Before Casablanca--And After

...It was this line which for two decades had led him to support the leaders of the German Reichswehr against the Western democracies...

...The Anglo-Saxons will soon withdraw and 111 be forced to have you shot...

...But in the realm of foreign policy and in the military field, certain facts must be admitted, whatever they may be, without permitting our great anger at the domestic policy to throw us off, if we would not limit our understanding of the events which followed...

...A DMIRAL DARLAN was furiously de-^* nounced b»- the German press and radio as having played a double game since 1940, as the engineer of Pierre Laval's first ouster (crisis of December 13, 1940), and as being completely for the partial Allied success in Africa...

...Nobody who has troubled himself with the problems of Japanese foreign policy and military strategy would imagine that such a reversal would come as a result of a "trifling" matter like Stalin's participation or non-participation in the Casablanca conference...

...The whole undertaking, in Oran and Morocco, was on the verge of becoming a disaster when the unexpected presence of Admiral Darlan saved the situation...

...Japan is interested in maintaining peace in the Far East at least as much as Soviet Russia, possibly more...

...Lacking principles and scruples, aspiring to power, he considered himself as a likelier successor to' Marshal Petain as Chief of State than Pierre Laval...

...Certainly it would be a mistake to overestimate the significance of these disagreements...

...Leon Blum may have committed an error in having so many hopes and such full confidence in Darlan, but not to the extent of being so completely deceived...

...The democracies ought not to be guilty of neglecting them through wilful blindness...

...President Roosevelt and Winston Churchill's official communique, and Stalin's Order of the Day to the Red Army (the first document signed by Stalin in the capacity as Commander-in-Chief) . Whereas the President and the British Prime Minister stated that in their view the aim of the war was to achieve the military defeat and "unconditional surrender" of Germany, Italy and Japan, Stalin spoke only of "routing of the German invaders and their expulsion aver the boundaries of the motherland...

...Burton Nichols examines in this challenging article...

...Apparently, they do not fully realize how severe a verdict they return upon Stalin's policies...

...Lemaigre-Dubreuil was not able to leave Paris until the 3rd of November and barely arrived on the scene in time...

...Could it have been Stalin's pressure on the Allies for an immediate "second front" which caused the Allied High Command to wait no longer...

...It was China which entered the war first, and has been waging it for nearly 6 years, straining her forces to the utmost, with immense sacrifices and self-devotion, and getting only very little aid...

...But the battle continued to rage in Morocco at several points where the troops under Nogues were able to hold back the Americans, thus carrying out Marshal Petain's old order to resist all invasions...

...to rally the Arab tribes, the Sultan of Morocco, French West Africa with the powerful port of Dakar and its fleet...

...He arrived at Lr Ciotat, near Marseille, where a small boat was waiting to carry him to a British submarine, commanded by an American officer...

...to overcome all lets and hindrances...

...It is this fact which gives actual significance to Stalin's absence from Casablanca...

...to North Africa and assisted by a large American consular staff, surveyed the situation on the spot and supervised the use of those goods imported from America under the terms of the special accords arrived at after the defeat...

...This will be another commando raid like the one at Saint-Nazaire and Dieppe...

...The real cause is that Stalin has his own War program which differs from, tkmt of the democracies and that he regards the present time suitable for openly drawing a line between these two programs...

...Behind fhe Mvsterv at Casablanca Dispute Over Control of Post-War Reich Key to Soviet Absence...

...If it was impossible for...

...But the Anglo-American fleet was tj»o days late and in this time troops loyal to Nogues were able to rescue him and take Bethouart prisoner in turn...

...William Leahy, sent specally to Vichy in order to maintain contact with Marshal Petain, was able to obtain the assurance that conquered France would adhere strictly onfa military basis to the clauses of the armistice, that is to say: (1) she would not sign a peace with the Axis...

...These countries are not at war yet, *nd many writers claim that Stalin feared his meeting with the political leaders of the Allies might lead to a straining of relations with J*pan...

...But very little of this indeed has been done over the question of "the missing seat at Casablanca...

...If Stalin actually is dependent upon Japan to such an extent as to be compelled to abstain from going to Casablanca today, the question arises inevitably what results will this dependence bring about tomorrow...

...Churchill, he was able to put through an accord de principe, confirming the three essential points mentioned above...

...Darlan was obeyed, speaking in Petain's name, where the appeals of Giraud had fallen on deaf ears...

...It also explains why Britain tolerated trade betwen Africa and France in spite of the considerable amount of products confiscated by the Germans...

...But a German source of information, unheeded at the time, should be recalled for what light it can throw...

...7, 1942...

...Quoting official messages exchanged between Africa and Vichy, Berlin said it was Admiral Fenard who called Admiral Darlan to Africa and Introduced him to Lieut...

...The Anglo-American Annies who are in the midst of a hard battle have too much before them to permit themselves the distractions of politics or to take over policing in their rear...

...dying son, and he believed he was on his way to his son's funeral...

...The press which is in sympathy with Stalin has so often and so vociferously-characterized him as the most determined and most implacable foe of militarist and fascist Germany that it becomes difficult to realize that there is no determination or implacability in his position at all...

...He has only given a new wording to the program he conceived long ago...

...It is fortunate, therefore, that the Allies have found in General Giraud an important French leader who is fully reliable, of unquestioned loyalty and admirable courage, to assume responsibility and to establish order as well as to bring into play all the French strength and capacities, to bring about the necessary military and civil mobilization in the final struggle against the common enemy...

...He was about to be court-martialed when, happily Allied ships were sighted off Casablanca in time to save him...

...Because of these views no representative of the Chinese republic was invited to Casablanca...

...After having changed his mind several times since the 1940 Armistice on the chances for an Axis or an Allied victory, he swung over definitely to the side of America...

...WHUS the illness of Darlan's son was only * a coincidence which served as a pretext...

...In Morocco during this time, General Bethouart rallied his followers and temporarily made a prisoner of General Nogues, in the palace of the Residence at Rabat, threatening him against giving the order to fire on the American fleet whose imminent arrival he announced...

...It is due to this very peace that the Japanese fleet can sail along the eastern shores of the Asiatic Continent as in Japan's own terrtiorial waters, whereas Soviet Russia's huge undersea fleet remains moored to its berths...

...to remove all obstacles, to facilitate military operations...

...Favored thus, the Germans were able to occupy Tunis and Bizerte...

...This assumes that plans for an assault . BPsn Japan by Soviet Russia were to be dis: cussed at Casablanca...

...If Stalin had to abstain from participation in a highly important conference with his Allies because it might displease Japan, this would mean that he was quite subordinated to Tokyo and could do nothing Tokyo might look askance at...

...It is our duty to do everything possible to aid the heroic Chinese republic and its armed forces, to use all the power at its disposal to strengthen the politicsl authority of China's leaders This is imperative both for the sake of victory and in the national interests of America...

...The Navy had decided to scuttle the fleet rather than lot it be used by the Boches, and steps were taken towards this end...

...Not to become another Yugoslavia, another Greece"—that was one of their main preoccupations...

...Japan can have conferences with Germany and Italy, of any kind and at any time she pleases...

...OUCH arguments are based on absolutely erroneous assumptions...

...to work quickly and well enough to block the Spanish, whose forces in Morocco exceed 150,000 men—a number of which can be doubled in a few days...

...Russia was not represented...

...but there are a number of other factors in the situation which have been strangely and consistently overlooked...

...The press is full of guesses about the rea-*°ns for Stalin's absence...

...TPHE expedition then was marked by mis-takes, delays, disappointments and the unforeseen circumstance of^JaTtan's presence in Algiers...

...LemaigreDubreuil, also a Regent of the Bank of France...

...Stalin perhaps dares not to suspect that these special Jap emissaries would weigh the question of a Japanese assault upon Soviet Russia...

...Following the customary line adopted by the press of the democratic countries long ago, the majority or the writers advance explanations which tend to "reassure" their readers and allay concern...

...Was Rommel's precipitous retreat to Tripolitania responsible for the hasty change, as an attempt to cut him off before he reached Tunis or Bizerte, thus delivering them into Germany's hands...

...According to the curious monotone of the consensus, it is simply because the Kremlin was overloaded with military responsibilities and had to work late at the office...

...If we review all other statements made by Stalin, it will become evident that there can be no question of a slip of the tongue...

...The Missing Seat IF one is not realistic in politics, one under-* stands very little and is prepared for less...

...Stalin had unambiguously stressed then that his aim was, certainly, the annihilation of Hitler's army and of "its leaders," by no means, however, of "all military force in Germany...

...But this explanation is thoroughly erroneous...

...he himself, however, must bear in mind that Japan might be displeased by his acts...

...He wants to crush Hitler, but not to annihilate Germany's military power, and he considers it necessary to state this clearly and frankly now...

...The policy of snubbing the leaders of the Chinese democratic republic,—who have been persistently siding with the Western democracies,— evidently weakens the anti-Japanese front in China...

...It is...

...It is easy to imagine what would have happened had Darlan not been in Algiers to order the suspension of hostilities...

...Giraud will be able to lead to victory an army from 500 to 300 thousand once he has been supplied with arms and materiel...

...3) she would not cede to the enemy any naval, air or colonial basis...

...Tt is, perhaps, too early to judge, but it is not too late to try to understand...

...De Lattre de Tassiguy, having tried nevertheless to revolt but without necessary support," sailed and was condemned by a court martial: Many General Staff officers were arrested and -imprisoned along with many figures in French society known for their opposition to collaborate-, or for their pro-Allied sympathies: diplomats, officials, industrialists, etc...

...It is these realistic factors that Mr...

...in effect...

...The fact that Stalin is i harping upon them proves that they are of great importance to him...

...Holding the initiative in the Pacific in her own hands, Japan does not attack Russia because peace at the present time is profitable...

...He was to have been told only on the very eve of the, operation...

...And the Navy party was able, in extremis, to play a part which was not on the program by ranging itself beside the Allies and taking over where the momentarily powerless generals failed...

...Under these conditions, the future looks bright, especially if all the political rivalries do not compromise this great enterprise which has awakened the hopes of the world...

...The major forces of pressure- and power-politics in the world must be seen steadily and must be seen as a whole...

...Monarchist maneuvers, Gaul-lism, the presence of the Allies...

...It is therefore clear that the understanding between General Eisenhower and Admiral Darlan was dictated-by imperative need...

...now and then, from the Allies...

...An unofficial representative was sent to London, where, after several interviews with Mr...

...Stalin's order to the Red Army is an unequivocal answer to the Casablanca.conference...

...On the contrary, in his opinion othe latter "is not only impossible in regard to Germany . . ., but it is also inadvisable from the point of view of the future...

...But instead of proceeding directly to Algiers, according to plan, the submarine went first to Gibraltar, for some reason or other, and Giraud got to Algiers two days late, with extremely unfortunate results...

...In exchange for a promise from England to respect the French Empire and to relax a little the blockade of North Africa...

...Certain aspects of that episode are still vague...

...Churchill and the British radio always abstained from personally attacking Marshal Petain and General Weygand...

...Meanwhile General Weygand, taken un-awares by these sudden events, was not able to carry out his plans, and having returned to Vichy in order to notify Marshal Petain, was arrested and interned in Germany...

...and, with the acceptance of the American forces, he stopped all the fighting around Algiers after 24 hours...

...Stalin was absent, and no emissary showed up...

...then on Dieppe, have had a bad effect on the French who have come to despair of seeing the Anglo-Americans land in force and set foot solidly in Europe, on the cen»-tinent...

...CT.4L/.V did not go to Casablanca not be-cause he was extremely busy or because he feared to get into trouble with seme third power...

...The "cordial and friendly" reasons for Stalin's non-appearance can deceive only those who want to be deceived...

...The British raids on St...

...Could it have been fear on the part of the United States that she might be betrayed oy some of the French...

...The dilomats of the United States and Great Britain certainly cannot afford to ignore the wishes of Soviet Russia's official representatives...

...In order to understand the confusion into which Weygand, Noguees and many others, were thrown, one must know that Marshal Petain was never informed of the whole undertaking for fear of some fatal indiscretion on his part and because of his great age...

...General Giraud succeeded in getting out of his sister's house near Lyon, dccpite the careful surveillance of a hundred Gestapo agents...

...It is easy to understand the mood of the Chinese...

...They hold the Straits of Sicily mete strongly than before, choking Allied communications with the eastern Mediterranean, Egypt, Syria, Palestine...

...However, it would also be an unforgivable * mistake to underestimate the significance of what discords exist...

...To date this problem has been dealt with only in private...

...This does not mean that one may^support the domestic policies of Vichy aiWthe so-called "National Revolution" which is actually a counter-revolution against the deepest aspirations N)f France...

...At that time Adm...

...The N. Y. Times of December 18th published the following dispatch: "A German broadcast under a Paris date reported that Admiral Fenard, now chief 61 Admiral Darlan's Economic Secretariat in Northwest Africa, was the driving puwer who really brought French Africa to the Allied side...

...Whatever the cause, the offensive was set for the beginning of November, but exclusively as an African venture...

...The political situation in North Africa is extraordinarily complex...

...Stalin to go to Casablanca, he certainly could have sent an authorized plenipotentiary, •s be has on other occasions...

...It can be said that in spite /of some small infractions, such as the violation of Tunisian territorial waters by the Axis m sending reinforcements to Rommel's army and the incident of the Syrian air fields in 1941 (in which German planes landed for several hours during the ¦-Iraqtrouble), theconimitmentB undertaken by Reveal Hitherto Undisclosed Facts on Allied Landings Petain were respected...

...Darlan, unfortunately, was unable to prevent the suicide of the French fleet at Toulon or the German occupation of Tunisia...

...VTOU were certainly deceived," Nogues told * him...

...The discrepancy is so evident that a reader who paid attention to these different wordings for the first time could come to the conclusion, that there was some accidental slip of the pen...

...He was therefore able to coordinate the action in Algeria and Morocco in which Generals Bethouart, Maste, Barre and Juin were the protagonists...

...It is certain that Darlan was never a "collaborationist" in principle, much less a Fascist as the newspapers have lightlylnsisted...

...N'azaire...

...All this is complicated now by Axis intrigues, Vichy's political meanderings...

...J^J* mainly those writers who lean towards Iaiftfodjcate every Soviet act who advance this bJSyiWent...

...2) she would under no circumstances give up the fleet...

...Darlan had been called to Algiers by his wife, to the bedside of his...

...But in being set three months ahead of schedule, another stumbling block of great gravity was encountered: the disembarkation of November 7 coincided with the beginning of the rainy season which lasts about three months in those regions...

...By BURTON NICHOLS VtflTH the conclusion of the Casablanca con-™ ference the press is discussing the policy differences between America and Great Britain, on one hand, and Soviet Russia, on the other...

...The delivering of political refugees to Germany, the introduction - of racial laws in France, the persecutions of democrats and socialists as well as Jews, the shame of the concentrations camps, are crimes which France will never pardon...

...HE following explanation is fairly popular: I Stalin did not come because his participation in the Casablanca conference might have caused friction between Soviet Russia and Japan...

...All the problems which beset France as well as the specific problems which make an unholy mixture: antagonistic groups and parties, military and naval cliques, alignments of French and Arab, of French and Italian, of French and Spanish, of France and the Sultan, of France and the Bey, the Jewish question, etc...

...I hope that this time they won't go away," Bethouart answered...

...Darlan succeeded in eliminating him, but he himself could not remain without playing along with the Germans to "wait for better times...

...Nobody who is even slightly conversant with the basic principles of Stalin's foreign policy during the last decades can have any doubt that in the very essence Stalin is following his Old Line in evaluating the role of Germany...

...This secret understanding, concluded without the knowledge of Pierre Laval and the Vichy government, as well as without that of General de Gaulle, explains why Mr...

...The success of German improvisation in Tunisia (where they made sure to take the pro-Darlan Admiral Esteva prisoner) proves that no mistake was^ made by Eisenhower, especially if the nearness of Rommel's army to the Tunisian theatre of war is taken into account...

...Aviators converted into small factories the repair shops of Algeria and Morocco...

...The wish of all these generals, and their followers (as well as the great current of non-GaulIist French resistance), was to come back into the war at the side of France's' natural Allies but under conditions which would permit France to rearm and to fight, not merely to serve as ^the battleground without any other function...

...They were the ones who brought about an understanding between the Americans and General Giraud after he escaped last April...

...However, it would be not a lesser mistake to gloss over or to underestimate them...

...The return to power of Laval dictated his future conduct...

...Among these industrialists and financiers were some who played a part of paramount importance: the heavy-industry tycoon, Francois de Wendel, Senator, Regent of the Bank of France...

...Dispatches from China unanimously assert that the non-invitation of China's representatives, and still more the motives advanced as an explanation of this attitude, have shocked and irritated the Chinese people and army...

...If he failed . to-do.this, if was because he did not want to, because he wanted to make obvious his un-untlingness to participate in the conference...

...Those in Europe who preferred butter have now forgotten what it looks like...

...At the same time, however, they have no right to act in a way whieh cannot but offend their other allies...

...Prom September, 1940, Marshal Petain and General Weygand, in view of the courageous British resistance, became convinced that the war was not over, and that the coming American aid might permit them to hope, if not for a German defeat, at least for a compromise peace following the exhaustion of both sides, so giving France the hope of insurrection...

...This is a vestige of the old "system," "hen people showed no inclination to give up their "butter" to provide for guns...

...According to press reports this discrimination against the Chinese leaders was influenced,—aside from reckoning Japan's eventual reaction,—by Stalin's general dislike of Chiang Kai-shek, which is of long standing...

...This circumstance weighed against the Allies—* since the Axis planes were based on Sicily and Calabria...

...Who knows how that battle might have ended and how many lives might have been lost, what losses in material, etc...

...1I7HY was the offensive advanced several " months, switching the plan for the end of November, then suddenly setting it...

...and China's position* among these allies is a special case...

...Among these are several thousand communists, who descending like a cloud of locusts on Algeria, are bound to wreak their own brand of havoc...

...Only recently the newspapers vaguely reported that Soviet Russia had granted free passage to a special plane which carried the Japanese ambassador from Berlin to Tokyo for an important conference...

...the vegetable oil man...

...Darlan was a politician long known as a "man of the left" and would have made a career for himself in the left-wing Ministries...

...enemies of the Popular Front within France itself but patriots nevertheless and unshakable enemies of the Axis...

...To which can be added the question of political prisoners in concentration camps...

...At the time of France's disarmament, after the Armistice, many French officers were able to hide arms in the woods or bury them...

...N short, the present events are incomprehen-* sible if we do not take into account the two years of secret resistance in France and North Africa- by conservative ami reactionary elements of all shades: military, naval, air forces, functionaries, industrialists, clergy, etc...

...It is all the more necessary, therefore, to underscore the mistake made by the organizers of the Casablanca conference and to warn against such conduct in the future...

...Should we believe that his son's illness was solely responsible for his presence in Algiers at the critical moment...

...They occupy the-South of France with its two great ports of Toulon and Marseilles...

...the former Governor of the Bank, Fournier, now a director of the National Railroads, and other bankers hostile to any real "collaboration" with Germany...

...We do not want to compare'- this policy with the struggle of the Chinese communists against Chiang Kai-shek reported by Norman Angell not so long ago...

...Stalin's address on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the October Revolution is highly instructive in this regard...

...it might have cost ? Especially if the Germans had had sufficient time to intervene, to throw in heavy forces from Spanish Morocco...

...using sir transported troops and reenforced daily...

...In a way, the campaign is thus developing to their advantage, as of today, since they have established a powerful bridgehead in Tunisia, in-cluding the port of Bizerte with its unique harbor...

...The roads become impossible, and above all air fields are transformed into seas of mud in which the heavy planes skid and are unable to take off...

...Eisenhower, commander of the Allied Forces in North African operations...

...New York Times, Nov...

...Taken prisoner by General Maste in the early days of the fighting, he •offered to give the "cease-firing" order, in the name of Marshal Petain...

...It would hardly be possible to find a precedent of this kind in history...

...Having transplanted several of his oil refineries to Africa, Lemaigre-Dubreuil was able to move freely from Paris to Lyons, Vichy and Marseilles as well as to fly between France and Africa...

...At the same time, Robert Murphy, envoy of the State Dept...

...The preparation goes back to 1940...

...It is easily understood why General Eisenhower accepted Admiral Darlan's offer to halt the fighting in Morocco as in Algeria...

...Before Casablanca--And After Secret Churchill-'Vichy' Accord Paved Way for Africa Invasion [To be reprinted only with special permission of.The New Leader.] By ANDRE RAYNAL THE full story of the memorable North African mission has-wot yet been told...

...This mistrust can be eradicated only by imporj^nt action in the future...

...As long as Hitler continues the war,—and he has not yet given up—the common interests which tie Stalin to the allies are much stronger than the diverging views about the war aims...

...late in October, for the first week in November...

...This struggle has already tied up hundreds of thousands of soldiers of the Chinese republic who must guard the honufront against communists instead of fighting Japan...

...It is necessary, however, to stress most emphatically that American democracy cannot and dare not support such a policy...

...Unfortunately, they already have led to some unfortunate results...

...It is impossible to predict the consequences of the initial plan...

...The basic problem which separates Stalin's program from the program of the Anglo-American block, is the problem of Germany's future fate.' That this very problem is the central point in the diverging attitudes can be obviously proved by juxtaposing two documents which were made public last week at Casablanca and in Moscow almost simultaneously...

...it is the definite drawing of' a line which openly marks the difference between his war aims and those proclaimed at Casablanca . . . We repeat again: It would be a mistake to overestimate the significance of this dissent...

...Industrialists and financiers, especially some directors of the Comite des Forges and of the Bank of France laid the basis for contact between the French military and certain American diplomats, also maintaining ties with North Africa...

...Despitepitiless German pressure, seizures, spoliations,-the dickering over war prisoners, the irritations of the demarcation line between the two zones, the four hundred millions paid daily to the Occupation troops, the threats and the promises— peace was never concluded, the armistice was not even revised, the fleet was not surrendered and the bases were not ceded...

...Here are some new sidelights' pointing up why the Allies are not yet United Nations...

...That the Russians are busy, raagnificiently busy, killing Nazis, is clear enough...

...therefore, no wonder that feelings of anger and irritation are spreading and growing in China—which Pan-Asiatic propaganda directed by Japan makes ample use of...

...He was in constant touch with General Maxime Weygand, Marshal Pe-tain's representative in Africa, and with the chief colonial governors: Yves Chatel in Algiers, Admiral Esteva in Tunisia, General Nogues in Morocco...