Roosevelt and Hopkins, an intimate history by Sherwood Robert E. (Robert Emmet) 1896-1955

Author:Sherwood, Robert E. (Robert Emmet), 1896-1955
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945, Hopkins, Harry L. (Harry Lloyd), 1890-1946, World War, 1939-1945
Publisher: New York, Harper
Published: 1948-03-13T16:00:00+00:00

that Germany has already used the seizure of those islands by de Gaulle as an argument for the entry of Axis troops into Africa in order that it may be protected against a similar invasion."

This is just the beginning of ominous and serious developments which, in my opinion, will occur. Our British friends seem to believe that the body of the entire people of France is strongly behind de Gaulle, whereas according to all of my information and that of my associates, some 95 per cent of the entire French people are anti-Hitler whereas more than 95 per cent of this latter number are not de Gaullists and would not follow him. This fact leads straight to our plans about North Africa and our omission of de Gaulle's cooperation in that connection. The developments revolving around the Vichy-North African situation and those revolving around the South American and Rio Conference situation are calculated to be very materially affected to our disadvantage if the fact goes out to the world that the British Government was really behind this movement and we abandon our own policies without serious protest, et cetera, et cetera. This may also seriously affect the question of the French naval units in Martinique by giving Robert a chance to pronounce our agreement null and void.

While, of course, I do not know yet just how agreeable the French [Vichy Government] will be in working this matter out in an amicable manner, provided Churchill would be disposed to talk with you, or rather to let you talk with him, about the necessity from our standpoint to work out the matter and announce to the general public that nobody is censurable and that the matter came up on account of confusions and misunderstanding as to the complications in this Hemisphere with respect to such action.

(signed) C.H.

The construction of that last paragraph, which Langer omitted, is a little difficult to follow, but the slur on both Churchill and Roosevelt is all too clear. The preceding statement that more than 95 per cent "are not de Gaullists and would not follov/ him" hardly agreed with the results achieved in the St. Pierre plebiscite. The people of St. Pierre, and of all other French regions when given a chance to express themselves in a free election, voted not necessarily for de Gaulle: they voted for freedom and against Vichy. The records proved there had long been public demands in St. Pierre and Miquelon that a plebiscite be held but it had been persistently barred by the Vichy Administrator because, he admitted, he knew it would result in an overwhelming vote in favor of the Free French. It was patently foolish to attempt to estimate what percentage of the French people were for or against de Gaulle at that time or any other time before liberation. Certainly, in 1941, there were large numbers of people in metropolitan France who knew little or nothing about de Gaulle as an individual, but they approved any force that

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