Page 116 - Was Hitler a Riddle?

The French Diplomats 103

ally adopted. Over the next few weeks, the intrigues in the circle around
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President Hindenburg and among party leaders mounted at a dizzying pace,
and so did rumors about the next moves of various parties. the Nazis were
believed to be losing support and were finding it hard to raise money, de-
terring them from contemplating another electoral campaign. the financial
crisis—the Nazis were said to have accumulated a debt of fifteen million
marks, an enormous sum at the time—also made it hard for them to decide
on a firm political strategy. according to press accounts, Hitler sought a
rapprochement with the former chancellor, Papen, so that he could obtain
“new credits” from industrialists. in return, Hitler was apparently willing
to give “certain political assurances.” On January 25, 1933, François-Poncet
wrote that the internal situation in Germany was so tense and confused that
it increasingly “assumes the character of a battle between two forms of dicta-
torship, the dictatorship of a party or of the military” (meaning General von
schleicher). three days later, he wondered whether the country might be
19
on the verge of discarding the Constitution altogether. 20
that possibility loomed even larger on January 30, when the official an-
nouncement that Hitler had been offered the chancellorship contained no
word on the conditions, if any, that the new leader had been obliged to
accept. the only reassuring news for the ambassador was that the right-
wing Nationalists had agreed to serve in the new government. as soon
as he heard that Hitler had become chancellor, François-Poncet contacted
several rightists to find out more about the dramatic political change. all of
them sought to put his mind at rest by telling him that “Hitler had become
reasonable” and that he would be eager to reach an understanding with
France. François-Poncet was not convinced. even if Hitler himself wanted
good relations with France, no one could be sure that his “troops, exalted
by his assumption of power, will permit him to do as he wishes.” the am-
bassador also feared that the Fascists in italy, Hungary, and austria would
now feel emboldened to pursue aggressive policies. 21

the ambassador’s vacillations on hitler

Nine days later, François-Poncet sent a biographical sketch of Hitler to
the Foreign Office, in which he elucidated the history and ideology of Na-
zism. it is comparable to rumbold’s famous analysis of Nazism sent to
london on april 26, 1933, even if not as incisive and sweeping and not
as brilliantly written. But it was perceptive in pointing out the foibles of