Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1948-02-12
The Memoirs of CordelI Hull
Nuzis' Invasion Of Low Countries and France
Stirred Call for $4,000 Planes Year in U. S.

giving up the Sudentenland in
1888. From that moment on
France would live under the heel
of Germany and, as soon as Hitler
found it convenient, he would &C.
eupy all of France just as he had
occupied all of Czechoslovakia. Also.
a German victory over England
would follow in a few weeks.
Reynaud then believed that in q
matter of months German soldiers
and thousands Of planes would be in
South America, the Panama Canal
would be destroyed by air bonn
bardment, and the American Army
would be able to offer little resist
ance.
Allied Position Held Desperate.
The military situation in France
was now rapidly deteriorating. With
France apparently falling held q
series of conferences in my Office.
We came to the general conclusion
that the position of the Allied
armies was desperate, and our at
tention centered on the necessity
for preserving the British and
French fleets in being and out OF
Hitler's hands.
The President agreed that we
should make direct appeal to the
British and French governments
on the subject of their navies. We
accordingly drafted kilograms which
I sent out on May 26. In the one to
Bullitt said the President desired
him to say at once to Reynaud and
Daladier that, while we still hoped
the invasion would be checked, new
ertheless, If worse came to worst,
we considered retention OF the
French feet as being vital to the
reconstruction of France and her
colonies and to control of the oceans
and as a vital influence IN getting
less harsh peace terms.
Our message to the British govern
ment conveyed the same thought
with regard to the British fleet. On
May 20 Churchill had sent the Presi-
dent a message emphasizing the
dangers facing Britain and indicat-
ing that, if the United Kingdom
were conquered by Hitler, the sole re-
manning bargaining counter with
Germany would be the feet. The
President now took up this last
thought in his message to the Prime
Minister.
He suggested to Churchill that.
if worse came to worst, the British
feet could retire to Canada, and
assure him that the United States
would not permit Germany or any
other non-American power to seize
Canada or other British Western
Hemisphere possessions. Germany
could not win the war except as con-
cerned military operations within
Europe, so long as the British
and French fleet remained intact.
Reynaud's appeals now became
yet more frantic. Bullitt cabled us
on May % that Reynaud suggested
that the President of the French
Republic and the King Of England
address a joint appeal to President
Roosevelt. Reynaud had written
out one sentence Of the appeal when
Bullet saw him. 1t read: THE
armies fighting to preserve the lib
critics of the world have been stabbed
in the back"
Refuses to Send More Planes.
| AS Britain completed the evacu-
fation from Dunkirk, she now made
it clear to France that she would
send no more planes to the CONT
nent. The British Ambassador In
Paris explained to Bullitt that the
rate of destruction Of planes in
battle was so great that If Britain
sent over her remaining planes,
none would be left In two weeks.
Since there was no longer any hope
of saving Paris or even the French
Army, it seemed wiser to keep the
planes in England for the forth
coming Battle of Britain.
The President urged Churchill to
send planes to France, but the
Prime Minister refused. Bullitt,
outraged by this decision, commune
Gated to the President and me on
June 5 his fear that the British
might be conserving their air force
and fleet so as to use them as bar
gaining points in negotiations with
Hitler.
The President and I. however,
thought differently. We knew that
France was finished, out were con-
WINGED that Britain. under the in
domitable leadership of Churchill,
intended to fight on.
The thought of terms with Ger
many now began to dominate the
French cabinet. Dispatches from
Bullitt reflected ever more the like
iihood that a French surrender was
only a matter of days. The Ger
mans were driving toward Paris.
On June 10 the French govern
ment left the capital for Tours.
And on that day Mussolini de-
clared war on France and Britain.
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Newspaper Alliance, Inc)