Gettysburg Times/March 2, 1940
Germany will fight until Britain and France recognize a “German Monroe doctrine” for central Europe and restore her war-lost colonies—this was described by sources who know Adolf Hitler’s mind as the burden of the message he delivered today to President Roosevelt’s emissary, Sumner Welles.
Another point in the message given by the fuehrer to the American undersecretary of state in their 94-minute conference in the chancellery was understood to be that England must renounce “her strangle-hold control” of the strategic lanes to the world’s raw materials.
Germany’s price of peace, according to this version of Hitler’s declaration, includes permanent German hegemony—political domination—over Bohemia-Moravia, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary, making the reich proper a solid bloc of about 130,000,000 population.
Other Requirements
Hitler was said to have argued further that disarmament must begin by England’s relinquishing military control of Gibraltar, the Suez canal and other strategic points held in the midst of non-British territories.
Improvement of German-American relations also was declared to be most desirable, according to this version of Hitler’s talk, but to be impossible so long as Washington declines to name an ambassador for the now-vacant post in the Berlin embassy.
Welles, accompanied by Alexander C. Kirk, United States charge d’ affaires, both in formal morning clothes, entered Hitler’s chancellery at 10:53 AM (4:53 AM E.S.T).
A company of honor saluted Welles, which Nazis said was an unusual honor for one not a state visitor. At 11 o’clock the Americans began their meeting with the Nazi chieftain, who was supported by Foreign Minister Joachim Von Ribbentrop.
Asks U. S. Attitude
Informed persons said the uncompromising, aggressive fuehrer, with American illustrations ever at hand, asked Welles what the United States would do if, say, some Asiatic or European power tried to stir up trouble in Mexico.
It was not disclosed whether Welles replied.
Hitler’s thesis was said to be that the seas never can be considered free as long as Britain has military control of all the important trade lanes of Europe and Asia, and can at any time choke off aspiring young nations such as fascist Italy and Nazi Germany.
In this connection, Hitler was said to have asked Welles how the United States would like for some non-American power to have control of the Panama canal.
Hitler was reported to have lived up to a reputation for adapting himself to the psychology of the person with whom he confers while at the same time defending Germany’s position aggressively.
His argument was said to have run to this effect:
Just as the United States, largest and most powerful nation of the western hemisphere, has assumed obligations for all of America so far as interference from European or Asiatic powers is concerned, so Germany considers it her moral obligation to see that central European living space be guaranteed once and for all from the interference of Britain and France.
(Source: Google News, https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2202&dat=19400302&id=nggmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=F_0FAAAAIBAJ&pg=3023,5171934)
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