dictators meeting

Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 226, 19 June 1940, Page 9

dictators meeting

AT MUNICH French Continue To Resist REPORTED DRASTIC TERMS Unswerving Policy Of Britain Received June 18. 1 I p.m. LONDON, June fB. While the French Government awaits the outcome of a meeting at Munich between Herr Hitler and Signor Mussolini in reply to the request for the terms of a possible truce, the new French Foreign Minister, M. Baudoum, announced that France will accept only an honourable peace, and a Berlin spokesman declared, on the other hand, that nothing less than complete and unconditional surrender was acceptable from Prance. The British Prime Minister, Mr. Churchill, will make a statement on the position today, and he may by then know the dictators’ terms to France and also the French reply to a formal British proposal made on Sunday for a complete union of the French ajid British Governments and peoples. Mr. Churchill has already announced that the British Empire will fight on, alone if necessary, with unshaken confidence in ultimate victory. No French war communique has yet been issued this morning, but the latest communique last night stated that the land battle was continuing. Fighting continued throughout yesterday, particularly in the area of Orleans on the River Loire. The Germans advanced in the east to near the Swiss frontier, and a German communique declared that the frontier had been reached, closing the ring round the Maginot Line, and the French armies were fleeing in disorder. No German progress was reported in the coastal area. The French official spokesman stated that the French Army had been divided by the invaders into four parts, and the military situation on land was untenable, though the Air Force and Navy remained powerful. REPORTED DRASTIC TERMS. (By Telegraph—Press Assn. —Copyright.) The Berlin correspondent of the Stefani (Italian) news agency says that Marshal Petain’s request was for information. It was not a surrender, and therefore the military operations will continue. France voluntarily chose her destiny when, at Britain’s orders, she took up arms against the vital interests of the German Reich, the dispatch says. A message from Rome says it is authoritatively stated that the following disposition of France is proposed:— 1. Germany is to receive Alsace-Lorraine and a generous share of the French colonial possessions. ' 2. Italy is to receive Savoy, part of Algeria, and Corsica, Jibuti and other parts of the French Empire in Africa. 3. Spain is to receive part of French Morocco and possibly part of the French Basque country. 4. Japan is to receive certain French possessions in the Far East and the Pacific, notably French Indo-China. 5. Belgium is to receive certain of the French channel ports providing that Belgium concludes a close military and political alliance with Germany.

LONDON, June 1 7. It is reported from Bordeaux that Marshal Petain announced that France made contact with Germany through Spain. A message from Madrid states that Germany has invited Spain to participate in peace negotiations. . „ So far the Germans have made no official reply to Marshal Petain’s request for a cessation of hostilities, and the French wireless late tonight stated that France would await it with patience and calmness. ' . Berlin announced that Hitler was meeting Mussolini to discuss their attitude toward Marshal Petain’s statement. The German news agency states that Mussolini and Count Ciano left Rome at 8.30 p.m. to meet Hitler. The Berlin correspondent of the Associated .Press of America states that foreign correspondents left for Paris tonight, lending colour to the belief that Hitler and Mussolini will confer at Versailles. It is stated in Berlin that Marshal Petains request is only a demand for information and not a surrender. Neutral correspondents were told in authorized quarters: “No separate armistice with France can be imagined except on terms of complete capitulation.” It was also stated that the Germans were continuing their attacks on all fronts and that the fighting would continue till after Hitler and Mussolini had met in conference. A German military commentator said: ‘ Marshal F etain s offer to Germany should not mean the conclusion of an armistice. The situation will be clarified in a few days. Meanwhile the pursuit of the French army is continuing.”