851R.01/17¼
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Assistant Secretary of State (Berle)
M. Tixier69 came in to see me, at his request.
He said that the French National Committee was much disturbed and worried by the press reports of what was happening in North Africa. It appeared that some sort of recognition was being given to Admiral Darlan70 as the government of North Africa.
[Page 441]They have received telegrams from their various branches, and secret messages from their resistance centers in France. After all, de Gaulle himself could not forget the fact that it was Darlan who, as Prime Minister, had had General de Gaulle tried and had condemned him to death as a traitor for supporting the Allies. Further, he had imprisoned and killed a great many of their followers. If there was anything certain in life, it was that the Free French could not strike hands with Darlan.
General de Gaulle had requested to send emissaries to North Africa to try to work out an arrangement with General Giraud.71 But, as soon as Darlan had appeared on the scene, and Giraud had accepted a nomination as Governor from Admiral Darlan, they had withdrawn the request. They could not deal with Darlan without dishonoring themselves.
Tixier concluded by asking what information I could give him about the situation.
I said that the arrangements being made were directly flowing from military operations and must be considered for the time being as military dispositions. I said that since the operations are not yet concluded, all of the elements in the situation were not wholly clear; but I understood Admiral Darlan to be substantially in the position of a representative of Vichy who had authority in North Africa; that as that representative he had negotiated for the capitulation of the territories to our armies, and that our dealing with him amounted merely to a recognition of Darlan as the actual authority in control who could work out terms of capitulation, and who was looked to to see that they were carried out. I understood that that was the present situation. I said that I knew of no commitment which involved any acceptance of Darlan as a prevalent government in North Africa, and understood indeed that all of these matters could not be definitively settled until the military operations now in progress had reached a different stage. We, too, were cognizant of the difficulties inherent in the entire matter; but the Free French must likewise realize that the fighting forces in North Africa necessarily had to make military arrangements as they went along.
Tixier said he could understand that perfectly; that there was the question of the fleet, and of Tunis; and he conceded that the Free French could not have assisted in delivering anything in North Africa. But he wished to express the earnest hope that no political combination we sanctioned would include Darlan, and pointed out that Darlan’s appearance on the air, speaking from American headquarters, as the government of North Africa, created the greatest [Page 442] confusion in Free French circles in France. These were the men who were risking their lives to help the Allies; and to find Darlan, who had been killing them wherever possible, suddenly appearing on the air, naturally gave rise to confusion.
I said that of course capitulations were now carried on by radio and thus were generally known; but that, aside from that, there was nothing at all unusual in carrying on negotiations for the surrender of a province and the transfer of its assets and authority to the conquering armies by the authorities in charge thereof.
Finally, M. Tixier asked if we could give urgent attention to obtaining the release of the many thousands of Frenchmen and persons of other nationalities who had been imprisoned in North Africa solely because they favored the Allies and had opposed the policy of collaboration.
I said that this was a very real point, and I would see whether something could not be done about it.
- Adrien Tixier of the Free French Delegation.↩
- Adm. Jean François Darlan, Commander in Chief of all French Armed Forces. For an account of a conversation on November 14, 1942, between Free French representatives and the Secretary of State regarding this matter and the latter’s conversation with President Roosevelt, see The Memoirs of Cordell Hull, vol. ii, pp. 1197–1199.↩
- Gen. Henri Honoré Giraud, Commander in Chief of the French Forces in North Africa.↩