881.00/1803: Telegram

The Diplomatic Agent and Consul General at Tangier (White) to the Secretary of State

88. Pending London Cabinet decision (see my telegram 86, December 16, 7 p.m.) as to whether or not to make the shipment of 1 million tons of wheat for Spain during the next 12 months dependent upon a written guarantee in regard to Tangier, the following may be of interest.

The night of the 13th Suñer took the position that although British rights in Tangier are to be guaranteed in so far as they do not run counter to his decrees, international government is no longer possible here and Spain cannot accept dictation even with the threat of famine. His claim that the post office disturbance showed the need for Spanish instead of international control suggests that said incident may have been a Spanish plant after all.

The British Ambassador has reported that Spanish public sentiment will support the Tangier policy of the Foreign Minister and that even pro-British army officers are solid for Anschluss. Hence my informant deduces that Suñer is using the annexation of Tangier to acquire popularity with the Spanish Army.

The Ambassador has also pointed out that the Spanish Government is not in a position to draw up on paper a program of confederacy such as that suggested by the Foreign Secretary; the British Foreign Office must draft it.

It appears that on December 9 Laval33 telegraphed the French Consul General not to take the initiative in conversations with the Spaniards regarding Tangier but to leave the initiative to them; also to be conciliatory.

White
  1. Pierre Laval, French Minister for Foreign Affairs.