The Policy of Simmering: A Study of British Policy During the Spanish Civil War 1936–1939

172 Pages·1962·7.131 MB·English

by  Wm. Laird Kleine-Ahlbrandt (auth.)

THE POLICY OF SIMMERING
THE POLICY OF SIMMERING
A STUDY OF BRITISH POLICY
DURING THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR
I936 - I939
BY
WM. LAIRD KLEINE-AHLBRANDT
WITH A FOREWORD BY
SIR HAROLD MITCHELL
Institute 01 Hispanic American and Luso-Brazilian Studies
Stanford University
•
Springer-Science+Business Media, B.Y. 1962
TO KEETJE
Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht, ig62
Originally published by Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague, Netherlands in 1962
All rights reserved, including the right to translate or to
reproduce this book or parts thereof in any form
ISBN 978-94-017-4569-7 ISBN 978-94-017-4738-7 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-4738-7
FOREWORD
Few modem events have aroused more controversy than the Spanish
Civil War. This controversy was especially acute in Great Britain,
which was tom between its distrust of Nazi Germany and Fascist
Italy on the one hand and of Communist Russia on the other. The
British public, pacifist in sentiment and determined to avoid war at
almost any cost, sensed the danger implicit in the Civil War, yet
realised its impotence to control events in Spain which indeed it little
understood. The British Government, though under heavy attack from
the Opposition and from a handful of its own supporters, succeeded in
its endeavours to keep the country out of war on this occasion. The
neutrality of Spain, even after Mussolini had entered World War II,
was of inestimable value to Britain after the debacle in the summer of
I940. It may be therefore that British policy during the Civil War paid
off later on as well as achieving its purpose at the time.
Dr. Kleine's book, lucidly written and carefully documented, ex
amines the British attitude toward the Spanish Civil War. The author has
the advantage of belonging to a generation which is able to analyse these
events with historical detachment. Yet his understanding and easy
style have made the period live.
Neutrality was not easy for Britain. Its far-reaching interests in
trading with Spain and in passage through Iberian waters again and
again raised awkward problems. These ranged from the sinking of
vessels by unidentified submarines to the Arantzazu Mendi affair.
Opening a House of Commons debate on January I9, I937, Mr. An
thony Eden defined his government's policy when he said: "there are
British interests in this Spanish conflict, and they are two fold. First,
that the conflict shall not spread beyond the boundaries of Spain; and
second, tha,t the political independence and the territorial integrity
of Spain shall be achieved." My own view expressed on that occasion,
VI FOREWORD
immediately after my return from a visit to Spain was that: "We
should do all that we can to preserve our present efforts for neutrality
and still further try to close the frontiers to arms going in." Time has
not changed my opinion that the Foreign Secretary's policy was the
right one for Great Britain. Each of his objectives was obtained, not
withstanding his resignation before the end of the war.
In retrospect, the Spanish Civil War seems like a prologue to World
War II. This book is particularly relevant at a period when not less
grave problems from Laos to Berlin face the Western Powers. I com
mend it as a valuable addition to the literature on the Spanish Civil
War and indispensable for the understanding of the British attitude
at that time.
HAROLD PATON MITCHELL
Institute of Hispanic American and Luso-Brazilian Studies,
Stanford University
June 1962
PREFACE
For centuries British statesmen have been concerned with problems
arising from foreign civil war, which on each occurrence seem to
occasion the same questions: What are the war's international impli
cations? How is the balance of power to be affected? If there will be
intervention, how shoul dit be handled? What sacrifices should be made
and what actions taken? In this respect the Spanish Civil War was
little different from others, but to the extent that this dangerously
ideological struggle threatened to pull the rest of Europe like a whirl
pool into its midst, it marked a departure, if only in extent, from
previous situations.
This book purports to study the forces released by that war, investi
gating how one country, Great Britain, reacted to them. Taking this
policy in relation to its times - the actions and motives of other
European powers naturally form part of the picture - both sides of the
coin are examined: the effect of British action on international affairs
and their reverberations, in turn, on domestic politics.
Although British policy in the immediate years before World War II
has had extensive treatment, there seems to be a genuine lack when it
comes to the question of Spain. In view of the extent to which this
war captured the attention of the British people and occupied with
tedious negotations their leaders, this lacuna appears surprising; never
theless it exists. Perhaps the British concentration on isolating the
Civil War from other main events of the period has also carried over
into historical research, or perhaps it is due to a tendency to lump all
British policy under that convenient, disapproving term "appease
ment."
Consequently now that there has appeared sufficient material from
which to form an appraisal of Britain's course of action, it seems
opportune to complete the general picture of those years by analysing
in depth this missing link.
VIII PREFACE
The research has been based extensively on primary source material:
government documents, memoirs, newspapers, annuals, etc. In addition
to British documentation, extensive use has been made of German and
American foreign policy papers, which in many instances give inside
accounts of British negotiations. The American diplomatic corre
spondence is particularly valuable in this respect because the detached
position that the United States enjoyed in regard to nonintervent
ionist nations permitted her a measure of confidence denied by those
countries to each other; this is especially true of Britain and France.
The most interesting Italian sources are those of Galeazzo Ciano who
describes the character of British diplomacy in her negotiations with
his country on Spain and the Mediterranean.
British memoirs, for example those of Hugh Dalton and Leopold
Amery, are generally more valuable for the opinions they express than
the information they supply; Winston Churchill's account, including
the reproduction of pertinent correspondence written with all manner
of officialdom in the years he was out of office, is also useful. Very
little has been written by Neville Chamberlain; FeiIing's biography
prints some of his correspondence. The fact that there is even less on
Baldwin probably frightens away the biographer who has yet to write
the definitive story of his life - even so, perhaps no amount of material
will help to explain the man satisfactorily. In the realm of diplomacy
there have been some interesting accounts written by men in the
Foreign Office, but with the exception of Ciano few of these memoirs
give a profound insight into British policy.
Debates of Parliament, the League of Nations, and Labour Confer
ences have been used with the intention of indicating the essence of a
particular debate with its principal issues. The Survey 01 International
Affairs and the Annual Register are valuable as chronographs, and,
although written close to the events they describe, in many simplify
research.
Those who have helped me at one stage or another in the preparation
of this work, I should like to gratefully acknowledge: to Dr. Jacques
Freymond, Director of the I nstitut U niversitaire de H autes Etudes
Internationales in Geneva, Professor Maurice Baumont, under whose
direction the manuscript was written, and to Professor Louis J. Halle.
USE OF FOOTNOTES
At first reference the title of a documentary source is listed completely;
subsequently, and also in the case of memoirs, general works, etc.,
unless citing an author with more than one work in the bibli
ography in which case the title is still included, all footnotes
appear in abbreviated form. Authors are mentioned by their last
names; documents have shortened or abbreviated titles. Thus, Duff
Cooper, Old Men Forget, p. 214 becomes Cooper, p. 214; the Survey of
International Affairs is referred to as Survey; the Foreign Relations of
the United States is shortened to USD, i.e. United States Documents;
Documents on British Foreign Policy are BD; Documents on German
Foreign Policy are GD; British White Papers are Cmd; Soviet Docu
ments on Foreign Policy are SD, etc. Parliamentary debates are referred
to in the text by their dates, but in the event that a footnote was held
necessary they are cited as Hansard. In all cases the complete titles can
be found in the bibliography.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword by Sir Harold 1\1[ itchell v
Pre/ace . ... VII
Use of Footnotes IX
Introduction I
1. The World of Imagination
2. The Cross of the Spaniards
Chapter I. Formulation ot a Policy. . . . 6
1. Search
2. The Problems of the Opposition
Chapter II. 1\1[ etamorphosis 0/ N on-Intervention 23
1. Support Withdrawn
2. Further Complications
3. The League of Nations Ignored
Chapter III. Conflict of Interests. . . . 37
1. A Vital Artery
2. Prohibition and Control
3. Unfulfilled Desires
Chapter IV. Change of Leadership . 52
1. Defense of Interests
2. Chamberlain Takes Over
3. The Boulevard des Inconnus
4. The Mediterranean Conference