740.0011 European War 1939/8577: Telegram

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

[Extract]

222.…

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I told Admiral Darlan that we have information of recent arrivals of German officers and soldiers at Casablanca; that I was bringing the question up solely in view of the adverse effect that their presence in considerable numbers might have on present negotiations for the supplying of North Africa. Admiral Darlan replied that the Germans had gone there to replace the Italian Armistice Commission on the ground that, under the armistice arrangements, German control commissions are to supervise all questions pertaining to the Atlantic and the Italians, those in the Mediterranean. He said he believed the Germans’ principal reason for going there was their distrust of the Italians and their desire to ascertain the exact state of French armament. Under the armistice, he said, France had been permitted to retain an army of 120,000 men in Africa and he felt that German investigations should convince them that at present there are only some 80,000. He proposes in one of his next conferences with the Germans at Paris to ask them to withdraw their military commission now that they have ascertained the facts. He said that this recommendation was likewise in accordance with the advice of the German “civilian representatives” (presumably Auer).

[Page 226]

As to the Italians he said an Italian General had been present at the Marshal’s Montpellier meeting with General Franco at General Franco’s request and that he, Darlan, had spoken quite frankly to him as a sailor and not as Foreign Minister or Vice President of the Council. He had told him that the French “were not in the habit of stabbing people in the back” which reference “the Italian obviously did not like” and that since France had pledged her word not to reenter the war, that should be sufficient: the Italians should not therefore continue their irritating policies and suspicious attitude in North Africa.

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Leahy