741.51/488
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Secretary of State
The French Ambassador99 came to see the Secretary at 11:00 a.m., Monday, June 9, 1941 at the Secretary’s apartment at Wardman Park Hotel, the Secretary having changed the appointment from his office because of a slight cold. This call was made on the Secretary at the request of the French Ambassador.
The French Ambassador opened the conversation by stating that the French Government had done everything in the world it could to cooperate with the British—had even made the supreme sacrifice of going to war and shedding blood for the British. He pointed to the sadness caused by the spectacle of the British now attacking the French in Syria without, he said, any justification whatever. He said that Marshal Pétain and Admiral Darlan had stated that the French would take no military initiative against the British and had fully complied with that position. The Ambassador repeated the trials and sufferings through which the French had gone since the capitulation almost a year ago, and the effort made by the French Government at Vichy to obtain an amelioration of the conditions of the armistice for the relief of the civilian population, the return of the French prisoners from Germany, and the freedom of communication between the two separate parts of France. The Ambassador recalled that he, himself, had worked during his term of office in Washington for a better understanding between the British and the French but had only been able to give hope to his Government for some betterment of this relationship without any effective steps having been accomplished.
The Secretary listened patiently to the exposition of the Ambassador which was based almost entirely on the statement that the French had not taken any initiative with respect to military acts against the British, although he apparently avoided the issue as to whether the French could have been justly expected under the terms of the armistice to grant the right of use of airdromes in Syria to the Germans in their plan for military assistance against the British forces in Iraq. The Secretary, for his part, drew the picture presented by the acts and utterances of the French governmental leaders, particularly Admiral Darlan and previously Laval,1 indicating an attitude of helpfulness and collaboration with the Hitler forces far beyond the requirements of the armistice terms. The Secretary further [Page 733] recalled that since the French capitulation he and this Government had worked incessantly for a betterment of the relationship between the French and British and had so strongly pleaded the French cause in many instances as to obtain reversals of decisions by the British Government with respect to restrictive blockade measures and other aspects affecting the lives of Frenchmen, both in France itself and in their colonial territories. The Secretary went on to say that he and this Government would continue their effort most diligently to bring about an amelioration of the conditions under which the French people are living at the present time, and that there is no force on earth which can move them from the determination to continue this policy except the French Government itself by turning its back upon the friendly cooperation offered by the United States and adopting a closer collaboration with the forces of conquest which are seeking to destroy Great Britain and endanger the safety and security of our own country. The Secretary said that no one, including the Ambassador himself, in the face of the present world movement of destruction and conquest being attempted by the Hitler regime, if he were put in a position of responsibility for the security of the United States, would make any other decision than that of aiding with all its power the defense of Great Britain and other countries defending themselves against those forces seeking to destroy them and the associates of those forces, no matter under what guise of chimerical promises for the future.
The Secretary said that he is not undertaking at this moment to arrive at any final conclusions with regard to the attitude of the French Government but that we are analyzing all the facts and circumstances as they develop in the light of the utterances of Laval and of Darlan’s recent statement in Paris and the statements of Marshal Pétain, which have a bearing along these same lines;—and that we are studying the tendency toward collaboration by the Vichy Government beyond the strict terms of the armistice, culturally, religiously, economically, and militarily, with the full realization that such cooperation must tend to the extinction of French civilization.
The Secretary then reverted to the Syrian situation and emphasized that the French had not defended themselves in Syria against the Germans when the Germans had made use of the Syrian airports contrary to the requirements of the armistice and in violation of the agreement of 1924 between the French and American Governments with regard to the preservation of the sovereignty over Syria.2
The Secretary then forcefully asserted that a question arises now as to the attitude of the French Government toward the British with respect to Syria and said that right here there must be a distinction [Page 734] made between the small, local aspect of Syrian developments and the larger issue which was that Germany must have Syria in connection with its military operations in regard to Iraq and with respect to the Suez Ganal, and that any action by the French authorities in permitting the use of facilities in Syria for the further extension of German military operations in Asia Minor affected the fundamental position of the British in their present struggle against the German forces. The Secretary made the definite point that it was; most regrettable that the French cannot see the larger and more comprehensive element in this new development which is far more important and far closer to French interests and the future of all Frenchmen than to the smaller, more immediate and local issue with respect to a mandated Syria where Germany is anxious to bring about a situation which would further her own program of attempted crushing of the British position-in the Middle East.
The Secretary reiterated with emphasis that he felt the French Government should realize that this is not a local issue confined to the matter of the mandated territory of Syria, but is one which touches upon the very foundation of the future continuance of French life, independence, and civilization.
The Secretary concluded by stating that he was not prepared to state that he had come to any conclusions with regard to the present developments but he must say that he is watching minutely and with the greatest apprehension the acts and developments as they arise and is analyzing the attitude and policy, as it might affect the relations between the French on the one hand and the British, and eventually other countries, including the United States, on the other hand, as declared and put into effect by the officials of the Government at Vichy.
- Gaston Henry-Haye.↩
- Pierre Laval, former French Minister for Foreign Affairs and Vice President of the Council of Ministers under Marshal Pétain.↩
- Signed at Paris, April 4, 1924, Foreign Relations, 1924, vol. i, p. 741.↩