Chapter 25 Volume 1, Chapter 21, on the brink of war

Threat to Danzig General Gamelin invites me to visit the Rhine front with General Georges for some impressions France takes the defensive State of atomic energy research My letter on air defense New efforts to reach an agreement with the USSR Poland's obstruction of military negotiations in Moscow Stalin's statement to me in 1942 Fraud record Ribbentrop invited to Moscow Soviet-German non-aggression pact sensational news Hitler's military orders Honesty is the best policy British precautions Prime Minister's letter to Hitler Pride The reply to Hitler's postponement of the date of the offensive Hitler's letter to Mussolini's reply to the Italian leader's last days.

As the summer passed, all Europe was constantly preparing for war, and the attitude of diplomats, the speeches of statesmen, and the will of mankind were less and less valued.Germany's military mobilization seems to indicate that it will use force to resolve its dispute with Poland on the Danzig issue as the first step in its invasion of Poland.On June 10, Mr. Chamberlain expressed in Parliament that he was anxious about the situation, and repeatedly stated that if Poland's independence was threatened, Britain would definitely provide assistance.The Belgian Government, largely under the influence of the King, announced with detachment on June 23 their opposition to a General Staff Conference with Britain and France, and that Belgium was determined to maintain strict neutrality.

The development trend of the situation has brought the British and French armies and the two countries closer together. Throughout July, there are frequent commutes between Paris and London.The French Bastille Day on July 14 is a great opportunity to show the unity of Britain and France.I was invited by the French government to participate in this grand ceremony. As I was leaving Le Bourget after the march, General Gamelin suggested that I should visit the French front.He said: You have never seen the Rhine fan theater, please come again in August, we will let you see everything.So, we drew up a plan.On August 15th General Spears and I were welcomed by his close friend General George.General Georges was Commander-in-Chief of the Army on the Northeast Front in France and the likely successor to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief.It was a pleasure to meet this affable and extremely capable officer.We have been together for ten days, discussing military issues with each other.I was in constant contact with Gamelin, who was at the same time inspecting several other places on this part of the front.

From the corner of the Rhine near Lauterberg we traversed the entire defense zone to the Swiss frontier.In England, as in 1914, carefree people are enjoying their holidays, playing on the beach with their children.But here, along the Rhine, it was a different story.All the temporary bridges were moved to one side or the other of the river.Permanent bridges are heavily guarded and mined.Loyal and reliable officers are stationed day and night, and as soon as there is a signal, they can press the button to blow up the bridge.This huge river, due to the melting of the snow in the Alps, the river is high and rushing forward.

French outpost squadrons crouch in sentry pits in the jungle.They told us we could walk to the river in twos and threes, but not in groups so as not to expose our targets.About three hundred yards away on the other side of the river, the Germans could be seen leisurely building fortifications with picks and mills in the jungle.Residents in all the riverside residential areas in Strasbourg have all retreated long ago.I stood on the bridge for a while and saw a car or two go by.At both ends of the bridge, passports were checked in detail and identities were cross-examined on both sides.Here, the German post is about a hundred meters away from the French post.There is no communication between them.However, Europe was still calm at that time, and there were no disputes between Germany and France.The Rhine is constantly flowing at a speed of six or seven miles per hour, with waves and waves.One or two small pleasure boats with children skimmed across the water.After this time, it was more than five years before I saw the Rhine again.In March 1945 Field Marshal Montgomery and I crossed the Rhine in a small boat, but that was far to the north near Wesel.

On my return I sent the notes I had collected to the Secretary of War, and perhaps to other ministers with whom I had dealings.I wrote: It was impossible to surprise the French front.No matter at any point, it is impossible to break through, unless you pay a great price of life and spend a lot of time, and the whole situation will change during the battle.The same is true, though to a lesser extent, on the German side. But the two wings of this line of defense are based on two small neutral countries.The attitude of Belgium is generally considered to be very unsatisfactory.Now there is no military relationship between France and Belgium.

At the other end of the line, which I could see in detail, France was making every effort to prepare for an invasion via Switzerland.If Germany took such a military action, it would advance along the Aare and move a part of its force into or towards the Belfort Gap to protect the right flank of the main attacking force.Personally, I do not think that at the beginning of the war Germany would have made any serious attempts on the French front, or on the two small states on its flanks. Germany did not have to mobilize its troops before attacking Poland.Their existing army organized according to the wartime is sufficient for fighting on the Eastern Front.Even if the mobilization started at the same time as the onslaught on Poland, there would still be plenty of time to reinforce the Siegfried Line.So, if Germany's mobilization was considered to be a warning sign, it would not have come before the outbreak of war.On the other hand, France is now in such a period of extreme tension that it seems necessary to take extraordinary measures.

So far it has been generally believed that Hitler should have waited until the snow fell in the Alps, allowing Mussolini to take advantage of winter cover.In the fortnight of early September, or even earlier, these conditions will be met.A muddy period in late October or early November would have hindered a German offensive, but Hitler would still have had plenty of time to deal a heavy blow to Poland before that period came.So the first half of September seems to be the most critical period.The demonstrations and propaganda that Germany is preparing to carry out in Nuremberg now seem to be consistent with the above conclusions.

What I have seen on this visit, I think most remarkable, is that most of my French hosts, who were of great responsibility, agreed upon the need to be on the defensive, and instilled in me irrefutable arguments.Talking to these very capable French officers one could not help feeling that they considered Germany superior to them and that France no longer had the vigor to launch a major offensive.France will fight for its own survival and that's all!Opposite is the strong Siegfried Line, equipped with new weapons with increased firepower.I remembered that the offensives at Somme and Parsendale were still lingering from the last war.Germany is of course much stronger now than it was at the time of the Munich incident.Nor do we know the deep anxiety felt by the German High Command at the time.We have come so far, materially and psychologically, that no responsible person (so far I am in the field, not responsible) dares to act on realistic surmises.This speculation is that Germany has only forty-two divisions that are not fully equipped and trained on the long defense line from the North Sea to Switzerland.During the Munich period, Germany had only thirteen divisions on this line of defense.

My greatest fear during these last weeks was that the British Government might, in spite of our assurances, shrink back from war against Germany when Germany attacked Poland.At this time, Mr. Chamberlain undoubtedly changed his course resolutely, although it was a very painful thing for him.But my understanding of him at that time was not as deep as it was a year later.I was afraid that Hitler might try to frighten or confuse our overburdened cabinet with another blustering threat of some new operation or some secret weapon.Professor Lindemann used to talk to me about atomic energy from time to time.I then asked him to tell me what was going on in this regard.After talking with him, I wrote the following letter to Kingsley Wood.As mentioned before, I have a fairly close relationship with Wood.

Mr Churchill to the Air Secretary: August 5, 1939 A few weeks ago there was an article in one of the Sunday papers concerning the recent discovery that a special kind of atom, called uranium, undergoes a chain reaction when it is shattered by neutrons, releasing enormous amounts of energy.At first glance, this might herald the invention of a new and devastatingly powerful explosive.In this matter it is important to realize that, however much such discoveries attract scientific attention, and may in the future eventually acquire practical importance, they will never lead to a scientific study that can be done in a few years. Dangers of large-scale use in combat. According to all indications, when the international situation is very tense, someone will deliberately spread rumors that by this method, a terrible new secret explosive weapon can be produced, and the whole of London will be leveled in one fell swoop.The fifth column will of course also try to lure us into another submission with this threat, so we must tell the truth. In the first place, the most authoritative scholars hold that in uranium only a very small fraction is capable of being effective in this action.If you want to get large-scale effects, you have to extract this ingredient first.It will take several years to succeed; second, the chain reaction can only happen if a large amount of uranium is concentrated together.And once the energy is released, before it really produces a violent effect, it will cause an explosion after a slight trigger. 【１】 [1] This difficulty was of course finally overcome, but only after several years of research and with the utmost precision. It may be as potent as all our present explosives, but not far more dangerous; and thirdly, these experiments could not have been carried out on a small scale.If they have successfully conducted large-scale experiments (that is, with results that really threaten us, and not bluster), then it is unlikely to be kept secret; In the territory of China, there is only a small amount of uranium. It was felt that this new discovery might terrorize the Nazis with some heinous, secret new explosive capable of destroying their enemies.From all the above reasons, this is obviously baseless.There will definitely be all kinds of ominous gossip and frightening rumors in the future.I hope no one will listen to this. It is a strange thing that my prediction should be so correct.In atomic energy, it was not the Germans who found their way.They were actually on the wrong track, and the Germans were abandoning atomic bomb research to work on rockets or unmanned aircraft just as President Roosevelt and I decided and got a memorable agreement to engage in mass production of the atomic bomb.Regarding our agreement, we will discuss it later at an appropriate place. My last submission to the Air Defense Research Committee also stated: August 10, 1939 Britain's main defense against air raids was a transit tax imposed on the raiders.If one-fifth of the enemy aircraft can be shot down in each air attack, the air attack can be stopped.We can imagine that the initial attack must be large-scale, and the air strikes will be carried out in batches across the sea within several hours.But the result of the first air strike does not determine the outcome of the air battle.Air raids on Britain were no child's play. The large number of casualties will force the enemy to carefully consider its gains and losses.When day air raids soon proved too costly, we were limited to blind night raids on built-up areas. Mussolini said to the British ambassador on July 7: Tell Chamberlain that if Britain is ready to fight to defend Poland, Italy must fight alongside our ally Germany.But behind the scenes, his attitude is exactly the opposite.What he seeks at this time is nothing more than to consolidate his interests in the Mediterranean and North Africa, to harvest the fruits of his intervention in Spain, and to digest what he has captured in Albania. He did not want to be involved in a European war because Germany wanted to conquer Poland.For all his public boasting, he knew better than anyone else the military and political fragility of Italy.In 1942 he would have advocated war if Germany supplied him with arms, but not in 1939! During the summer, when the pressure on Poland intensified, Mussolini again wanted to be the peacemaker he had been in the days of Munich.He suggested a world peace conference, but Hitler dismissed the idea perfunctorily.On August 11, Ciano met Ribbentrop in Salzburg.Ciano's diary reads: The leader very much wishes me to make it clear on written evidence that it is unwise to start a war at this time. It is impossible to limit the war to Poland, and a general war would hurt every country.Never before had the leader wished for peace so unreservedly and so passionately that Ribbentrop was so evasive.When I asked him for details about German policy, he was evasive.He had lied so much about Germany's plans for Poland that now he was a little embarrassed about what he had to tell me, and what they actually planned to do.Germany's determination to fight was irrevocable.Even if they gain more than they ask for, they will still attack.For the devil of destruction has fascinated them Sometimes our conversations are extremely tense.I did not hesitate to speak my opinion frankly, but he was unmoved.Slowly, I realized how small we are in the eyes of the Germans. 【１】 [1] "Ciano's Diary", p. 123. The next day, Ciano went to see Hitler.We now have the record of this meeting from the German side.Hitler made it clear that he wanted a complete settlement with Poland.He said that he would not hesitate to be forced to fight Britain and France, and he wanted Italy to join in.He said: If Britain is to maintain the necessary strength at home, it can send no more than two infantry divisions and one armored division to France.In addition, several squadrons of bombers could be provided, but never fighters.Since Germany's air force would immediately attack Britain, Britain needed fighter jets to defend its homeland.Concerning France, he said that after the destruction of Poland it would not take long for Germany to concentrate a few hundred divisions at the Western Wall, and then France would have to concentrate all her forces in the colonies and on the Italian frontier and elsewhere in the Maginot Line of defense to fight to the death.In his reply, Ciano expressed surprise at the gravity of what he heard.He complained that there had never been anything before from the German side to let them know that the Polish dispute had reached such a serious and urgent point.On the contrary, Ribbentrop said, the Danzig problem could be left for the future.The Italian leader, though convinced that conflict with the West was inevitable, believed that there should be two or three years to plan for it. After this meeting, Ciano returned to Italy with a heavy heart to report to his master.He found that Mussolini had now become more convinced that democracies would fight a war, and therefore wished to keep himself out of the struggle. The British and French governments made renewed efforts to reach an agreement with the Soviet Union. Britain decided to send a special envoy to Moscow.Mr. Eden, who had had successful contacts with Stalin some years earlier, invited himself to go, but this generous proposal was not accepted by the Prime Minister.On the twelfth of June he assigned Mr. Strong to this most important task.Mr Strong, though an able official, has no special status outside the Foreign Office.This was another mistake, and it would be insulting and disrespectful to send such a minor character.It is also questionable whether he will be able to pass through the periphery of the Soviet establishment.In any case, it is too late now.A lot has happened since Maisky was sent to see me at Chartwell in August 1938.The events in Munich have already happened.The development of Hitler's army took another year.His arsenal was supplemented by the Skoda factory, both working day and night.The Soviet government was very concerned about Czechoslovakia, but Czechoslovakia was finished.Benes is in exile.A German viceroy reigned in Prague. From the Russian point of view, Poland, on the other hand, was an entirely different set of age-old political and strategic problems.The last major conflict between the two countries was the Battle of Warsaw in 1920.At that time, the Bolshevik army led by Kamenev invaded Poland. Piłsudski received advice from the French General Weygand and the British delegation led by Lord Dabnonon to repel the Red Army, and then pursued it with bloody retribution. massacre.In the years since, Poland has been an outpost of anti-Bolshevism.With its left hand it united and supported the anti-Soviet Baltic states, and with its right hand it took part in the plunder of Czechoslovakia during the Munich period.The Soviet government knew that Poland hated them and knew that Poland was powerless against a German attack.But they are also well aware of their own dangers, and of the time they need to rectify the damage within their High Command.Under the circumstances, the prospects for Mr. Strong's mission are not rosy. Negotiations have always revolved around the unwillingness of Poland and the Baltic states to let the Soviet Union rescue them from Germany; on this point, negotiations have never progressed.The June 13 editorial in Pravda showed that the effective neutrality of Finland, Estonia, and Latvia was crucial to the security of the Soviet Union.The editorial also said that the security of such countries is extremely important to both Britain and France.This is admitted even by a politician like Mr. Churchill.This question was brought up for discussion in Moscow on June 15.The next day, Russian newspapers announced that the Soviet Foreign Ministry believed that the outcome of the initial talks had not been entirely smooth.Throughout July, talks and judgments took place on and off.Finally, the Soviet government proposed to continue negotiations with representatives of France and Britain from a military point of view.The British government then sent a delegation under Admiral Drax to Moscow on 10 August.The officers did not have written authorization to negotiate.The French representative was headed by General Dumontck.On the Russian side, it was presided over by Marshal Voroshilov.We now know that the Soviet government also agreed that Germany would send a negotiator to Moscow.The military talks between Britain, France and the Soviet Union soon failed because Poland and Romania refused to allow Russian troops to cross the border.The attitude of the Poles is that the Germans are coming and we are in danger of losing our liberty, and the Russians are coming and we are in danger of losing our souls. 【１】 [1] Raynaud, op. cit., Vol. I, p. 587. Then, in August 1942, one morning in the Kremlin, Stalin told me something about the situation in the Soviet Union at that time.Stalin said: Our impression at the time was that if Poland was invaded, the British and French governments did not make up their minds to go to war. They only hoped that Britain, France and Russia would unite diplomatically, thinking that this would stop Hitler.We're sure it can't be stopped.At that time, Stalin asked: How many divisions can France send to fight against Germany when it mobilizes?The answer is: about a hundred divisions.So he asked: How much can the UK send?The answer is: two divisions, and two more divisions can be sent in the future.Stalin repeated: Ah, two divisions, two more divisions can be sent in the future.He asked: Do you know that if we fight against Germany, how many divisions will we send on the Russian front?There was a pause.More than three hundred divisions.He didn't tell me who he was talking to or when.We must admit that there is a lot of truth in these words.But this is quite unfavorable to our Mr. Strong in the Foreign Office. In order to facilitate bargaining, Stalin and Molotov believed that the real intention must be concealed until the last moment.When Molotov and his subordinates came into contact with Britain and Germany, they showed their amazing ability to deal with both sides.Until August 4th, the German ambassador Schulenburg's telegram from Moscow could only say this: Judging from Molotov's overall attitude, it is clear that the Soviet government is actually more inclined to improve German-Soviet relations, but they had previously Mistrust of Germany remains entrenched.My general impression is that the Soviet government is now determined to make a treaty with Britain and France if they can meet their demands.Of course, negotiations may have to drag on for a long time, especially because they distrust Britain very much.On our side, considerable efforts will have to be made if the Soviet government is to be reversed. 【1】In fact, he need not worry, the overall situation has been settled. [1] "Nazi｜Soviet Relations", page 41. On the night of August 19, Stalin announced to the Politburo that he was ready to sign a treaty with Germany.On August 22, the Allied delegation did not find Marshal Voroshilov until evening.He told the head of the French delegation: The issue of military cooperation with France has been pending for many years.Last year, when Czechoslovakia was wiped out, we waited for news from France, but there was no news.Our armies are ready The French and British governments are procrastinating, and for too long, on political and military negotiations.That being the case, the possibility of some kind of political event cannot be ruled out.Ribbentrop arrived in Moscow the next day. [1] We now know all too well from the Nuremberg Papers and the recently published seized documents of the United States of this one transaction which should never be forgotten.According to Gauss, his main assistant who flew to Moscow with Ribbentrop, on the afternoon of August 23, Ribbentrop and Stalin held their first meeting. The German foreign minister returned after a long meeting. , appearing extremely satisfied that later in the day, the text of the Soviet-German non-aggression pact was quickly reached without difficulty.Gauss said: Ribbentrop himself inserted in the preface a sentence of great importance concerning the formation of friendly relations between Germany and the Soviet Union.Stalin objected to this.He said that the Soviet government could not suddenly bring a declaration of friendship to the masses after being dumped by the Nazi government for six years.Therefore, this sentence in the preface has been deleted.In a secret agreement, Germany declared that it had no political interest in Latvia, Estonia, or Finland, but believed that Lithuania should be within its sphere of influence.The dividing lines for the partition of Poland have been drawn.For the Baltic states, Germany only asks for economic interests.This non-aggression pact and secret agreement was not signed until late at night on August 23rd. 【２】 [1] Raynaud, op. cit., Vol. I, p. 588. [2] "Nuremberg Documents", Book Ten, Pages 210 and following. In this chapter and the previous one I recorded everything calmly.Nevertheless, I will say that only the totalitarians of both countries can cope with the reproach and revulsion aroused by such unreasonable behavior.We do not know which, Hitler or Stalin, hated the treaty the most.Both sides know this is only a temporary stopgap measure.Between the two empires and the two systems there was a bloody enmity.Stalin undoubtedly knew that after a year of Hitler's war with the West, Germany was no longer a serious enemy of Russia. The method adopted by Hitler is to break through each.The fact that an agreement of this kind could be established marks the ultimate failure of British and French foreign policy and diplomacy for several years. On the Soviet side we must say that their greatest need was to position the German troops as far west as possible.This would give Russia time to concentrate troops from all parts of her vast empire.They will never forget the unfortunate state of affairs of the Russian army in 1914.At that time they attacked the German army with only partial mobilization.Their borders are now much easterly than they were during the last war.Therefore, before they can be attacked, by any means, whether by force or deceit, they must first occupy the Baltic states and a large part of Poland.Their policy was ruthless as it was, but it was extremely relevant at the time. This unfortunate news exploded like a bomb all over the world.The Soviet Union's TASS news agency said that from August 21st to 22nd, Ribbentrop was flying to Moscow to sign a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union.Whatever the emotions felt by the British Government at the time, there was no element of fear in them.They immediately declared that this incident in no way affected the duties they were determined to perform.There is no longer any way to prevent or delay the outbreak of the Great War. We still need to record the conditions of the treaty: The Contracting States agree not to engage in any act of violence, any act of aggression and any attack against each other, either alone or jointly with other States. The validity period of this treaty is ten years, and if no party proposes to abolish it one year before the expiration, it will be automatically extended for five years.Around the conference table, cheers and celebrations, toasts.Stalin also offered to propose a toast to the German head of state, saying: I know how much the German people love their head of state, and I would like to drink to his health.From these facts we can draw a very mundane and simple lesson: honesty is the best policy.There are several more examples of the same in this book.Treacherous people and politicians, despite their best efforts, always hurt themselves.This is an obvious example.Twenty-two months later, Stalin and Russia had to pay a terrible price for this in thousands of lives.A government with no moral scruples always seems to take advantage and do as it pleases, but at the end of the day, all counts, and at the end of all time, all counts. Hitler knew from secret negotiations that the treaty negotiated with Russia would be signed on August 22, so he wrote to his commander-in-chief even before Ribbentrop returned from Moscow or before the treaty was publicly announced. sent the following letter: We must decide at the outset that war with the West and conflict with Poland will come sooner or later. I have already decided this in the spring, but I think I should fight the West first and then turn to the East. We need not be afraid of blockades.The East will give us food, livestock, coal, and I'm afraid at the last moment some scumbag will suggest that mediation is a step further in political ends.The work of destroying British hegemony has begun.After I have completed the political assignment, the military will begin the same task. As soon as news of the German-Soviet Pact was announced, the British government took immediate precautions. Various orders were issued to gather defense forces and air defense forces at important points on the coast to stand by and defend vulnerable positions.The government sent telegrams to the Dominions and Colonies, warning them that they might soon be on alert.The Minister of Seals was ordered to change all local institutions to wartime establishments.On August 23, the Admiralty received authorization from the cabinet to requisition twenty-five merchant ships and convert them into armed merchant cruisers, and another thirty-five fishing trawlers to be equipped with submarine detectors.A reserve of 6,000 men was called up for overseas garrisons.The air defense deployment of the radar stations and the full deployment of the air defense force have been approved.Twenty-four thousand Air Force Reserves and all Air Auxiliaries, including the Balloon Squadrons, were called up for service.All military service personnel are not allowed to take leave.The Admiralty also issued warnings to merchant shipping, among many other steps. The Prime Minister decided to inform Hitler of these British preparations.This letter is not recorded in Mr Fayling's biography, but has been published elsewhere.In justice to Mr. Chamberlain, this should of course be made known: Your Excellency may already be aware of some of the measures taken by the British Government, which have been published tonight in the papers and on the radio. The British government believes that these steps are necessary because of the reported military movements from the German side.At the same time, after the publication of the German-Soviet Pact, it became apparent to some in Berlin that Britain would not intervene on Poland's behalf, and that such an eventual possibility was no longer a possibility.This is really the biggest mistake.Whatever the nature of the German-Soviet agreement, in no way changed Britain's treaty obligations to Poland.This is what the British government has repeatedly stated publicly, and it is what they are determined to fulfill. It has been said that if His Majesty's Government had stated its position more clearly in 1914, that catastrophe might have been avoided.Whether or not such claims hold water, this time His Majesty's Government is determined not to allow this tragic misunderstanding.They are determined and ready, if necessary, to employ all their forces at once; and once hostilities have begun, their results cannot be predicted.It is an extremely dangerous illusion to think that once a war begins it will end quickly, even if some victories can be achieved on one side of the war on all fronts. At this juncture, I confess that I really cannot think of any way to avert the catastrophe that has plunged Europe into the scourge of war.In view of the serious consequences for mankind which the actions of rulers may have, I hope that your Excellency will give the most careful consideration to the things I have above suggested. 【１】 [1] "Nuremberg Papers", Part II, 157th | 158th page. In his reply, Hitler, after detailing that Germany was prepared to solve the Danzig and Zoukou problems with unparalleled generosity, followed up with the following outrageous lie: Britain offered Poland an unconditional guarantee that it would assist Poland in any event, whatever the cause of the conflict that might arise.This guarantee can only be construed as an encouragement to that country, under the cover of this charter, to inflict astonishing acts of terror against the 1,500,000 Germanic inhabitants of Poland. 【１】 [1] Ibid., Part II, page 158. On August 25, the British government published a formal treaty with Poland confirming the assurances previously given.This step was taken in the hope that it would give Germany and Poland the best chance for direct negotiations, as the treaty stated that if a direct negotiated settlement failed, Britain would side with Poland.Goering said at the Nuremberg Trials after the war: The day Britain formally offered its assurances to Poland, the Führer called me to say that he had stopped the planned attack on Poland.I then asked him if this was a temporary or permanent stop.He said: No, I'm going to see if we can rule out British intervention. [1] In fact Hitler postponed the date of the offensive from August 25 to September 1 and, as Chamberlain wished, entered into direct negotiations with Poland.But his object was not to conclude an agreement with Poland, but to give His Majesty's Government every opportunity to evade the guarantee.As for the thinking of the British government, like Parliament and the whole country, it is not like that at all.The character of the British islanders is a bit weird. They hate military training. There has never been an enemy invasion in the past thousand years, but when the danger is approaching and expanding, they become more and more calm. When the danger developed to a critical moment, they were fearless.These habits have enabled them to survive many crises. [1] Ibid., page 166. At this time, Hitler wrote a letter to Mussolini.This letter was recently published in Italy: leader: For some time now Germany and Russia have considered the possibility of putting their political relations on a new basis.More recently, the need for concrete results in this regard has increased for a variety of reasons described below. 1. The general situation of world politics. 2. The Japanese cabinet still has not taken a clear stand.Although Japan is prepared to enter into an anti-Russian alliance, Germany (and, in my opinion, Italy as well) regards this as a secondary consideration in the light of the present situation.Japan's reluctance to undertake any definite obligations against England was a decisive issue on the part of Germany, and I think also on the part of Italy. 3. Since this spring, relations between Germany and Poland have been unsatisfactory and have become intolerable in recent weeks, not through Germany's fault but largely because of the conduct of Great Britain. These reasons prompt me to urgently Results need to be reached in the German-Russian negotiations.I haven't told you the details of this issue so far.但最近幾星期，克里姆林宮顯然改變對德關係的意向這種意向從李維諾夫去職的時候起就有了越來越明顯了，使我現在能在局勢得到初步澄清以後，派我的外交部長到莫斯科，擬訂世界上現有的性質最廣泛的互不侵犯條約，其全文不久即將公佈。這個條約是無條件的，此外還規定凡有關德俄利益的一切問題，均應互相磋商。我也可以告訴你，領袖，有了這些規定，俄國的善意態度已有確實的保證。尤其重要的是，現在如果發生衝突，就不再會有由羅馬尼亞方‧面來的任何攻擊的可能了。 【１】 【１】《希特勒與墨索里尼，書信與文件集》，第七頁。 墨索里尼收到這封信後，立即回答說： 馬肯森大使剛剛轉來你給我的信，茲敬復如下： 一‧就與俄國達成協議一事而論，我完全贊同。 二‧我覺得應避免同日本發生破裂或對它冷淡，以免它同民主國家集團日趨接近。 三‧莫斯科條約封鎖了羅馬尼亞，也可能改變土耳其的立場。土耳其接受過一筆英國借款，但它並沒有簽訂盟約。土耳其方面採取新的態度會破壞法國和英國在東地中海方面的戰略部署。 四‧關於波蘭，我完全理解德國的立場，我們深知這種緊張局勢是不能永遠繼續下去的。 五‧關於在軍事行動發生後意大利的實際態度，我的見解有如下述： 如果德國進攻波蘭，而衝突又能只限於局部時，意大利將向德國提供所需要的各種政治經濟援助。 如果德國進攻波蘭，而後者的盟國又向德國發動反攻時，我必須鄭重提出，以目前意大利軍事準備的情況來看，我不能在軍事上採取主動的行動，這一點我已屢次並且及時地向你，元首和里賓特洛甫先生提過的。 但是，如果德國能立即以軍火和原料供給我們，使我們能夠對付法國和英國可能對我們的攻擊，那麼，我們自可立即參戰。在我們前幾次會晤時，我們預料戰爭將在一九四二年後發生。到那個時候，我的陸海空軍就會按照我們約定的計劃準備好了。 【１】 【１】《希特勒與墨索里尼，書信與文件集》，第十頁。 如果希特勒以前沒有料到的話，那麼從這時起他就知道戰爭爆發時不能指望意大利進行武裝干預。墨索里尼想在最後一分鐘重演慕尼黑時的角色的任何企圖，已被置之不理了。 意大利領袖關於德國的最後行動的消息，似乎不是由德國方面而是由英國方面得來的。齊亞諾在他八月二十七日的日記中寫道：英國把德國向倫敦提出的建議全文通知我們，我們在事前一點也不知道。【１】墨索里尼現在唯一的需要是希特勒默許意大利保守中立。關於這一點，希特勒答應了他。 【１】《齊亞諾日記》，第一百三十六頁。 八月三十一日，希特勒發出了第一號作戰指令。 （1）現在東部邊界的形勢已達到使德國無法容忍的地步，要用和平方式從政治上加以解決的可能性已不存在了。我決心用武力來解決問題。 （2）對波蘭進攻應按照白色方案執行，只有一點改變，就是陸軍方面軍事部署幾乎全部完成的各方面，可以不在此限。至於任務和作戰目標的分配都維持不變。 進攻日期一九三九年九月一日。進攻時間四時四十五分（用紅鉛筆注上）。 （3）在西線，重要的是必須使開始敵對行動的責任明明白白地由英法方面來負。開始時，對於對方的不重要的越境侵犯行為，只應採取純粹局部行動來予以還擊。 【１】 【１】《紐倫堡文件》，第二編，第一百七十二頁。 我從萊茵河回來後，在巴爾桑夫人那裡過了幾天晴朗的日子。和我在一起的是一群笑容可掬但心裡卻焦慮不安的人。 我們住在納瓦爾的亨利王在伊夫里戰役前住過一夜的那個古堡裡。華萊士夫人和她的幾個兒子也和我們一起住在那裡。她的丈夫是內閣部長。她正在等他到這裡來。不久她接到他的來電，說他不能來了，至於何以不能來，以後再告訴她云云。 別的危險徵兆也不斷傳來。人們都深感不安。甚至可愛的厄爾山谷的陽光，也失去了柔和的光線。在這種不安的氣氛中，我要作畫也是一件難事。我決定在八月二十六日回國，因為在國內我至少可以知道正在進行的一切。我告訴我的妻子，我將在適當的時候通知她。我路過巴黎時，請喬治將軍同進午餐。 席間他把法德軍隊的數字全部都提出來，並按質量把這些師分為幾等加以比較。這使我有極其深刻的印象。我第一次忍不住說：那你們佔優勢啊！他回答道：德國軍隊很強，我們決不能先發制人。如果他們發動進攻，我們兩個國家將聯合起來履行自己的責任。 回到英國後，當晚我住在恰特韋爾家裡。第二天我請艾恩賽德將軍來和我待在一起。他剛從波蘭回來，他提供了有關波蘭軍隊極有利的報導。他看過一師人在炮兵實彈射擊配合下進行攻擊演習，結果略有死傷。波蘭的士氣極高。他和我一起住了三天。我們力圖估量這個不可知的局勢。就在這個時候，我砌完了我的住宅的廚房的磚牆，這座住宅在去年就開始蓋起來，準備在以後幾年我全家居住在這裡。我的妻子在接到了我的電報後，於八月三十日經敦刻爾克回國。 當時在英國的有組織的德國納粹黨員，已知的有二萬人。 按照他們在別的友好國家中所採取的行動來看，在戰爭爆發之前，他們總是首先進行破壞和暗殺。我在當時並沒有官方的保護，我也無意提出這樣的請求，但我覺得我相當受人注目，必須防備萬一。我有許多情報使我深信希特勒認為我是一個敵人。以前當過倫敦警察廳偵探的湯普森巡官現在已經退休。我請他帶著手槍來我這裡住。我也找出了我自己的武器，倒還是好好的。於是，一個人睡覺，另一個人就警戒。這樣就不會有人可以乘虛而入。在這時候，我知道如果戰爭一旦發生誰還會懷疑這個呢？一個重大的擔子，必然會落到我的身上來的。