Post by Diarist on Dec 27, 2015 9:50:11 GMT 1
Secretary Churchill first had a private meeting with President Roosevelt who wasted no time to criticize the Allied response - it is much too heavy-handed. There are a lot of people in Washington who are openly calling for sanctions against Britain, France and Greece. Churchill countered that we prefer to cure the illness not simply treat the symptoms and he is in Washington to address these critics and allay their concerns.
They later joined the Secretaries of State, War and Navy, senior members Congress and the senior commanders from the Army, Navy, Marines and Army Air Corps. Churchill outlined the British strategy, to send a clear, unmistakable message to would-be aggressors in Europe. If you attack a peaceful nation you are automatically on a collision course with the United Kingdom and France. We are trying to deter other nations, mainly Germany and the Soviet Union, from starting wars in Europe or spreading their ideology there. The current problem is Mussolini and we won't solve that problem by just helping Abyssinia. We have no troops in Abyssinia nor are the RAF and Royal Navy attacking targets there. In East Africa we are only attacking Eritera and Somalia because that's where the Italian bases are. Italy is the aggressor and that is not just our opinion, Italy has also been condemned by all other countries in the League of Nations.
We tried diplomacy inside and ouside of the League Council to no avail. We tried deterring Italy by sending military aid to Abyssinia, sending military advisors and by deploying more military forces to East and North Africa but Mussolini responded by increasing his armed forces in the region. There are more than one million Italian troops in East Africa alone! An enormous drain on their already weak economy and mainland Italian defences. We transferred most of our navies in the Mediterranean in the hope that the Italians would do the same, which they did. Italy is a sitting duck at the moment. They have no friends in Europe, not even Hitler, and most of their best formations are overseas cut off from the home country. A golden opportunity which we could not ignore.
Some people argued that this war would drive Mussolini into the German camp; well he was heading in that direction anyway. When this conflict is over Hitler may consider Italy more a burden than a potential ally but either way Italy will no longer be a major threat to a democratic Europe, just a nuisance. We realize however that this conflict won't deter Hitler or Stalin, just like our deterrence didn't stop Mussolini. Hitler will now probably concentrate on eastern European nations first which have Stalin on their eastern border. A second Great War in Europe inevitable and we are not going to appease Hitler, Stalin or any other aggressor in any way. They must know that they are risking a much larger conflict against Britain and France. We don't want the United States to get involved and sanctions against us would send the wrong message to Germany and the Soviet Union. Just like the League Council's decision did on Monday. He concluded by asking what American do in our position.
A long discussion followed and it was decided only to place sanctions on Italy. Britain and France however would not receive public praise from the White House.