Page 93 - Was Hitler a Riddle?

80 The British Diplomats

make possible the “untrammeled railway and motor connexion between
east Prussia and the rest of the reich.” still, the ambassador firmly believed
that Hitler did not want war at this time, although he might risk it “if his
offer to Poland is uncompromisingly rejected.” after all, danzig was “prac-
tically wholly a German city,” a surprising statement by Henderson since
by this time he had concluded that Hitler also had his eye on lands where
Germans did not predominate. 161
More such conflicting opinions on Hitler and Nazism by Henderson
could be cited, but the ones mentioned here suffice to demonstrate that
he was a committed appeaser with an extraordinary penchant for inconsis-
tency. diplomats are almost by nature cautious and often issue ambiguous
statements on major diplomatic events; this makes it possible for them to
change their positions in response to political pressures. But Henderson
regularly made statements that were not just vague but contradictory; in-
deed, it could be said that he made contradiction into a fine art, puzzling
many readers of his dispatches.
By late March 1939, the authorities in london had apparently reached
the decision to remove Henderson from Berlin, but it was awkward to dis-
miss an ambassador who occupied so important a post without finding
another assignment for him. senior officials considered appointing him
as ambassador to the United states, certainly a prestigious post. But the
american government was not receptive to the suggestion because many
in Washington believed that Henderson “would start here as ‘the man who
sold Czechoslovakia down the river.’” Henderson remained the ambassa-
162
dor to Germany, but early in april he was “granted a short period of leave”
at the end of which the Foreign Office decided not to send him back “at
least for the time being,” in part, apparently, to protest Germany’s march
into Czechoslovakia. When, in the spring of 1939, Henderson considered
a trip to Canada, O. e. sargent, the deputy-undersecretary at the Foreign
Office, expressed the hope that the ambassador would not give any lectures
there or in the United states. if he did plan to lecture, he was to give the
Foreign Office a copy of his speeches beforehand. in december 1939, when
Henderson planned a visit to the United states, the foreign secretary, Hali-
fax, requested that Henderson, who was still on active duty as ambassador,
be advised to hold his tongue. Chamberlain’s government had by now
163
concluded that Henderson could not be trusted to speak sensibly about
Germany.