Post by Diarist on Feb 22, 2017 23:16:44 GMT 1
We spent almost three hours in Konrad's Café & Bar. Wilhelm Canaris had joined us before we left the Cercle-Cité so we took him with us to the bakery. After we had each eaten two of these small pastries, apparently they are filled with sausage meat, we asked about a good, lively bar and Konrad's was recommended. We arrived back at the hotel just after midnight so after 6 hours of sleep I was fighting fit again. Wilhelm had been asking all kinds of questions about the confederation so hopefully he will have passed the answers on to the other members of the German delegation. We decided to walk to the conference centre because it was a nice morning and we were early. Today was different. Large numbers of journalists were outside the Cercle-Cité and I must have said 'No Comment' at least 100 times. I guess we won't be walking back to our hotel this evening.
In the conference room we cordially greeted the German delegation. A huge difference to the previous morning. Giuseppe Motta is chairing the conference alone this morning and he opened by asking if I would like to continue from where I finished yesterday evening. I accepted the offer. I explained that although I am the one who originally suggested forming a confederation Britain and France are jointly inviting Germany to join the project.
"There is no formal agreement between our two nations but we have been cooperating since April last year. A cooperation which intensified when confronted with a belligerent Italy. The confederation is a very new proposal which I first introduced to Prime Minister Daladier last Thursday. We agreed to explore this avenue and to offer it to Germany if an opportunity presented itself. Not for one moment did we imagine a Rhineland situation as early as this Monday therefore there are currently no workgroups or committees working on this proposal. In Brussels on Sunday we agreed to send a joint Anglo-Dutch-French mission to southeast Asia next week. The first cooperation since we have agreed to consider a confederation. To summarize, there are only proposals at the moment and no decisions have been made. Germany has the opportunity to explore this proposal from the very beginning. Thank you very much."
Prime Minister Daladier addressed the conference next emphasizing two pillars of the proposal which particularly appealed to him. The combination of a non-aggression pact with a mutual defence agreement. He also mentioned that all three nations are rich in history, tradition and culture. Working together we could achieve much more than working against each other. He has no doubt there would be a synergy effect.
General Ludwig Beck opened by expressing his team's surprise when they realized what was being offered. The project is not only very ambitious but it is also precisely what Europe needs to emerge from the post-war malaise. Europe needs institutions to promote peace in Europe and Germany would be honoured to contribute to this noble venture. He also mentioned that he'd spoken with his superiors in Berlin and has been instructed to accept the very generous offer.
Winston gave a speech next then General Gamelin. We were all interested in what Konrad Adenauer would say. He's literally the odd man out in the German delegation. He expressed the hope that support from Britain and France would help Germany overcome the deep wounds the Nazi regime has left behind. We are witnessing the next German Chancellor if the Wehrmacht's goal is a democratically elected government.
At 12:30 we adjourned for lunch and today we had multi-national tables. I had lunch with PM Daladier, General Beck and Wilhelm Canaris. There were unbelievable stories about the chaos in the German defence ministries. It's a wonder that anything was achieved. They envy our MoD and General Beck is amazed about the stories of TRADOC. Of course I'm not giving away any secrets, mostly recounting what Wilhelm and others have already seen.
This afternoon the main goal is to agree upon a Memorandum of Intent to take back to our capitals. More later.
In the conference room we cordially greeted the German delegation. A huge difference to the previous morning. Giuseppe Motta is chairing the conference alone this morning and he opened by asking if I would like to continue from where I finished yesterday evening. I accepted the offer. I explained that although I am the one who originally suggested forming a confederation Britain and France are jointly inviting Germany to join the project.
"There is no formal agreement between our two nations but we have been cooperating since April last year. A cooperation which intensified when confronted with a belligerent Italy. The confederation is a very new proposal which I first introduced to Prime Minister Daladier last Thursday. We agreed to explore this avenue and to offer it to Germany if an opportunity presented itself. Not for one moment did we imagine a Rhineland situation as early as this Monday therefore there are currently no workgroups or committees working on this proposal. In Brussels on Sunday we agreed to send a joint Anglo-Dutch-French mission to southeast Asia next week. The first cooperation since we have agreed to consider a confederation. To summarize, there are only proposals at the moment and no decisions have been made. Germany has the opportunity to explore this proposal from the very beginning. Thank you very much."
Prime Minister Daladier addressed the conference next emphasizing two pillars of the proposal which particularly appealed to him. The combination of a non-aggression pact with a mutual defence agreement. He also mentioned that all three nations are rich in history, tradition and culture. Working together we could achieve much more than working against each other. He has no doubt there would be a synergy effect.
General Ludwig Beck opened by expressing his team's surprise when they realized what was being offered. The project is not only very ambitious but it is also precisely what Europe needs to emerge from the post-war malaise. Europe needs institutions to promote peace in Europe and Germany would be honoured to contribute to this noble venture. He also mentioned that he'd spoken with his superiors in Berlin and has been instructed to accept the very generous offer.
Winston gave a speech next then General Gamelin. We were all interested in what Konrad Adenauer would say. He's literally the odd man out in the German delegation. He expressed the hope that support from Britain and France would help Germany overcome the deep wounds the Nazi regime has left behind. We are witnessing the next German Chancellor if the Wehrmacht's goal is a democratically elected government.
At 12:30 we adjourned for lunch and today we had multi-national tables. I had lunch with PM Daladier, General Beck and Wilhelm Canaris. There were unbelievable stories about the chaos in the German defence ministries. It's a wonder that anything was achieved. They envy our MoD and General Beck is amazed about the stories of TRADOC. Of course I'm not giving away any secrets, mostly recounting what Wilhelm and others have already seen.
This afternoon the main goal is to agree upon a Memorandum of Intent to take back to our capitals. More later.