VIEWS UNDEFINED

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 25 October 1940, Page 5

VIEWS UNDEFINED

FRANCE AND SPAIN DISSENSIONS IN VICHY GOVERNMENT REPORTED REJECTION OF NAZI TERMS LONDON, 24th October. Following his conferences with the French Vice-Premier, M. Laval, Herr Hitler yesterday talked with the Spanish dictator, General Franco, in a railway carriage on the Franco-Spanish border. They had two meetings in the afternoon and a final one at night. With Hitler was his Foreign Minister. Ilerr von Ribbentrop. Franco’s Foreign Minister, Senor Suner, w-as also present. From the fog surrounding Hitler’s conversations with Laval and Franco, one point, according to the London “Daily Telegraph,” stands clear —the talks fit the framework of a big German move to bring peace to France and war to Spain. Only bald announcements of arrivals, meetings and departures emerge, providing correspondents with food for lively speculation.

Other reports insist that what Germany hopes to get from Vichy is more or less active assistance against Britain. and that she is making another effort to get Spain to declare war. From Rome it is reported that deeds will follow these meetings, and the Press there declares that Spain has decided to make an effort to regain her power in the Mediterranean.

There is no reliable information from Spam that the Madrid Government has decided to throw in its lot with the Axis, and reports from Vichy do not indicate that Germany will bring France into the war against Britain. Hitler is now reported to be on his way home after his tour through France. He was accompanied by a large staff, including the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, General von Keitel, and the Army Commander, General von Brauschitsch.

The fact that Laval had reported to Marshal Petain on his meeting with Hitler was announced in a communique issued in Vichy yesterday afternoon. It is said that Laval has now returned to Paris.

According to Italian sources, Hitler sounded Laval on a plan for temporary resettlement between the Axis Powers

and France, so that their forces could collaborate in the prosecution of the

It is now stated in some quarters that when he went to Paris Laval carried with him the Vichy Government’s rejection of certain terms offered to it by Germany. These included a suggestion that the French navy should be used against Britain, that Nice and Tunis should be divided between France and Italy, and Morocco between France and Spain, and that Algeria should remain French. The rest of French Africa would be exploited between France, Germany, and Italy. INTRIGUES OF LAVAL The report of the rejection of the terms by Petain supports the belief that the Vichy Government will not endorse Laval’s intrigues.

It was stated in an official German news agency that Laval would' report to Petain as soon as he got back to Vichy from his meeting with Herr Hitler. The same source pointed out that no German statement had been issued to explain the extent of the discussions between Hitler and Laval.

The obvious importance of the meeting was shown in a report which came from Switzerland yesterday afternoon. It said that neutral observers had come to the conclusion that the fate of France depended on the outcome of a struggle now going on inside the Vichy Governntent. The nature of that struggle has already been reflected in some of the reports which have been published. These suggest that the Germans are pressing for a final settlement with France. A Swiss newspaper suggests to-day that the terms would make France give up AlsaceLorraine to Germany, and Nice and Tunis to Italy. For the rest, it is suggested that the French Empire would be divided up between the Axis Powers and their satellites. The Axis would also need the French fleet and air force for use against Great Britain. It is presumably on the question of the use of French arms against Britain that the struggle inside the Vichy Government turns. Some messages say that Petain and General Weygand would refuse any settlement including such an agreement. Laval and some of his colleagues presumably have no qualms even about this qxcept that they doubt how many Frenchmen would consent to serve. Official spokesmen at Vichy continue to assert that there is no question of France taking military action against Great Britain, and M. Baudouin, the Vichy Foreign Minister, made a flat statement to that effect to-day, in spite of the fact that last night he declared that the main aim of the men at Vichy was complete loyalty to her conquerors.