Spain : memorandum of interviews / Walter Citrine... Lord Cranborne ; Lord Plymouth
1937-10-11 016b-0044-002 PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL. MEMORANDUM OF INTERVIEW. Date 11th October, 1937. Time 5.15. to Reference WMC/FP/54 Present Sir Walter Citrine, Lord Cranborne, Lord Plymouth. SUBJECT. SPAIN. I accordingly met Lord Cranborne, who was accompanied by Lord Plymouth. I asked...
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| Institution: | MCR - The Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick |
| Language: | English |
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11 October 1937
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10796/3D461F96-8E95-4253-9279-B121ABF687AE http://hdl.handle.net/10796/F8C04656-8DAC-4BA1-90E0-F790D17EDFF1 |
| Summary: | 1937-10-11
016b-0044-002
PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL. MEMORANDUM OF INTERVIEW. Date 11th October, 1937. Time 5.15. to Reference WMC/FP/54 Present Sir Walter Citrine, Lord Cranborne, Lord Plymouth. SUBJECT. SPAIN. I accordingly met Lord Cranborne, who was accompanied by Lord Plymouth. I asked him concerning the general question whether the British Government had made up its mind as to what action it would take in the event of Italy sending more troops. Would the French frontier be opened, and would the British Government give its support? Lord Cranborne said that they had not even yet heard definitely from the French what they intended to do. There were divisions in the French Government, and, in any case, the opening of the frontier might not prove a sufficient deterrent to Mussolini. Lord Plymouth said that they had no confirmation of the reports that Italian troops had recently arrived in Spain, and that they had checked the Italian explanation that the 800 men who had arrived at Cadiz some time ago were medical men. They had found that this was true. There had been no recent large reinforcements, and it was by no means sure that there would be. I urged as strongly as I could that the Government should show its sympathy with democratic Spain, as the British Government was constantly being placed in an unfavourable light as contrasted with the French Government. I stated that the French Government was continually being held up as ready to do anything to help republican Spain, but when we went into the question more carefully, we generally found that they did not propose anything nearly so definite as we were told at our international gatherings. Lord Cranborne said it was no use making a gesture unless we were willing to carry it into some practical effect. It seemed that any such gesture increased enormously the dangers of war, and that was a very serious question for the Government to determine. We then passed on to discuss del Vayo's request, and Lord Cranborne said that this was the first time they had ever been asked to evacuate combatants. Formerly they had confined evacuation to refugees who were old men, women and children. He understood the danger in which the Asturians stood, and he would discuss the matter with Mr. Eden, and in all probability the French would be
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| Physical Description: | TEXT |