Evening star., 1941-06-15
Frunco-Americun Tension

Diplomatic relations between our
Government and the Vichy regime
are deteriorating so rapidly that a
formal break is possible in the near
future unless a marked turn for the
better soon takes place. For the sec
ond time within week, Secretary
of State Cordell Hull has issued a
statement warning the men of Vichy
against their policy of "co-operation'
with Germany and going over their
heads in appeals to the French peo-
pie not to accept what Mr.. Hull terms
this preposterous status" as tools
of the Reich.
Despite the eloquence and cogency
of his statements, it is unlikely that
the Secretary expects they will cause
the Vichy clique which dominates
France to change its policy. The
French Ambassador to Washington,
CASTOR Henry-Haye, has answered in
no uncertain tone, while the Vichy
government itself has stated that it
alone is the judge of what its rela-
tions with Germany are to be. AS
for the unfortunate French people,
they are helpless beneath a double
yoke.
The situation is further Sharpened
by the fact that diplomatic rela-
tionS between Vichy and London, al
ready technically severed, are becom-
ing so acute that a state of war,
formal or informal, can be expected
any time. Since London and WASH
ington see eye to eye on Franco
German cooperation, an open breach
between London and Vichy would be
bound to have repercusSions here of
a somewhat similar nature.
Assuming that a diplomatic rup-
ture does occur, with or without
hoStilitieS, the question arises what
attitude we and the British are to
take toward the Free French" re-
gime established in several of the
French colonies by General Charles
de Gaulle. Despite the aid accorded
him by the British, and despite the
fact that his troops are fighting
alongside the British on several
fronts, London has never diplomat
lcally recognized his regime 1t is
unlikely that our Government would
take such a step ahead of London.
However, If Britain recognizes De
Gaulle as the true government of
France, Washington might conceiv-
ably follow suit, providing a definite
break with Vichy had taken place.
incidentally, it is interesting to
recall that, Notwithstanding the ira
ditional Franco-American friendship
dating from our struggle for indie
pendence and symbolized by the
memory of Lafayette, there have
been three periods of tension between
the two nations.
The first of these occurred early in
our history, when our Government
demanded the recall of the French
Minister, Genet, sent to US by the
government of revolutionary France.
The charge against him was unneu-
trail activity. This incident, which
occurred in 1893, was followed by
what amounted to an undeclared war
over French depredations against
our merchant ships. Several naval
actions took place between American
and French warships or privateers,
but formal war was averted.
The second diplomatic tension was
somewhat of a tempest in a teapot.
In 1885 President Andrew Jackson,
with characteristic vigor, made re-
marks about French neglect in max
ing payments on damage claims due
us. This SO offended the French gov
ernment of the time that it recalled
It's Minister and handed ours his
passports. But the matter soon blew
over.
During our Civil War the Emperor
Napoleon III intervened in Mexico
with large army and established a
puppet empire" headed by the Habs-
burg Archduke Maximilian. AS soon
as our internal troubles were settled,
Washington dealt energetically with
this f1agrant breach of the Monroe
Doctrine. The matter never reached
the stage of a Franco-American dip
lomatic crisis, because Napoleon saw
the handwriting on the wall and re-
called his troops from Mexico, leaving
the unhappy Maximilian to his fate.