of these soldiers. There is nothing realistic in the British note in that it uses the word “volunteers” and scrupulously refrains from any intimation that soldiers from the armies of Italy and Germany have been ordered to Spain to fight.
It is utterly impossible for me to credit the British with any sincerity in their pose of neutrality in view of my frequent conversations with the British Ambassador19 here. Every action it has taken thus far, as I have pointed out from time to time, has been transparently intended to cripple the Government and to serve the insurgents. The Non-intervention Pact was the first instance. England and France promptly, and without awaiting the action of Germany, Italy and Portugal, shut off all supplies to Spain. This made it impossible for the Government to buy war material with which to defend the Republic. In the meanwhile, Germany and Italy were constantly pouring floods of war material into the camp of Franco. This was perfectly well known to the British, who not only have their ships on watch in the neighborhood of Cadiz and on the Portuguese coast, but have their secret service men active in southern Spain. But they made no [Page 225] protest until the Spanish Government presented positive proof of the violation of the Pact by the Fascist States, and not even then, until Russia announced that she would not be bound to any greater degree than any other signatory of the Pact.
Meanwhile Germany and Italy were sending soldiers and aviators—the first to start being the latter who unhappily crashed on the way ten days after the beginning of the rebellion, thus giving the secret away. Thereafter—and it certainly was thereafter—volunteers began to join the Government forces from other countries, particularly from France.
Now with a full knowledge that as many as 17,000 German and Italian soldiers landed at Cadiz within two weeks, beginning Christmas week, the British policy is to shut off “volunteers”. And in keeping with this plan she is making it a crime punishable by imprisonment for any Briton to volunteer. If France follows in her wake, it will mean the exclusion of assistance from the Government; and I shall be much astonished if anything is done that will stop Germany and Italy from continuing to send in soldiers.
This policy, whatever its intent, will operate solely in the interest of the rebels. I gather that this is perfectly understood by the English in view of a strange conversation I had last Sunday with the British Ambassador. Quite solemnly, as though quoting Scripture, he told me that he had just heard that Goering20 had announced that “not one German soldier had been sent to Spain”. I asked him if that was corroborated by the reports he was receiving from English secret service men in Cadiz and Seville. Instead of replying he said: “I hope they send in enough Germans to end the war.” That I am quite sure is the attitude of the British and has been from the first day.
A War of Foreigners
At present the real fighting is being done by foreigners. It has been true of Franco’s forces almost from the beginning, ever since the arrival of the Moors in the first days of the rebellion. Among his Spanish soldiers those of the Carlists are the only ones that are said to be worth their feed as fighters. The young Fascists are not put in the battle front but are reserved for police duty in towns taken. During the last three weeks the German and Italian soldiers have been doing the fighting, and in view of the radically changed tactics, it is generally assumed that the Germans have taken over the strategy.
The Government forces comprise a great majority of the Spaniards in the war, but these are untrained in warfare and do not have the discipline or the fighting spirit to sally forth on desperate charges. Even the training in the army here is absurd. The service is too [Page 226] brief, even if the training were intensive, and it is far from that. Young men serving their time in the army in Madrid are permitted to go home to sleep, and if a party keeps them up late, they simply do not appear the next morning. The result is that in the fighting before Madrid the Spaniards on the Government side prefer to stay in their trenches and to wage a defensive warfare entirely. Otherwise with their superior numbers they should have pushed the insurgents back weeks ago.
The Government took the offensive and with good effect a month ago, but it was the International Brigade, mostly French, who led and forced the fighting. It was then that Franco was reenforced by thousands of the German and Italian armies, and his success has been due to the superior training of these professional soldiers. The fact that they have been held at all has been due to the brilliant resistance of the International Brigade which has made many countercharges—but without sufficient help from the Spaniards who refuse to abandon trench warfare.
If “volunteers” are now excluded and professional soldiers of the armies of the Fascist States continue to come in, the result is inevitable.
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Crisis in Basque Country
The rebel army in northern Spain has accomplished nothing toward the capture of Bilbao or Santander, nor has it done anything toward retrieving their military losses between Bilbao and Vitoria. The natural fortifications of Bilbao are such as to make it next to impossible for an army to march upon the city, and never in history has Bilbao been taken.
But the presence of German boats in the waters of Bilbao and Santander is making it increasingly impossible to get food supplies to these cities, and reports reaching me indicate that the food shortage may become very serious. One Russian ship recently reached Bilbao with rye and textiles. But another food ship is said to have been sunk, and another with 3,500 tons of wheat on board was captured and turned over to the rebels.
Meanwhile with increasing frequency bombers are being sent over from Vitoria to bombard these cities, and with serious results on the civilian population.
The gravest danger from this is not in the destruction so much as in the enraging of the people, thus driving them more and more to extremes. There are large numbers of anarchists from Barcelona in these places who take full advantage of every outrage, such as the killing of non-combatants, to undermine the Basque Government’s policy of reasonable conservatism. After the last bombing the anarchists [Page 227] organized a mob which broke into the prisons and killed many prisoners as a reprisal. This was in opposition to the wishes of the Government. There is a possibility that the continuation of the bombing will so play into the hands of the extremists as to make difficult if not impossible the control of the situation by the Basque Government. In that event the possibility is strong that the conservative Basques will be forced to yield to the extreme measures of the anarchists who have no regard for any government; and in that event the effect may well be to cool the ardor of the Basques for the loyalist cause.
Regarding food, the insurgents are in a better position than the loyalists. The greater part of the wheat country is in rebel possession. The loyalist strongholds are the industrial cities and sections and the fruit sections.
It is commonly understood here that wherever the insurgents are in possession of mineral sections, the minerals are being sent in large quantities to Germany—probably in part payment for the service of the German army.
Respectfully yours,