Nothing could be learned of their tenor, but by now these negotiations – with their claims and counter-claims, interpretations and reinterpretations and constructions and counter-constructions – have become so complicated that most of the day was spent trying to figure out just what the latest Russian reply was.
That Molotov is a great practical joker.
Also on this post: “Britain is Warned by Nazis on Flight.” Or, “Goering is not Amused.”
He should have been; once the war started, Bomber Command couldn't carry out daylight raids without prohibitive losses. And at night, RAF navigation was so bad that as late as 1942, a raid where twenty percent of the bombs fell within six miles of the target was called 'successful'.
He flatly states that this German response is more saber rattling and calls them for what they are. Pretty tough words there with this statement:
"We have heard these siren voices before from the mouths of international war-mongers and we know that they are only cheap phrases meant to disguise their true intentions from the German people. We are not going to be fooled again."
I think he makes a good and valid point that the words by the Nazi's were just as much intended to impress the German people as much as it was to send a message to France and Britain.