740.0011 European War 1939/12014
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Under Secretary of State (Welles)
The British Ambassador called to see me this evening at my request.
I gave Lord Halifax to read all of the telegrams the Department had received during the last forty-eight hours with regard to developments in Syria, in Vichy, and, in particular, those telegrams which related the opinions expressed to our officials by General Weygand and his associates. I likewise informed Lord Halifax of the general nature of Secretary Hull’s conference this morning with the French Ambassador.7 I further informed Lord Halifax of the nature of the instructions sent this evening to Mr. Murphy8 in Casablanca [Algiers] for communication to General Weygand. With regard to the latter instruction, I said that our whole policy with regard to the North African arrangements as finally approved by the British Government had been premised upon the understanding that General [Page 375] Weygand would resist aggression from no matter what quarter against any part of the North African territories under his jurisdiction; that he would oppose, insofar as those territories were concerned, any collaboration between France and Germany in excess of the bare terms of the armistice itself; and that he would oppose and prevent any further infiltration of Germans into North Africa. I said that from the information at my disposal and from the statements now made by General Weygand he had lived up to these promises and had no present intention of refraining from living up to them. I said that under these conditions, provided the shipping difficulty could be adjusted, there seemed to be no moral ground and no reason of expediency which should prevent the United States from carrying out its engagements with regard to the trade arrangement and that I trusted the British Government would take the same point of view. I said it seemed to me in the highest degree desirable, from our own standpoint as well as that of the British, that the conflict which had now broken out in Syria should not extend to North and West Africa and that our assisting General Weygand in the manner proposed and our remaining on close terms with him would seem to me to be of value in trying to attain that objective. Lord Halifax said that he thought the message sent by this Government to General Weygand through Mr. Murphy, as I had outlined it to him, would be of very great value and that he fully shared the point of view which I had indicated. I said it seemed to me that insofar as General Weygand was concerned, he had had practically nothing except promises from the United States for a period of many months and I felt very definitely that the time had now come for this Government either to “put up or shut up.”
- For memorandum of conversation, see vol. iii, p. 732.↩
- Telegram No. 132, supra.↩