740.00112 European War 1939/6407: Telegram
The Minister in Sweden (Johnson) to the Secretary of State
[Received 10:39 p.m.]
2212. My 2167, August 15, 8 p.m. Situation in London regarding negotiations for increased oil quotas for Sweden is still as obscure to British Minister as to me. Mallet informs me that Ministry of Economic Warfare has now telegraphed him they are making desperate efforts to persuade Americans to be less insistent for imposition of new conditions on Sweden and states that British authorities now realize it is impracticable to require Swedes to give guarantee no further [Page 352] credits under any condition to Germany. If it is true that American Economic Warfare officials are taking this attitude, it is my opinion a mistake. Amount of additional oil desired by Sweden if our own military necessities permit us to spare it seems relatively small item in comparison with positive advantages which Allies derive from Sweden at present time; United States and Great Britain now enjoy in fact sympathetic neutrality of Sweden although nothing much is said about the sympathy and it is to our advantage to encourage Sweden in every practicable way to resist German pressure. Swedish Government has recently shown increasing tendency to tighten her resistance to various forms of German pressure and from political point of view it hardly seems an opportune moment to take a stand in these oil negotiations which is genuinely misunderstood here and is causing intense irritation in governmental and military circles. If Swedes think we do not trust them, their official attitude of neutrality will hardly be affected but it will tend to make them less useful to our cause in many fields and among other things will tend to dry up valuable sources of information for which Sweden now affords us certain facilities.
I understand that a memorandum on subject of Sweden’s contribution to Allied war effort and quid pro quos desired by her in return has been prepared in British Foreign Office under date of August 8 and a copy sent to Washington by airmail.30 I have seen this memorandum myself and I think its arguments are soundly based.
- Not found in Department files.↩