500.A15A5/595
The Ambassador in Germany (Dodd) to the Secretary of State
[Received December 23.]
Sir: I have the honor to report that the London Naval Conference is being followed with great interest in Germany and extensively commented on in the press here.
As may be seen from the attached translation of excerpts from the Berliner Tageblatt of December 8 (enclosure No. 14), the situation is regarded as vastly more complicated than in 1930. The English naval movements in the Mediterranean had demonstrated the importance of naval armaments, Franco-Italian agreement had made England’s position more difficult, Japan had become strong enough to insist on parity and, like Italy, was only restrained by financial stringency.
Further press comment, reproduced in translation in enclosure No. 2,5 indicates that, as elsewhere, one is not optimistic in Germany as to the outcome of the Conference.
In this connection, the Anglo-German Naval Agreement6 is complacently referred to as “the most valuable basis” for London, and as a “victory for European peace”. One journal points out that Germany would be willing to agree to a complete abolition of submarines, and another expects the question of the German naval construction program to be raised at London.
[Page 161]At the Foreign Political Office of the Nazi Party Germany’s total disinterestedness in the Naval Conference at the present juncture was stressed. As one of the officials there told a member of my staff “In the line of duty we contact many foreigners. All are anxious to hear what Germany is going to do, and do not appear satisfied with the truth, which is that we have no occasion to abandon our attitude of reserve”. The Anglo-German Naval Agreement, he continued, had fixed as the upper limit of German naval armament 35 per cent of the British Empire’s navy, which was entirely sufficient for Germany’s needs, especially since the percentage was considerably higher when taking England’s European fleet as a basis of comparison. The question as to when Germany’s building program would attain this maximum was one of money. Not only was Germany not participating in the Conference but she would not even send an official observer though technical naval advisers might be sent to London to assist the German Ambassador in current reporting.
Respectfully yours,