740.00/520: Telegram
The Chargé in France (Wilson) to the Secretary of State
[Received 7:05 p.m.]
2003. I had a conversation this morning with the British Ambassador regarding the Chamberlain visit.
On the Jewish refugee problem he said that the British had informed the French that they were admitting a number of these refugees in [Page 105] England and in Australia but they were not advertising the fact in order to avoid any growth of anti-Semitic feeling in those countries. They also informed the French of plans to establish refugees in British Guiana and Tanganyika. They requested the French to urge Ribbentrop when he visits Paris to cooperate in this matter by allowing the refugees to take out a larger percentage of their funds. The British suggested that once the billion mark fine38 had been paid the balance of Jewish money in Germany might be used as a pool to facilitate the emigration of refugees.
Regarding the Far East Phipps said that everyone had agreed that the situation was extremely gloomy. There was agreement to seek the closest cooperation with the United States in an effort to protect rights in China.
The Ambassador said that the discussions on national defense problems had been very important. The British had urged the French to increase their production of airplanes and had been assured that next spring would see a substantial improvement in French production. The French had informed the British that they were planning to purchase 1,500 airplanes in the United States39 to fill the gap before French production reaches the desired rate. Sir Kingsley Wood the British Air Minister will be in Paris on December 2 and Phipps is arranging a small dinner that night for him to meet La Chambre and General Vuillemin to discuss coordination of airplane production.
I inquired whether England would establish a national register for service in time of war. Phipps said that he believed this would be done. There was no possibility, however, of conscription. Great Britain was making a tremendous effort to maintain the fleet and to build up the air force and it would be impossible to extend this effort at the same time to universal service in the land army.
The Ambassador said that the British were genuinely pleased that the French had consented to this agreement with the Germans. Chamberlain had expressed this view to him personally. The Ambassador said that the atrocious treatment of Jews in Germany had of course shocked opinion in England as it had in America and it had slowed up the effort at appeasement with Germany. When a country, however, had determined upon a definite line of foreign policy as the French had there was nothing to do but to go ahead with it. He said that it seemed clear that the German tactics were to try to dissociate France from Great Britain. The maneuver, however, was too apparent and there was no possibility of it succeeding.
Regarding Spain the Ambassador said that it had been agreed that the British would request Mussolini to urge Franco to agree [Page 106] to a cessation of hostilities. It was perhaps a forlorn hope but the British intended to try. He said that it had been agreed that there would be no departure from the London plan as regards belligerent rights.
The British had said to the French that when King Carol of Rumania was in London he had urged that the British Legation in Rumania be raised to the rank of an embassy. The British told the French that they knew the latter had received a similar request but hoped the French would postpone action. The French had replied, however, that they understood that the Germans intended to raise their legation in Rumania to an embassy very soon; the French did not wish to be placed in the position of following the Germans, although they desired to accredit an ambassador to Rumania at an early date. The British agreed that under these circumstances the French should go ahead.
The British had asked the French what the position would be under the Franco-Soviet pact in case there should be an uprising in the Ukraine fomented by Germany. The French had replied that they would not feel called upon to take any action whatsoever. The Franco-Soviet pact would apply only in the case of overt German aggression against the frontiers of Russia. The Ambassador said that the British had believed that this would be the French position but they were glad to have it stated definitely.
- Assessed against the Jews in Germany in retaliation for the killing of Ernst vom Rath.↩
- See vol. ii, pp. 297 ff.↩