[On August 17], on their mountaintop, Hitler and Ribbentrop waited impatiently for the response from Moscow. Telegraphic communication between Berlin and Moscow was by no means instantaneous – a condition of affairs which did not seem to be realized in the rarefied atmosphere of the Bavarian Alps. By noon of the seventeenth, Ribbentrop was wiring Schulenburg “most urgent” requesting “a report by telegram regarding the time when you made your request to be received by Molotov and the time for which the conversation has been arranged.” By dinnertime the harassed ambassador was replying, also “most urgent,” that he had only received the Foreign Minister’s telegram at eleven the night before, that it was by then too late to conduct any diplomatic business and that first thing in the morning of today, August 17, he had made an appointment with Molotov for 8 P.M.
For the frantic Nazi leaders it turned out to be a disappointing meeting. Conscious of Hitler’s eagerness and no doubt fully aware of the reasons for it, the Russian Foreign Commissar played with the Germans, teasing and taunting them. After Schulenburg had read to him Ribbentrop’s telegram, Molotov, taking little note of its contents, produced the Soviet government’s written reply to the Reich Foreign Minister’s first communication of August 15.
Beginning acidly with a reminder of the Nazi government’s previous hostility to Soviet Russia, it explained “that until very recently the Soviet Government have proceeded on the assumption that the German Government are seeking occasion for clashes with the Soviet Union . . . Not to mention the fact that the German Government, by means of the so-called Anti-Comintern Pact, were endeavoring to create, and have created, the united front of a number of States against the Soviet Union.” It was for this reason, the note explained, that Russia “was participating in the organization of a defensive front against [German] aggression.”
If, however [the note continued], the German Government now undertake a change from the old policy in the direction of a serious improvement in political relations with the Soviet Union, the Soviet Government can only welcome such a change, and are, for their part, prepared to revise their policy in the sense of a serious improvement in respect of Germany.
But, the Russian note insisted, it must be “by serious and practical steps” – not in one big leap, as Ribbentrop proposed.
What steps?
The first step: conclusion of a trade and credit agreement.
The second step, “to be taken shortly thereafter”: conclusion of a nonaggression pact.
Simultaneously with the second step, the Soviets demanded the “conclusion of a special protocol defining the interests of the contracting parties in this or that question of foreign policy.” This was more than a hint that in regard to dividing up Eastern Europe at least, Moscow was receptive to the German view that a deal was possible.
As for the proposed visit of Ribbentrop, Molotov declared that the Soviet government was “highly gratified” with the idea, “since the dispatch of such an eminent politician and statesman emphasized how serious were the intention s of the German Government. This stood,” he added, “in noteworthy contrast to England, which, in the person of Strang, had sent only an official of second-class rank to Moscow. However, the journey by the German Foreign Minister required thorough preparation. The Soviet Government did not like the publicity that such a journey would cause. They preferred to do practical work without much fuss.”
Molotov made no mention of Ribbentrop’s urgent, specific proposal that he come to Moscow over the weekend, and Schulenburg, perhaps somewhat taken aback by the course of the interview, did not press the matter.
William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
for your list
Wizard of Oz in 1939? Why did I think it was released in 1937?
ML/NJ
This isn’t going to end well, is it?
Attention classic movie fans: TCM is just now starting “Since You Went Away,” from 1944. It tell the story of a family on the home front from January through Christmas, 1943. One of my favorites. Claudette, Jennifer Jones, Joseph Cotten, Shirley Temple, Monty Woolley. Check it out.