The Swastika and the Eagle: Hitler, the United States, and the Origins of World War II

319 Pages·1967·10.659 MB·English

by  James V. Compton

THE SWASTIKA
AND THE EAGLE

THE SWASTIKA
AND THE EAGLE
, ,
Hitler the United States
and the Origins of World War II
BY JAMES V. COMPTON
Illustrated with Photographs
19 07
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
Boston
FIRST PRINTING R
COPYRIGHT © 1967 BY JAMES V. COMPTON
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INCLUDING THE RIGHT
TO REPRODUCE THIS BOOK OR PARTS THEREOF
IN ANY FORM. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG
CARD NUMBER: 67-13300. PRINTED IN THE
UNTIED STATES OF AMERICA
This book is dedicated to my mother and
to the memory of my father, Lewis Compton,
Assistant Secretary and acting Secretary
of the Navy, 1939 to 1941,
who saw the ultimate danger
and acted

Acknowledgments
It is a pleasure to acknowledge my indebtedness to various
people and institutions without whose assistance this book could
not have been written. I am grateful to the staffs of the following
libraries in London: The London Library of Economics and
Political Science, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, the
Public Record Office, the Cabinet Office, the Historical Section
of the Admiralty, and especially the Wiener Library and the
Foreign Office Library. Mr. Hiscock at the latter depository was
particularly obliging.
Through the cooperation of the Institut fuer Zeitgeschichte in
Munich I was able to contact a number of former German diplo­
mats who assisted me with my inquiries. Dr. Erich Kordt, former
Chief of the Foreign Office Secretariat; Mr. Fritz Wiedemann,
former Consul General in San Francisco; and General Friedrich
von Boetticher, former Military Attaché in Washington, all were
helpful. I would like to make special mention of Dr. Hans Thom­
sen, former Chargé d’Affaires and only surviving Chief of Mis­
sion at the German Embassy in Washington. Dr. Thomsen took
time out from a busy retirement to correspond with me at great
length on many aspects of German-American relations in the
i93o’s and to talk with me during a very informative afternoon
in Hamburg.
At various stages, Mr. Gaspar Otalora and Miss Bridget Smeall
assisted in the proofreading. I tried out many of my ideas at the
London School of Economics in the Seminar on the Origins of
the Second World War presided over by Professor W. N. Medli-
cott. Professor Medlicott has been unfailingly courteous and
viii Acknowledgments
encouraging throughout. I am grateful to Mr. Craig Wylie of
Houghton Mifflin Company for various suggestions.
Finally, I owe a special debt to two fellow historians. Mr. D.
C. Watt of the London School of Economics and the Royal
Institute of International Affairs supervised much of the research
and placed his great knowledge of the inter-war years and of the
documentary sources at my disposal. My Edinburgh colleague,
Mr. Esmond Robertson, was most generous of his time in apply­
ing to the manuscript in full measure his historical insights and
Irish wit.
J. V. C.
Contents
Introduction xiii
PART I. Hitler and the United States
Chapter i: Hitler and the Americans 3
Chapter 2: Hitler and America as a World
Power 24
PART II. America and the Wilhelmstrasse
Chapter 3: America and German Diplomacy 41
Chapter 4: The German Diplomats and Amer­
ica Before the War 55
Chapter 5: The German Diplomats and Amer­
ican Foreign Policy Before the War 69
Chapter 6: The German Diplomats and Amer­
ican Foreign Policy Between Poland
and Pearl Harbor 85
Chapter 7: General von Boetticher’s America 105
PART III. The United States and German Foreign Policy
Chapter 8: America and Hitler’s Continental
Policy 127
Chapter 9: Hitler and the German Navy 137
Chapter 10: The United States and German
Naval Policy 148
Chapter 11: Hitler and the Battle of the Atlantic 161
X Contents
Chapter 12: Germany and Japan Prior to the
War 174
Chapter 13: America and the World Triangle 186
Chapter 14: Germany, the United States and
Japanese Expansion 202
Chapter 15: Germany and Pearl Harbor 221
PART IV. The Swastika and the Eagle
Chapter 16: German Aggression Toward the
United States 243
Chapter 17: Conclusions 260
Source Abbreviations 269
Bibliography 271
Index 285