740.0011 European War 1939/10156
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Secretary of State
The British Ambassador called today at his request. I said that if Petain should yield to the pro-Hitler influences in his Government there might be left three courses for this and the British Government to pursue: (1) Either we or the British protest strongly; (2) We or the British take definite action with the use of force to establish ourselves at Dakar or Casablanca, to which he added a supposition that neither of us was in a position to do that; (3) An attempt be made to get General Weygand to invite the British or some other force to come in and aid him against German invasion. I remarked that General Weygand has softened considerably towards the British-American viewpoint and that Mr. Eccles for the British Government and Mr. Murphy for my Government have had full and more or less effective personal conferences with General Weygand on this question of resistance against outside attack; that he has repeatedly said that he would fight Germany if she came in; that he has not only requested cooperation with us by the sale and shipment of certain staple commodities to French North Africa for local use, but he has earnestly requested the sale and shipment to him of certain munitions in order that he might more effectively resist outside invasion by Germany, or by any other country.