Triumph and Tragedy (The Second World War) (48 page)

It would now seem possible to put into force the decree
of the Algiers Committee whereby, as an interim stage,
the Consultative Assembly would be transformed into
an elected body, reinforced by the addition of new
elements drawn from inside France. To this body the
French Committee of National Liberation would be
responsible. Such a step, once taken, when seen to
have the approval of the French people, would greatly
strengthen the position of France, and would render
possible that recognition of the Provisional Government
of France, and all those consequences thereof, which
we all desire to bring about at the earliest moment. I
close no doors upon a situation which is in constant flux
and development.

The welcome which the Maquis gave to the Committee seemed to me to be a decisive point in favour of its more formal recognition. I therefore telegraphed to the President: Triumph and Tragedy

296

QPrime

Minister

14 Oct. 44

(Moscow)

to

President Roosevelt

I have been reflecting about the question of the
recognition of the French Provisional Government. I
think events have now moved to a point where we
could take a decision on the matter consistently with
your own policy and my latest statement in the House
of Commons.

2. In your telegram you said that you thought that we
should wait until France was cleared of the enemy, and
you implied that in any case de Gaulle must first show
himself ready to take over from Eisenhower full
responsibility for the administration of part of France as
an interior zone. I for my part took the line in Parliament
that the reorganisation of the Consultative Assembly on
a more representative basis ought to precede
recognition.

3. I understand that Eisenhower is anxious to
comply with the request he has already had from the
French to constitute a large part of France into an
interior

zone.

Negotiations

between

Supreme

Headquarters and the French are making good
progress, and it appears that we may expect about
three-quarters of France to )become an interior zone
very shortly.

4. The enlargement of the Consultative Assembly is
also making good progress. Duff Cooper reports that
owing to very real difficulties of communications in
France the French have found it impracticable to
proceed with the original Algiers plan of getting
members of an enlarged Assembly confirmed in their
mandates by elections in liberated departments. They
propose instead to add selected delegates from the
Resistance Movement and Parliamentary groups. I
understand it is hoped to settle the matter shortly and
publish a new decree defining attributions of the
reformed Assembly and giving it increased powers over
the Executive. It is thought that the enlarged Assembly
should be able to meet at the end of this month.

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5. There is no doubt that the French have been cooperating with Supreme Headquarters and that their
Provisional Government has the support of the majority
of French people. I suggest therefore that we can now
safely recognise General de Gaulle’s Administration as
the Provisional Government of France.

6. One procedure might be to tell the French now
that we will recognise [it] as soon as the enlarged
Assembly has met and has given de Gaulle’s
Administration a vote of confidence.

7. An alternative procedure would be to recognise
as soon as the interior zone has been formally
established. I am inclined to think that this alternative is
preferable, as it would connect recognition with what
will be a mark of satisfactory co-operation between the
French authorities and the Allied Armies in the common
cause against Germany.

8. Please tell me what you think. If you agree that
we should settle the matter by one or other of the
procedures suggested above, the Foreign Office and
State Department might at once compare their ideas
upon the actual terms in which we should give
recognition. It is important that we should take the
same line, although we need not necessarily adopt
exactly the same wording. We should of course have
also to inform the Soviet Government of what we intend.

9. Recognition would not of course commit us on the
separate question of French membership of the
European Advisory Commission or similar bodies.

The President replied:

President Roosevelt

20 Oct. 44

to Prime Minister

I think until the French set up a real zone of interior
that we should make no move towards recognising
them as a Provisional Government. The enlargement of
the Consultative Assembly, which has already been
extended and made more representative, is almost as
important, and I should be inclined to hang recognition
on the effective completion of both these acts. I would

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298

not be satisfied with de Gaulle merely saying that he
was going to do it.

I agree with you that there must be no implication, if
and when we do recognise a Provisional Government,
that this means a seat on the European Advisory
Council, etc. These matters can be taken up later on
their merits.

I am anxious to handle this matter, for the present,
directly between you and me, and would prefer, for the
moment, that the modus operandi should not become a
matter of discussion between the State Department and
your Foreign Office.

I do hope you are free of the temperature and really
feeling all right again.

Our discussions proceeded on these lines. The French Assembly was strengthened and enlarged by members of the Resistance organisations and the old Parliamentary group. Already in August we had concluded a Civil Affairs Agreement with the French Provisional Administration, dividing France into a forward zone, under the Supreme Allied Commander, and an interior zone, where the administration would be in the hands of the French authorities. On October 20 it was announced that, with the agreement of the Allied High Command, an interior zone comprising the larger part of France, including Paris, had been set up. The Committee of National Liberation was thus finally transformed into a Provisional Government of France.

I was now prepared to recommend, in concert with our Allies, the official acceptance of this body as the Government of Liberated France. After last-minute hesitations by the State Department the public announcement was made during my visit to Moscow, where I discussed the final stages of formal recognition with the

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Russians. This came sooner than I expected, and I telegraphed to the President:

Prime

Minister

23 Oct. 44

(Moscow)

to

President Roosevelt

I was naturally surprised at the very sharp turn taken
by the State Department, and on arrival here I find the
announcement is to be made tomorrow. We shall of
course take similar and simultaneous action. I think it
likely that the Russians will be offended. Molotov in
conversation said that he expected they would be
made to appear the ones who were obstructing,
whereas they [the Russians] would have recognised
long ago, but had deferred to American and British
wishes. I hope therefore it has been possible to bring
them in too.

I said in my speech to the House of Commons on October 27:

I have been myself for some weeks past satisfied
not only that the present French Government, under
General de Gaulle, commands the full assent of the
vast majority of the French people, but that it is the only
Government which can possibly discharge the very
heavy burdens which are being cast upon it, and the
only Government which can enable France to gather its
strength in the interval which must elapse before the
constitutional and Parliamentary processes, which it
has declared its purpose to reinstate, can again resume
their normal functions.

Thus we completed the processes begun in the dark and far-off days of 1940.

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300

It was thought fitting that my first visit to Paris should be on Armistice Day, and this was publicly announced. There were many reports that collaborators would make attempts on my life and extreme precautions were taken. On the afternoon of November 10 I landed at Orly airfield, where de Gaulle received me with a guard of honour, and we drove together through the outskirts of Paris and into the city itself until we reached the Quai d’Orsay, where my wife and Mary and I were entertained in state. The building had long been occupied by the Germans, and I was assured I should sleep in the same bed and use the same bathroom as had Goering. Everything was mounted and serviced magnificently, and inside the palace it was difficult to believe that my last meeting there, described in a previous volume, with Reynaud’s Government and General Gamelin in May 1940 was anything but a bad dream.
1
At eleven o’clock on the morning of November 11 de Gaulle conducted me in an open car across the Seine and through the Place de la Concorde, with a splendid escort of Gardes Municipales in full uniform with all their breastplates. They were several hundred strong, and provided a brilliant spectacle, on which the sun shone brightly. The whole of the famous avenue of the Champs Elysées was crowded with Parisians and lined with troops. Every window was filled with spectators and decorated with flags. We proceeded through wildly cheering multitudes to the Arc de Triomphe, where we both laid wreaths upon the tomb of the Unknown Warrior. After this ceremony was over the General and I walked together, followed by a concourse of the leading figures of French public life, for half a mile down the highway I knew so well. We then took our places on a dais, and there was a splendid march past of French and British troops. Our Guards detachment was magnificent.