851R.01/40a
The Secretary of State
to the Chief of Staff, United States Army (Marshall)
Washington, December 5,
1942.
My Dear General Marshall: I am sending you
an outline of our thoughts concerning the points discussed with you
over the telephone and with General Hull here on December 4, for
whatever they may be worth to you and your associates. You will note
that the memorandum is in the form of a suggested telegram to
General Eisenhower and Mr. Murphy.
Sincerely yours,
[Enclosure]
Memorandum of a Suggested Telegram to General
Eisenhower and Mr. Murphy From General Marshall and the
Secretary of State95
We feel that it is important that you should seek the earliest
moment you consider expedient orally to explain to Admiral
Darlan the attitude of the United States Government along the
following lines:
“The United States Government fully appreciates the
important military contribution which Admiral Darlan has
made and is continuing to make in the campaign which
began in Africa but which is a prelude to the complete
liberation of all French peoples both at home and in the
empire from Axis domination and rule. It has been the
consistent policy of this Government, expressed on many
occasions by the Secretary of State, to welcome the
active cooperation of all Frenchmen who desire to resist
Axis aggression and the extension, wherever it may be
found, of Axis domination and control. It is the common
purpose of the United Nations to continue the struggle
until the aims of the Atlantic Charter96 are fulfilled and the peoples of
each country are free to express their own will and to
decide their future for themselves. Until these purposes
are achieved, other considerations must be left for
subsequent determination since dispersion of effort must
weaken the military unity of
[Page 473]
purpose. It is in the sense of the
foregoing that we feel that Admiral Darlan has an
important continuing part to play in supplementing the
invaluable97 contribution which he has
already made. As long as his efforts are directed to the
specific end of resistance to the Axis, we feel he has a
definite role and a positive military contribution to
make to our united effort consistent with the policy of
the United States Government as outlined above. This
will not be the case if he devotes his efforts to
building up an organization, not directly connected with
the military effort, since it must be borne in mind that
other Frenchmen are likewise making contributions in the
military field of considerable importance whose
political aims have likewise never been ‘gone along
with’ by this Government. This Government has too great
a respect for France and the sovereignty of the French
people to attempt to predetermine the choice which the
French people will eventually have to make.
“You may further wish to add that any exhortation
directed to Frenchmen to support the military effort is
timely but to go beyond that into what is primarily a
political appeal may now be detrimental to the cause of
France.”
For your private information, efforts of the character which we
have in mind here as being contrary to this policy are Admiral
Darlan’s recent message to former Ambassador Peyrouton98 at Buenos Aires asking the
latter to serve as his accredited political representative to
the Argentine Government, as well as his messages to other
Chiefs of French Missions soliciting their political
adherence.
