28-01-2018, 05:42 PM
"relationa with england, still at war with germany, compunded his suspicions. On April 23 1940, Weizsacker telegraphed Karl von Ritter, a secretary in Germany embassy in Moscow, that "yesterday almost every London newspaper wrote about Soviet-English economic talks, supposedly started on soviet initiative." Weizsacker direted the German mission to inform Molotiv, "with respect to the course so far of soviet deliveries of raw material, the Reich's Government isnot satisfied that they correspond to its perception of mutual assistance. It implores the Soviet government to increse and continue deliveries during the months favorable for transportation, and immediately get larger shipments of oil and grain in motion. 158 Moscow negotiated a trade agreement with London while simultaneously slackening on obligations to Germany.
The British ambassador, Sir Stafford Cripps, conferred with Stalin in July. To Win Russia for an anti-German alliance, Cripps promised that england would accept Soviet control over the dardanelles, the Balkans, eastern Poland, and practically any arrangement for post-war Europe Stalin wanted 159. Considering traditional British Foreign policy, these were lavish concessions. The Soviet dictator confided that he considered Germany the only threat. He more or less opened the door to an alliance with London.
Aware that the conference with Cripps would arouse mistrust in Berlin, Stalin ordered Molotov to provide the German ambassador with a written summary of the talks. The Molotov version, which Schulungberg forwared to his government, gave the impression that Stalin had remained loyal to the German alliance and rejected the Cripps proposals. However, Hitler received more reliable information from Rome: Italian agents were secretly monitoring the dispatched of the Yugoslavian ambassor in Moscow, Milan Gavrilovic, to Belgrade. This intelligence they relayed to Berlin. Gavrilovic wrote about Moscow's interest in signing with England.
In this way, Hitler learned of Stalin's duplicity 160.
The British ambassador, Sir Stafford Cripps, conferred with Stalin in July. To Win Russia for an anti-German alliance, Cripps promised that england would accept Soviet control over the dardanelles, the Balkans, eastern Poland, and practically any arrangement for post-war Europe Stalin wanted 159. Considering traditional British Foreign policy, these were lavish concessions. The Soviet dictator confided that he considered Germany the only threat. He more or less opened the door to an alliance with London.
Aware that the conference with Cripps would arouse mistrust in Berlin, Stalin ordered Molotov to provide the German ambassador with a written summary of the talks. The Molotov version, which Schulungberg forwared to his government, gave the impression that Stalin had remained loyal to the German alliance and rejected the Cripps proposals. However, Hitler received more reliable information from Rome: Italian agents were secretly monitoring the dispatched of the Yugoslavian ambassor in Moscow, Milan Gavrilovic, to Belgrade. This intelligence they relayed to Berlin. Gavrilovic wrote about Moscow's interest in signing with England.
In this way, Hitler learned of Stalin's duplicity 160.