740.0011 European War 1939/11895
The British Ambassador (Halifax) to the Secretary of State 81
Substance of a Telegram Received From the Foreign Office on May 23
It is learnt from a highly secret but reliable source that the recent agreement concluded as a result of the conversations between Hitler and Darlan was not confined to political matters only, but covered the question of military cooperation between France and Germany. This cooperation included not only arrangements for the transit of troops and arms through Syria but also the offer of naval and air bases in French North African colonies as well as in the rest of the French Empire. It also included arrangements for the use by the French of French merchant shipping for the maintenance of traffic with the French colonies.
Another highly secret report indicates that the Germans have advanced their aims in the form of economic cooperation for which the agreement of Marshal Petain is more readily obtainable. It will be found that in this way France has assented to incorporate African colonies and Syria in the “new order”. The Germans are said to calculate that this cooperation by the French will provoke reactions from the British side and that as a result France will be drawn into the war.
Information from a less reliable quarter suggests that the Franco-German agreement contains provisions for the cession of Atlantic bases.
- Transmitted with covering letter dated May 24, 1941.↩