Post by Diarist on Jun 13, 2017 9:32:53 GMT 1
Yesterday's meeting was both very constructive and informative. Nothing has been decided, the meeting being used to introduce the offer to the Circassians and members of the French Defence Council. We have made arrangements to meet again while I am in the Middle East later this coming week. John Gort and I explained how important the Golan Heights are to the defence of Palestine while they contribute little if anything to the defence of Lebanon.
At breakfast we said goodbye to those returning to London (and Berlin). I had a brief conversation with PM Daladier before boarding a VIP transport Valentia for the flight to Barcelona via Lyon. He told me confidentially that France would agree to the Golan idea if London were to officially request it and that would require a positive response from the authorities in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Another mission I have to take care of. I can't complain though because it was my suggestion in the first place. After an excellent late lunch and refuelling in Lyon we started the second leg of our flight. General Franco awaited us as promised and we were greeted warmly. To my surprise retired General Rodriguez, Juan's father, was also present.
We met others from the French and German delegations at a warm buffet before proceeding to the University of Barcelona, the venue for our discussion this evening. There was considerable interest partially due to my article in several Sunday newspapers. Wilhelm Canaris and Jean Herbette, the French ambassador to Spain, spoke first about this weekend's Paris Summit. The two nations had agreed in principal to a non-aggression pact which would include the United Kingdom as the third member. I then joined the discussion emphasizing the devastation caused by the Great War. Not only will the crater landscape of the former battlefields leave its mark on Belgium and France for decades to come but a glance at the demographics of the nations involved in the conflict reveal a 'missing' male generation. This gap will have long-lasting effects on our societies. The core of our future relationship will be the commitment to a non-aggression pact between our three nations and includes respecting the current borders of Belgium, Luxembourg and The Netherlands. I emphasized that this is not a Locarno Treaty Mark II and explained the differences which I outlined in Luxembourg City last month.
We then talked about the planned extension of our treaty to neighbouring nations, including Spain, but only democracies are being considered. I stated that I prefer to say 'non-extremist' governments. That way I took a jab at the communists in Spain without referring to them directly. Wilhelm's announcement that it was the military which deposed Hitler caused quite a stir. He explained that Hitler wanted war while the military (and the people) didn't.
After three hours of discussion we had to leave in order to catch the night train to Madrid. It has been a long day and tomorrow won't be any shorter.