762.94/481: Telegram
The Chargé in Germany ( Morris ) to the Secretary of State
[Received 9:16 p.m.]
993–994. The German Government hopes that the result of Matsuoka’s visit will be to bind Japan thoroughly to the Axis. An impressive showing will be staged to convince him of the irresistible force of the German military machine and the certainty of its victory over England. In such efforts the German Government will have the [Page 919] valuable aid of Ambassador Oshima who in his previous service here as Military Attaché and Ambassador has been a persistent partisan of Japan’s military alliance with the Axis. Further it seems altogether possible that Germany may be able to present Matsuoka with a spectacle of a new German political or military success in Greece or Yugoslavia.
A prominent German indicated recently in private conversation that while the Reich desired to clinch Japan’s adherence to the Axis it was worried lest Japan take advantage of the alliance to essay some extremist coup in the Pacific with England, bring the United States into the war, an occurrence, he said, which Hitler has been determined to prevent despite exasperation over American aid to Britain. According to this information the role assigned by the Axis to Japan is one of menace which would prevent all-out American naval and other aid to Britain but would stop just short of any action which might involve America in the war.
If this information is correct then the German line would seem to be to persuade Matsuoka that in a short time Germany will have decisively defeated or disabled Great Britain at which time it will really extend effective political and, if necessary, military support to Japanese claims. It may be assumed that Matsuoka will discuss Russia’s attitude toward Japan but so far I have personally heard no rumor or speculation here that Germany will be asked or is prepared to exert effective pressure to induce Russia to modify or abandon its anti-Japanese policies.
The view has been expressed here that Germany was disappointed at the tardiness of Matsuoka’s visit. The Foreign Office had hoped to have him arrive here while the Lease-Lend Bill27 hearings were still in progress and to stage a declaration which it was thought might have an effect on the measures taken under the bill. Apprehension is probably felt here lest continued statements be made or new measures occur in England or America before the time of the visit which might deter the Japanese Government and Matsuoka from entering into closer engagements with the Axis.
It is generally felt that Matsuoka’s absence from Japan is a tacit assurance that Japan will not undertake any provocative action during his absence. It is also not lost sight of that Matsuoka may have the hidden purpose of finding a formula to disengage his country from the folly of its adherence to the Three Power Pact in view of the determined attitude of the United States against totalitarian aggression which culminated in the Lease-Lend Bill, the passage of which may have prompted Matsuoka to accept suddenly a long-standing invitation [Page 920] to visit Germany and Italy. His visit to Italy undoubtedly is to form a first-hand impression of Italian public morale and military strength rather than a mere courtesy visit.
Repeated to Tokyo via Moscow and Rome.
- Approved March 11; 55 Stat. 31.↩