793.94/9755: Telegram
The Chargé in Germany (Gilbert) to the Secretary of State
[Received August 28—8:45 a.m.]
206. Supplementing from a somewhat different political angle my No. 202, August 26, 8 p.m., concerning the expressed attitude of the Foreign Office toward Japanese action in China, a colleague who is a close personal friend of von Mackensen, at present acting head of the Foreign Ministry, informs me in strict confidence that the latter expressed himself to him heatedly respecting Japanese action and policy.
Von Mackensen stated that Japan’s entanglement in China which he believed would be indefinitely protracted had practically nullified the value to Germany of the German-Japanese understanding respecting Russia which received a form of outward expression in the anti-Communist agreement.
In association with the considerations discussed in my telegram under reference, I feel that von Mackensen’s preoccupations lie at the [Page 490] core of the question and to the extent the Foreign Office may play a part in the determination of German external policy, its views should be given careful consideration in their possible effects on Germany’s role in the European situation.
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