740.0011 European War 1939/7335: Telegram
The Chargé in France (Matthews) to the Secretary of State
[Received December 31—8 a.m.]
1199. Preliminary reactions indicate that the President’s speech70 has struck France like a veritable bombshell. It has been received, of course, with the greatest joy by the overwhelming majority of Frenchmen who have so far learned of its nature and likewise in most spheres of the Government. It should put an end to the effectiveness of the recent German campaign here designed to prove that our Government was wavering in its policy of aid to Britain, that a growing body of opinion in America was favoring complete isolationism, that at best our aid would be too little and too late, et cetera.
It has been received by us here in the Embassy with particular delight as a complete vindication of what we have been endeavoring to impress upon our Foreign Office and other French friends is the real policy of our Government and the real pulse of our nation; it is a complete answer to those in high Government places who, for reasons indicated in my telegram No. 1185, December 27, 5 p.m., and others have insisted that appeasement is possible, that in reality we would view efforts in that direction with a friendly eye.
After playing up the importance of the forthcoming address in yesterday’s press the French information center has found itself in a dilemma all day long. Havas has finally issued a one-page communiqué in which the President’s speech has been boiled down to 181 words of direct quotation. This is evidence of the anxiety in certain Government circles including some of those friendly to the British cause lest the German reaction to this forthright enunciation of policy may result in further retaliation against this beaten country which realizes it has not yet felt the full force of the German boot—especially in unoccupied France.
[Page 434]Perhaps that feeling may best be illustrated by the following cautious understatement with which Havas concludes its brief commentary: “The vigor of the President’s statements goes beyond the customary limits of official style and will certainly arouse throughout the world impassioned commentaries.”
My only regret is that it has so far reached such a small element of the country. All of the many persons who have congratulated us today have deplored the fact that the speech has not reached the public in full text and some have urged that the BBC71 continue to hammer out quotations from it for at least several days. The largest of the growing BBC audiences in France are those of the Daventry medium wave French broadcasts in spite of all efforts to block it.