851.01/533
The Department of State to the British Embassy
Memorandum
The Government of the United States is subordinating all other questions to the one supreme purpose of achieving military success in the war and carrying it forward to a successful conclusion. The French National Committee has the same objective and is undertaking active military measures for the preservation of French territory for the French people.
[Page 531]The Government of the United States recognizes the contribution of General de Gaulle and the work of the French National Committee in keeping alive the spirit of French traditions and institutions and believes that the military aims necessary for an effective prosecution of the war, and hence the realization of our combined aims, are best advanced by lending all possible military assistance and support to the French National Committee as a symbol of French resistance in general against the Axis powers. The Government of the United States wholeheartedly agrees with the view of the British Government, which is also understood to be the view of the French National Committee, that the destiny and political organization of France must, in the last analysis, be determined by free expression of the French people under conditions giving them freedom to express their desires unswayed by any form of coercion.
In pursuing the common war objective, the Government of the United States will continue to deal with the local Free French officials in their respective territories where they are in control with manifest effectiveness. Realizing the need for coordinating their common efforts the Government of the United States perceives every advantage in centralizing the discussion of those matters relating to the prosecution of the war with the French National Committee in London. An essential part of the policy of the Government of the United States for war collaboration is assistance to the military and naval forces of Free France, which is being extended under the terms of the President’s statement of November 11, 1941, that the defense of those French territories under the control of Free French forces is vital to the defense of the United States.
In harmony with the foregoing observations the Government of the United States is prepared to appoint representatives in London for purposes of consultation.