852.00/2–2146
The Secretary of State to the British Ambassador ( Halifax )
The Secretary of State presents his compliments to His Excellency the British Ambassador and has the honor to refer to the recent exchange of views on the subject of Spain, which took place between the Governments of Great Britain, France and the United States.
The Department of State is now completing the translation and classification of a large number of official German documents obtained in Germany and elsewhere, which illustrate the close relations between Spain, Germany and Italy. The Secretary of State proposes soon to release to the press about fifteen of these documents and believes strongly that a statement of policy with respect to Spain should be made at that time.25 Thereafter the rest of the documents would be [Page 1043] made public as the translations into English are completed. The Secretary believes that it would be preferable for such a statement to be made jointly with the Governments of Great Britain and France. There is enclosed, therefore, the proposed text of a statement by the three Governments.
The Secretary of State is of the opinion that the release of these documents and the issuance of the proposed statement should encourage and stimulate action within Spain for an orderly change in the present regime.
A similar note has been addressed to the French Ambassador.26
An early expression of the views of the British Government would be appreciated.
- For text of joint statement by the United States, the United Kingdom, and France on relations with the Spanish Government of Franco released to the press March 4, 1946, and partial texts of the 15 documents, see Department of State Bulletin, March 17, 1946, pp. 412 and 413–427. For complete texts of the documents, see Department of State publication No. 2483, European Series No. 8; The Spanish Government and the Axis: Official German Documents, sometimes referred to as the Spanish White Book. For additional documents on the relationship of Spain to the Axis, see Documents on German Foreign Policy, series D, particularly volume iii.↩
- Not printed.↩