THE POLICY OF SIMMERING

THE POLICY OF SIMMERING

THE POLICY OF SIMMERING A STUDY OF BRITISH POLICY DURING THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR 1936-1939 BY WM. LAIRD KLEINE-AHLBRANDT WITH A FOREWORD BY SIR HAROLD MITCHELL Institute ot Hispanic American and Luso-Brazilian Studies Stanford Unillersity MARTINUS NIJHOFF I THE HAGUE I 1962

TO KEETJE ISBN 978-94-015-1009-7 (ebook) Copyright I962 by Martinus Nijholf. The Hague. Netherlands All rights reserved. including the right to translate or to reproduce this book or parts thereof in any form

FOREWORD Few modern events have aroused more controversy than the Spanish Civil War. This controversy was especially acute in Great Britain, which was torn between its distrust of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy on the one hand and of Communist Russia on the other. The British public, pacifist in sentiment and determined to avoid war at almost any cost, sensed the danger implicit in the Civil War, yet realised its impotence to control events in Spain which indeed it little understood. The British Government, though under heavy attack from the Opposition and from a handful of its own supporters, succeeded in its endeavours to keep the country out of war on this occasion. The neutrality of Spain, even after Mussolini had entered World War II, was of inestimable value to Britain after the debacle in the summer of 1940. It may be therefore that British policy during the Civil War paid off later on as well as achieving its purpose at the time. Dr. Kleine's book, lucidly written and carefully documented, examines the British attitude toward the Spanish Civil War. The author has the advantage of belonging to a generation which is able to analyse these events with historical detachment. Yet his understanding and easy style have made the period live. Neutrality was not easy for Britain. Its far-reaching interests in trading with Spain and in passage through Iberian waters again and again raised awkward problems. These ranged from the sinking of vessels by unidentified submarines to the Arantzazu Mendi affair. Opening a House of Commons debate on January 19, 1937, Mr. Anthony Eden defined his government's policy when he said: "there are British interests in this Spanish conflict, and they are two fold. First, that the conflict shall not spread beyond the boundaries of Spain; and second, that the political independence and the territorial integrity of Spain shall be achieved." My own view expressed on that occasion,

VI FOREWORD immediately after my return from a visit to Spain was that: "We should do all that we can to preserve our present efforts for neutrality and still further try to close the frontiers to arms going in." Time has not changed my opinion that the Foreign Secretary's policy was the right one for Great Britain. Each of his objectives was obtained, notwithstanding his resignation before the end of the war. In retrospect, the Spanish Civil War seems like a prologue to World War II. This book is particularly relevant at a period when not less grave problems from Laos to Berlin face the Western Powers. I commend it as a valuable addition to the literature on the Spanish Civil War and indispensable for the understanding of the British attitude at that time. HAROLD PATON MITCHELL Institute of Hispanic American and Luso-Brazilian Studies, Stanford University June 1962

PREFACE For centuries British statesmen have been concerned with problems arising from foreign civil war, which on each occurrence seem to occasion the same questions: What are the war's international implications? How is the balance of power to be affected? If there will be intervention, how shoul dit be handled? What sacrifices should be made and what actions taken? In this respect the Spanish Civil War was little different from others, but to the extent that this dangerously ideological struggle threatened to pull the rest of Europe like a whirlpool into its midst, it marked a departure, if only in extent, from previous situations. This book purports to study the forces released by that war, investigating how one country, Great Britain, reacted to them. Taking this policy in relation to its times - the actions and motives of other European powers naturally form part of the picture - both sides of the coin are examined: the effect of British action on international affairs and their reverberations, in tum, on domestic politics. Although British policy in the immediate years before World War II has had extensive treatment, there seems to be a genuine lack when it comes to the question of Spain. In view of the extent to which this war captured the attention of the British people and occupied with tedious negotations their leaders, this lacuna appears surprising; nevertheless it exists. Perhaps the British concentration on isolating the Civil War from other main events of the period has also carried over into historical research, or perhaps it is due to a tendency to lump all British policy under that convenient, disapproving term "appeasement." Consequently now that there has appeared sufficient material from which to form an appraisal of Britain's course of action, it seems opportune to complete the general picture of those years by analysing in depth this missing link.

VIII PREFACE The research has been based extensively on primary source material: government documents, memoirs, newspapers, annuals, etc. In addition to British documentation, extensive use has been made of German and American foreign policy papers, which in many instances give inside accounts of British negotiations. The American diplomatic correspondence is particularly valuable in this respect because the detached position that the United States enjoyed in regard to noninterventionist nations permitted her a measure of confidence denied by those countries to each other; this is especially true of Britain and France. The most interesting Italian sources are those of Galeazzo Ciano who describes the character of British diplomacy in her negotiations with his country on Spain and the Mediterranean. British memoirs, for example those of Hugh Dalton and Leopold Amery, are generally more valuable for the opinions they express than the information they supply; Winston Churchill's account, including the reproduction of pertinent correspondence written with all manner of officialdom in the years he was out of office, is also useful. Very little has been written by Neville Chamberlain; Feiling's biography prints some of his correspondence. The fact that there is even less on Baldwin probably frightens away the biographer who has yet to write the definitive story of his life - even so, perhaps no amount of material will help to explain the man satisfactorily. In the realm of diplomacy there have been some interesting accounts written by men in the Foreign Office, but with the exception of Ciano few of these memoirs give a profound insight into British policy. Debates of Parliament, the League of Nations, and Labour Conferences have been used with the intention of indicating the essence of a particular debate with its principal issues. The Survey 0/ International A//airs and the A nnual Register are valuable as chronographs, and, although written close to the events they describe, in many simplify research. Those who have helped me at one stage or another in the preparation of this work, I should like to gratefully acknowledge: to Dr. Jacques Freymond, Director of the Institut Universitaire de Hautes Etudes Internationales in Geneva, Professor Maurice Baumont, under whose direction the manuscript was written, and to Professor Louis J. Halle.

USE OF FOOTNOTES At first reference the title of a documentary source is listed completely; subsequently, and also in the case of memoirs, general works, etc., unless citing an author with more than one work in the bibliography in which case the title is still included, all footnotes appear in abbreviated form. Authors are mentioned by their last names; documents have shortened or abbreviated titles. Thus, Duff Cooper, Old Men Forget, p. 214 becomes Cooper, p. 214; the Survey of International Affairs is referred to as Survey,' the Foreign Relations of the United States is shortened to USD, i.e. United States Documents; Documents on British Foreign Policy are BD,' Documents on German Foreign Policy are GD,' British White Papers are Cmd,' Soviet Documents on Foreign Policy are SD, etc. Parliamentary debates are referred to in the text by their dates, but in the event that a footnote was held necessary they are cited as Hansard. In all cases the complete titles can be found in the bibliography.

TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword by Sir Harold Mitchell Pre/ace.... Use 0/ Footnotes v VII IX Introduction I. The World of Imagination 2. The Cross of the Spaniards I Chapter 1. Formulation 0/ a Policy.... I. Search 2. The Problems of the Opposition 6 Chapter II. AI etamorphosis 0/ N on-j ntervention I. Support Withdrawn 2. Further Complications 3. The League of Nations Ignored 23 Chapter III. Conflict 0/ J nterests.... I. A Vital Artery 2. Prohibition and Control 3. Unfulfilled Desires Chapter IV. Change 0/ Leadership. I. Defense of Interests 2. Chamberlain Takes Over 3. The Boulevard des Inconnus 4. The Mediterranean Conference 37 52

XII TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter v. Themes and Variations.... 72 1. Geneva Debates 2. Dissent in the Labour Party 3. Counter Proposals and Reservations 4. Indignant Resignation Chapter VI. Struggle for Spanish Resources 1. British Business Interests 2. The Indirect War 3. Recognition in Fact Chapter VII. Results of Violation.. 103 1. Spheres of Separation 2. The Resignation of Eden Chapter VIII. Negotiating with Mussolini........ Il7 I. Lord Halifax Becomes Foreign Minister 2. Bringing the Treaty into Force 3. A Game Ending in No Score Conclusion. Chronology. 145 Bibliography. ISO General Index 154