Page 138 - Was Hitler a Riddle?

The French Diplomats 125

tern in the conduct of his foreign policy. in leaving the league of Nations,
in announcing the expansion of the army on March 16, 1935, and now in
sending his troops into the rhineland, Hitler was following a preconceived
plan to expand German power. “[Hitler’s] ambition is not limited to rees-
tablishing Germany’s sovereignty. the third reich has decided to go . . .
further than William ii.” the Nazis’ next move, the ambassador predicted,
would be the annexation of austria; Göring had bluntly stated that inten-
tion in various pronouncements. Hitler would then make Czechoslovakia
his next victim, having ultimately set his eyes on the establishment of “Ger-
man hegemony in central europe. . . . if england gives way, if it surrenders,
then Hitler will win. if it defends the principles of morality, then Hitler’s
cause will fail.” the German people, the ambassador asserted, did not want
to repeat the mistake of 1914, and if their country faced unyielding opposi-
tion, in the end they would turn away from provocative policies. 67
François-Poncet believed that the French government was paralyzed,
and he warned the leaders in Paris that they would regret their failure to re-
spond to the “brutal action” of March 7 with an “act of the same character.”
Unable to secure British support for a strong stand against Germany, afraid
that the citizens of France would reject a response to Germany that might
lead to military conflict, and still befuddled about Hitler’s ultimate goals,
the government did not follow the ambassador’s advice. there was no seri-
ous attempt to explain to the nation the likely consequences of advance into
the rhineland. after two or three days of uncertainty, the statesmen of the
Western powers “recovered their serenity” and decided to ignore Hitler’s
move. the governments offered a variety of reasons for their inaction, and
the result was predictable: the Führer could boast of another bloodless vic-
tory on the international scene. 68
Hitler’s self-confidence rose immeasurably. On March 18 he dissolved
the reichstag and called for elections to enable the people to express their
views on the latest developments. the electoral campaign proceeded as had
all the others under Nazi rule, except that the public was more cowed than
ever before. the Nazis scored their greatest electoral victory yet: out of for-
ty-five million ballots, 98.8 percent backed the march into the rhineland.
François-Poncet fell into despair and once again raised doubts about
Hitler’s sincerity in avowing his peaceful intentions. the ambassador was
distressed by France’s military weakness, which prevented the country
from standing up to the new Germany. He likened the relationship be-
tween the two nations to a sexual relationship in which “Germany assumes
to itself the role of the [dominant] male.” He ended the dispatch with a