Office of the Historian

740.00119 Council/5–2448: Telegram

The Ambassador in France (Caffery) to the Secretary of State

secret
Paris, May 24, 1948—6 p. m.

2755. In further explanation of why Bidault gave me the two notes (mytel 2720 and 2724 May 211), Chauvel gave me to understand that Bidault is in a panic over the attitude of the non-Communist French press during the past two weeks in regard to the London conversations and is especially concerned over the attitude of the Socialists whom he expected to be friendly to his position. (He was not referring to very recent articles obviously inspired by the Quai d’Orsay. I have [Page 274] referred to these articles and let the French Government know in plain terms what I think of them.)

In other words Bidault now fears that he has gone too far to meet us at London and is trying to find a way to crawl out.

Sent Department 2755; repeated London 426 and Berlin 241.

Caffery
  1. Neither the notes nor the telegrams under reference here are printed, but see telegram 2214, May 21, from London, p. 266, and footnotes 2 and 3 thereto.↩