760C.62/202
The Chargé in Germany (Gordon) to the Secretary of State
[Received May 20.]
Sir: With reference to despatch No. 2344 of April 28, 1933,2 I have the honor to report that, according to the German press, Chancellor Hitler and Foreign Minister von Neurath had two conversations with the Polish Minister to Germany, Wysocki, within the last few days. It was officially stated that in these negotiations, which had to do with “the political questions affecting Germany’s relation to Poland,” the Chancellor stressed “the firm intention of the German Government to keep its attitude and actions strictly within the scope of the existing treaties. The Chancellor expressed the wish that both countries would review and treat their mutual interests dispassionately.” No detailed information was given out as to the subjects discussed.
As indicated by press comment here, it was the German expectation that the Chancellor’s statement would convince the world of the “National Government’s” love of peace which governed its foreign policy. If this statement did not succeed in altering the aggressive attitude of the Poles and in bringing about a détente, it was argued, it would at least show the whole world that Poland bore the blame for every menace to Polish-German relations.
The moderate Frankfurter Zeitung (May 5) pointed out that a similar conversation had taken place between the Polish Foreign Minister and the German Minister to Warsaw, adding that the treaties which both parties had recognized as the basis of their foreign policy included not only the Treaty of Versailles3 and the Kellogg Pact4 but also the Locarno Pact5 and the “Eastern Agreement” (presumably [Page 449] the German–Polish Arbitration Agreement6 is meant), concluded at the same time. The latter contained no renunciation of the territory lost by Germany in the East, but a mutual solemn assurance not to seek a solution of the Eastern questions by warlike means.
Respectfully yours,
- Not printed.↩
- Foreign Relations, The Paris Peace Conference, 1919, vol. xiii.↩
- Treaty for the Renunciation of War, signed at Paris, August 27, 1928, Foreign Relations, 1928, vol. i, p. 153.↩
- Signed at Locarno, October 16, 1925, League of Nations Treaty Series, vol. liv, pp. 289–363.↩
- Arbitration Treaty between Germany and Poland, signed at Locarno, October 16, 1925, League of Nations Treaty Series, vol. liv, p. 327.↩