740.00/785: Telegram
The Ambassador in France (Bullitt) to the Secretary of State
[Received April 12—5 p.m.]
710. Rochat said this afternoon that in the past 24 hours the situation has certainly not become worse. The declaration which Chamberlain and Daladier will make tomorrow will mark the beginning of a new phase. There will be a guarantee of Greece and “perhaps” one of Rumania. The case of Turkey is not quite ripe yet and negotiations are continuing.
From the military point of view the Foreign Office’s information indicates that there are no military movements of special significance in Germany but in Italy there is a greater concentration of troops at Brindisi and more troops and war material being transported to Albania than would seem warranted if it is merely a question of maintaining order in the latter country. What concerns the French particularly at present is the question of Italian forces in Spain.
The assertion that they are being maintained there to take part in the parade early in May is regarded as the flimsiest of pretexts. Moreover, the French Government has definite proof that, between April 1 and April 10, 5,000 additional Italian troops landed at Cadiz. Marshal Petain’s efforts to obtain an explanation of this situation have proved entirely unsuccessful as have the efforts made by the British.
Rochat expresses the opinion that the British are unquestionably right in not denouncing the Anglo-Italian agreement:98 admitting that any further “assurances” from the Italians are utterly worthless, nevertheless the agreement furnishes a lever which may prove of value in the effort to get the Italians out of Spain. In the meanwhile it is essential to take all necessary precautions of a military and naval character so as not to be caught unawares and this the French Government is doing discreetly and effectively.
- Signed at Rome, April 16, 1938, League of Nations Treaty Series, vol. cxcv, p. 77.↩