760C.62/668: Telegram
The Ambassador in France (Bullitt) to the Secretary of State
[Received 4:20 p.m.]
1241. I talked at luncheon today with the British Ambassador and Lord De la Warr, British Minister of Education, who arrived in Paris this morning. Both said in terms which were convincing that if Germany by any maneuver whatever should attempt to take Danzig, and Poland should resist, Great Britain would declare war on Germany at once.
[Page 197]Both said that the information of the British Government from Germany indicated that Ribbentrop had convinced Hitler that England and France would not fight in support of Poland. They both believed therefore that it was essential that Great Britain and France by some act or acts should place their determination to support Poland beyond doubt at once. The British Government would give a loan to Poland for this purpose in the immediate future of approximately 15,000,000 pounds.
They also had under consideration other measures which might possibly involve the sending of certain French and British military forces to Poland.
(In this connection Leger said to me yesterday that Daladier wished to send a small fleet of French and British ships to Gdynia but that he, Leger, considered that such an act would provoke the sending of the German fleet to Danzig in overwhelming force and might precipitate immediate war.)
De la Warr also said that the British were considering sending British troops to France for maneuvers. He assured me that both Chamberlain and Halifax felt that the only chance of saving peace was to convince Germany that any attack on Poland would be followed by instant declarations of war on Germany by France and England.
The British Ambassador said that his Government continued to believe that it might be possible to use Mussolini to restrain Hitler from an attack on Poland if France would make the concession to Italy which Ciano had suggested to François-Poncet (see my telegram 1214, June 28, 9 p.m.). Indeed he could tell me confidentially that if the present Danzig crisis should be followed by a period of calm he expected to receive immediate instructions from his Government to try to persuade the French to take action in this sense. He expected, however, to find Daladier still adamant.