740.0011 European War 1939/9334: Telegram
The Consul General at Beirut (Engert) to the Secretary of State
[Received 11:58 a.m.]
88. I had a long conversation with the High Commissioner last night. After referring to the matter reported in my No. 8757 of this morning he said he had spent most of his time in Damascus during the past fortnight but had not made much headway with the Syrian Nationalists and more serious rioting had taken place a day or two ago both there and in Aleppo.
I asked whether the news of the virtual abandonment of the British blockade had not helped him. He said it had theoretically but in practice it made little difference because the present disturbances had ceased to be economic and had become purely political. He then repeated the statement he had made to me on a previous occasion (see my No. 6158) that the Germans were stirring up trouble presumably to annoy the British and that the Iraqis were helping the Germans. Both were using the Italians in Beirut and Baghdad and he had discovered the distribution of 40,000 gold pounds through the Italian Armistice Commission in Beirut. Unfortunately Syria was full of people willing to allow themselves to be either scared or bribed and although Italian prestige had completely vanished the Germans were now using Italians to do their bidding in the Middle East.
This gave me a chance to ask whether there was anything in the rumor of a German military mission mentioned in my telegram number 85, March 21. The General looked alarmed and said textually “I sincerely hope not! It would be a disaster and I might as well pack up and leave.” He went on to say that Von Hentig had given him enough trouble and if a military mission arrived the shadow of the Gestapo would soon spread over the whole of Syria.
[Page 693]He thought Hitler would like to use Syria as a convenient jumping off place in connection with his plans for an offensive to obtain control of Eastern Mediterranean. Now that he had Bulgaria and Yugoslavia he would try and overawe Greece and Turkey and with a military mission in Syria he would have made a further step forward.
In reply to my question whether he did not think Turkey’s position had been strengthened by the recent Soviet declaration59 he said that he had never trusted the Bolshevik and least of all now. He had found evidence of Soviet propaganda even in Syria chiefly in the Armenian communities and although they are disguising Bolshevik aims they are encouraging a Pan-Arab front which is both anti-French and anti-British.
Repeated to Vichy and Ankara.