852.00/5390: Telegram
The Counselor of Embassy in Spain (Thurston) to the Secretary of State
[Received 11:50 p.m.]
624. The British Chargé d’Affaires yesterday received instructions to submit a report with respect to the possibility of success of a proposal [of] mediation. His opinion, which he probably will incorporate in his report, is that, in view of the intensity of the hatred of each side for the other, such a proposal would not prosper at this time.
Opinion here, as manifested in the statements of members of the Government (telegram No. X–519, February 28, 6 p.m.84) and in the controlled and strictly censored press, is opposed to a settlement by compromise. The labor organizations and proletarian political parties which constitute the paramount force in the Popular Front Government of Spain consider that to win the social revolution now in progress is of equal importance to the winning of the war, and that a compromise would threaten some of their gains. The undoubted desire for peace of those who have lost members of their families or are hungry or homeless is submerged, while the business and middle classes who presumably would welcome an immediate settlement have, of course, largely disappeared as articulate entities.
It may also be questioned whether the rebels would heed such a proposal just as they are preparing [to] invest Bilbao, or that the Government would welcome it should Bilbao withstand the siege. The Government is attempting definitely to eliminate the threat to its rear guard by disarming the anarchists and others and to build up a large trained military force in preparation for a sustained war. Whether it can succeed or withstand prolonged stress it is impossible to foretell.
Repeated to Ambassador Bowers.
- Not printed.↩