Nazi Conspiracy & Aggression The Germans could not possibly bombard or destroy any place
such as Danzig where there happened to be Germans living.
The discussion continued:
"Ciano asked how soon, according to the Fuehrer's view,
the Danzig question must be settled. The Fuehrer
answered that this settlement must be made one way or
another by the end of August. To the question of
Ciano's as to what solution the Fuehrer proposed,
Hitler answered that Poland must give up political
control of Danzig, but that Polish economic interests
would obviously be reserved and that Polish general
behavior must contribute to a general lessening of the
tension. He doubted whether Poland was ready to accept
this solution since, up to the present, the German
proposals had been refused. The Fuehrer had made this
proposal personally to Beck at his visit to
Obersalzberg. They were ex-
[Page 699]
tremely favorable to Poland. In return for the
political sur, render of Danzig, under a complete
guarantee of Polish interests and the establishment of
a connection between East Prussia and the Reich,
Germany would have given a frontier guarantee, a 25-
year pact of friendship and the participation of Poland
in influence over Slovakia. Beck had received the
proposal with the remark that he was willing to examine
it. The plain refusal of it came only as a result of
English intervention. The general Polish aims could be
seen clearly from the press. They wanted the whole of
East Prussia, and even proposed to advance to Berlin."
(TC-77)
The meeting was held over that night, and it continued on
the following day:
"The Fuehrer had therefore come to two definite
conclusions: (1) in the event of any further
provocation, he would immediately attack; (2) if Poland
did not clearly and plainly state her political
intention, she must be forced to do so."
*******
"As matters now stand, Germany and Italy would simply
not exist further in the world through lack of space;
not only was there no more space, but existing space
was completely blockaded by its present possessors;
they sat like misers with their heaps of gold and
deluded themselves about their riches. The Western
Democracies were dominated by the desire to rule the
world and would not regard Germany and Italy as their
class. This psychological element of contempt was
perhaps the worst thing about the whole business. It
could only be settled by a life and death struggle
which the two Axis partners could meet more easily
because their interests did not clash on any point.
"The Mediterranean was obviously the most ancient
domain for which Italy had a claim to predominance. The
Duce himself had summed up the position to him in the
words that Italy already was the dominant power in the
Mediterranean. On the other hand, the Fuehrer said that
Germany must take the old German road eastwards and
that this road was also desirable for economic reasons,
and that Italy had geographical and historical claims
to permanency in the Mediterranean. Bismarck had
recognized it and had said as much in his well-known
letter to Mazzini. The interests of Germany and Italy
went in quite different directions and there never
could be a conflict between them.
"Ribbentrop added that if the two problems mentioned in
yesterday's conversations were settled, Italy and
Germany
[Page 700]
would have their backs free for work against the West.
The Fuehrer said that Poland must be struck down so
that for 50 years she would be incapable of fighting.
In such a case, matters in the West could be settled.
"Ciano thanked the Fuehrer for his extremely clear
explanation of the situation. He had, on his side,
nothing to add and would give the Duce full details. He
asked for more definite information on one point in
order that the Duce might have all the facts before
him. The Duce might indeed have to make no decision
because the Fuehrer believed that the conflict with
Poland could be localized on the basis of long
experience. HeCianoquite saw that so far the Fuehrer
had always been right in his judgment of the position.
If, however, Mussolini had no decision to make, he had
to take certain measures of precaution, and therefore
Ciano would put the following question:
"The Fuehrer had mentioned two conditions under which
he would take Poland (1) if Poland were guilty of
serious provocation, and (2) if Poland did not make her
political position clear. The first of these conditions
depended on the decision of the Fuehrer, and German
reaction could follow it in a moment. The second
condition required certain decisions as to time. Ciano
therefore asked what was the date by which Poland must
have satisfied Germany about her political condition.
He realized that this date depended upon climatic
conditions.
"The Fuehrer answered that the decision of Poland must
be made clear at the latest by the end of August.
Since, however, the decisive part of military
operations against Poland could be carried out within a
period of 14 days and the final liquidation would need
another four weeks, it could be finished at the end of
September or the beginning of October. These could be
regarded as the dates. It followed, therefore, that the
last dates on which he could begin to take action was
the end of August.
"Finally, the Fuehrer assured Ciano that since his
youth he had favored German-Italian cooperation, and
that no other view was expressed in his books. He had
always thought that Germany and Italy were naturally
suited for collaboration, since there were no conflicts
of interest between them. He was personally fortunate
to live at a time in which, apart from himself, there
was one other statesman who would stand out great and
unique in history; that he could be this man's friend
was for him a matter of real personal satisfaction,
[Page 701]
and if the hour of common battle struck, he would
always be found on the side of the Duce." (TC-77)
The
original plaintext version
of this file is available via
ftp.
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Volume
I Chapter IX
Aggression Against Poland, Danzig, England &
; France
(Part 11 of 21)