Part 6-49 Fall of Europe, End of Empire
RamscoopRaider
Donor
…The first major issue for the British war cabinet following the French Armistice was whether they should enter into negotiations as well. Foreign Secretary Halifax simply wanted to talk to Germany and Italy to see what their terms were, and then if the terms were reasonable enough bring matters to the Cabinet to see if they were acceptable or not. Churchill on the other hand was adamantly opposed to even talking to the Germans and Italians and refused to consider the possibility of any peace that was not an outright victory.
In this he found himself completely alone. Lord Halifax had stated that winning the last war had been ruinous for Britian, and that this winning this war, if possible, was liable to be even worse. Given that assumption if the cost of losing was low enough they should accept it rather than win another victory that Pyrrhus of Epirus would weep at. Churchill had no coherent argument against this, simply stating that a German and Italian victory would be intolerable and repeating the old saw that Britons shall never be slaves.
The Cabinet failed to see how simply talking would make Britons slaves and was quite plain that they would reject any such terms and would only accept minor concessions that would not weaken Britian. They wanted another Amiens to rearm in peace and prepare the knife for Hitler’s back and if Hitler and Sanna did not give them that then they would fight on until that happened or they were unable to fight anymore. Churchill still remained intransigent and threated to resign, only being talked down by his friend the Duke of York…
…On July 2nd as Hitler and Sanna were meeting at a summit in Belgium to determine French occupation policy the ambassadors of Britain, Germany and Italy sat down for negotiations in Switzerland. The British ambassador asked for what terms would be required for a ceasefire and his counterparts sent back for instructions.
The Italian ambassador responded first that they had no conditions for a ceasefire and would agree to one if Britain asked. Moving on Sanna’s preliminary peace terms were that Britain would recognize any annexations of territory made by Italy from France, that Malta would be disarmed, that Italy would have a right of refusal on the disposal of Malta and Cyprus, and certain border concessions in Africa, though the last would be open to negotiation.
The German ambassador took more time as Hitler had not left instructions as Sanna had and needed to be personally asked. Hitler had substantial preconditions before he would even agree to a ceasefire and that discussion of final peace terms could only come then. His requirement was that the blockade immediately end, that the Royal Navy return to port, that the RAF remain grounded and that the British Army demobilize, with a 250,000 strong German observer force to be stationed in Britain to enforce these terms and maintained at British expense…
…Sanna upon hearing of Hitler’s terms for a ceasefire commented that it was a bold negotiating strategy starting off with such a hardball and asked what his actual terms were. Hitler’s response was that these were his actual terms and that if the British did not accept they would made to do so. Sanna nodded, smiled and found an excuse to walk away. That night he wrote in his diary that he had made a horrible miscalculation…
…Upon receiving Hitler’s requirements for a ceasefire the War Cabinet unanimously refused them. They might be willing to accept them with German troops in London’s suburbs, but not when Germany was still confined to the continent and Britain remained well fed and in control of her sea-lanes and airspace. Hitler’s terms were seen as an insult and one that partially vindicated Churchill.
There was a brief debate on whether to accept the Italian terms, if the Italians would be willing to alienate Germany for a separate peace, but the majority of the cabinet saw the Italians as the weak link who could be beaten to receive reasonable terms from Germany. Furthermore Operation Palimpsest was already in the works…
…Shortly after the French ceasefire Sanna began intense telephone negotiations with General Mola in Spain. Mola saw British weakness as an opportunity to take Gibraltar and eliminate that centuries old irritant. Sanna however desired that Spain remain neutral so that they could serve as a hole in the blockade that goods from the outside could come in through.
In order to buy Spanish neutrality Sanna offered Mola production licenses for several pieces of military equipment and additional technical assistance. He also reminded Mola that if Sapin joined she would be the exposed weak link, whose coasts and colonies the British could attack with impunity. Better to remain neutral and profit as in the last war then get involved just for reasons of pride.
Mola was ultimately convinced to remain neutral for the early phase of the war and in doing so made himself the greatest Spanish statesman in decades, put Spain on a path to recovery and becoming the second nation of Europe…
…There are rumors that Sanna also resorted to blackmail to convince Mola to stay neutral, but there is not concrete evidence of this….
…With Britain rejecting his ceasefire terms Hitler turned to the Wehrmacht to try and force them to accept those terms. The leadership of the Heer suggested that they simply invade and occupy Britain like they had done with France the operations simply being a larger scale river crossing. The Kriegsmarine representatives responded that no, it would not be a larger scale river crossing, that Germany lacked the lift to move and support an invasion and would continue to do so until 1943, and that they would be unable to protect that invasion force if a single British capital ship captain had a touch of Nelson’s spirit. The Heer responded that the Luftwaffe would protect the invasion force, to which Von Richthofen stated that he could sink the entirety of the Royal Navy in a fortnight, or about 13 days longer than it would take them to destroy the invasion force.
Hitler was unconvinced by the arguments of the Kriegsmarine and von Richthofen and ordered that preparations be made for an invasion of Britain to occur in September…
-Excerpt From The Fall of Europe, Scholastic American Press, Philadelphia, 2005
…The War Cabinet debates and the decision to negotiate with the Germans and Italians were kept secret from the public. This secrecy was only broken in 1951 when the information was leaked during the leadup to the General Election. This revelation that the government which had loudly declared that they would never negotiate with Hitler and Sanna did in fact seek to do so saw the British public lose a great deal of trust in the government and shattered some of the halo around their wartime leadership…
-Excerpt from The End of Empire: The British Empire from 1914 to 1964, Southern Hemisphere Press, Wellington, 2005
In this he found himself completely alone. Lord Halifax had stated that winning the last war had been ruinous for Britian, and that this winning this war, if possible, was liable to be even worse. Given that assumption if the cost of losing was low enough they should accept it rather than win another victory that Pyrrhus of Epirus would weep at. Churchill had no coherent argument against this, simply stating that a German and Italian victory would be intolerable and repeating the old saw that Britons shall never be slaves.
The Cabinet failed to see how simply talking would make Britons slaves and was quite plain that they would reject any such terms and would only accept minor concessions that would not weaken Britian. They wanted another Amiens to rearm in peace and prepare the knife for Hitler’s back and if Hitler and Sanna did not give them that then they would fight on until that happened or they were unable to fight anymore. Churchill still remained intransigent and threated to resign, only being talked down by his friend the Duke of York…
…On July 2nd as Hitler and Sanna were meeting at a summit in Belgium to determine French occupation policy the ambassadors of Britain, Germany and Italy sat down for negotiations in Switzerland. The British ambassador asked for what terms would be required for a ceasefire and his counterparts sent back for instructions.
The Italian ambassador responded first that they had no conditions for a ceasefire and would agree to one if Britain asked. Moving on Sanna’s preliminary peace terms were that Britain would recognize any annexations of territory made by Italy from France, that Malta would be disarmed, that Italy would have a right of refusal on the disposal of Malta and Cyprus, and certain border concessions in Africa, though the last would be open to negotiation.
The German ambassador took more time as Hitler had not left instructions as Sanna had and needed to be personally asked. Hitler had substantial preconditions before he would even agree to a ceasefire and that discussion of final peace terms could only come then. His requirement was that the blockade immediately end, that the Royal Navy return to port, that the RAF remain grounded and that the British Army demobilize, with a 250,000 strong German observer force to be stationed in Britain to enforce these terms and maintained at British expense…
…Sanna upon hearing of Hitler’s terms for a ceasefire commented that it was a bold negotiating strategy starting off with such a hardball and asked what his actual terms were. Hitler’s response was that these were his actual terms and that if the British did not accept they would made to do so. Sanna nodded, smiled and found an excuse to walk away. That night he wrote in his diary that he had made a horrible miscalculation…
…Upon receiving Hitler’s requirements for a ceasefire the War Cabinet unanimously refused them. They might be willing to accept them with German troops in London’s suburbs, but not when Germany was still confined to the continent and Britain remained well fed and in control of her sea-lanes and airspace. Hitler’s terms were seen as an insult and one that partially vindicated Churchill.
There was a brief debate on whether to accept the Italian terms, if the Italians would be willing to alienate Germany for a separate peace, but the majority of the cabinet saw the Italians as the weak link who could be beaten to receive reasonable terms from Germany. Furthermore Operation Palimpsest was already in the works…
…Shortly after the French ceasefire Sanna began intense telephone negotiations with General Mola in Spain. Mola saw British weakness as an opportunity to take Gibraltar and eliminate that centuries old irritant. Sanna however desired that Spain remain neutral so that they could serve as a hole in the blockade that goods from the outside could come in through.
In order to buy Spanish neutrality Sanna offered Mola production licenses for several pieces of military equipment and additional technical assistance. He also reminded Mola that if Sapin joined she would be the exposed weak link, whose coasts and colonies the British could attack with impunity. Better to remain neutral and profit as in the last war then get involved just for reasons of pride.
Mola was ultimately convinced to remain neutral for the early phase of the war and in doing so made himself the greatest Spanish statesman in decades, put Spain on a path to recovery and becoming the second nation of Europe…
…There are rumors that Sanna also resorted to blackmail to convince Mola to stay neutral, but there is not concrete evidence of this….
…With Britain rejecting his ceasefire terms Hitler turned to the Wehrmacht to try and force them to accept those terms. The leadership of the Heer suggested that they simply invade and occupy Britain like they had done with France the operations simply being a larger scale river crossing. The Kriegsmarine representatives responded that no, it would not be a larger scale river crossing, that Germany lacked the lift to move and support an invasion and would continue to do so until 1943, and that they would be unable to protect that invasion force if a single British capital ship captain had a touch of Nelson’s spirit. The Heer responded that the Luftwaffe would protect the invasion force, to which Von Richthofen stated that he could sink the entirety of the Royal Navy in a fortnight, or about 13 days longer than it would take them to destroy the invasion force.
Hitler was unconvinced by the arguments of the Kriegsmarine and von Richthofen and ordered that preparations be made for an invasion of Britain to occur in September…
-Excerpt From The Fall of Europe, Scholastic American Press, Philadelphia, 2005
…The War Cabinet debates and the decision to negotiate with the Germans and Italians were kept secret from the public. This secrecy was only broken in 1951 when the information was leaked during the leadup to the General Election. This revelation that the government which had loudly declared that they would never negotiate with Hitler and Sanna did in fact seek to do so saw the British public lose a great deal of trust in the government and shattered some of the halo around their wartime leadership…
-Excerpt from The End of Empire: The British Empire from 1914 to 1964, Southern Hemisphere Press, Wellington, 2005