France and the Nazi Threat: The Collapse of French Diplomacy 1932-1939 (91 page)

    
1
.
    
Sauvy, op. cit., II, p. 58. See also the important article by Vaïsse, Maurice, “Le mythe de l’or en France; les aspects monetaires du New Deal vus par les francais,” RHMC, July–September 1969, pp. 462–479.

    
2
.
    
*Bonnet, Georges,
Vingt ans de vie politique
, 1969; see p. 175: I set up the western gold bloc.” In July 1933 the governors of the six central banks chaired by the Belgian Jaspar had reached an agreement.

    
3
.
    
Sauvy, op. cit., II, pp. 58–61.

    
4
.
    
I have directed a solid master’s thesis: *de La Tour du Pin, Hadelin,
La presse de droite contre la dévaluation; sa campagne contre Paul Reynaud
, 1972.

    
5
.
    
Reynaud, Paul,
Mémoires
, I, p. 363.
La France a sauvé l’Europe
, 1947, I, p. 250.

    
6
.
    
Bonnet, op. cit., p. 194. What la Tour du Pin, op. cit., was able to prove is very convincing.

    
7
.
    
See la Tour du Pin, the list of financial speeches, p. III-V (4 in 1934, 3 in 1935, 4 in 1936) and the list of his writings, articles and interviews. pp. V–VII.

    
8
.
    
See Sauvy, op. cit., II, p. 90.

    
9
.
    
Sauvy, op. cit., II, pp. 103–104.

  
10
.
    
Figaro
, 29 June 1934, cité par La Tour du Pin, op. cit., p. 81.

  
11
.
    
Temps
, 30 June 1934. Ibid., p.82.

  
12
.
    
Temps
, 18 August 1934, Ibid., p. 85.

  
13
.
    
Recouly, Raymond, in
Gringoire
, 17 August 1934.

  
14
.
    
Temps
, 30 June 1934. Ibid., p. 91.

  
15
.
    
See Jeanneney, J.-N., pp. 525-540.

  
16
.
    
Was there “a covert orchestra conductor?”—in this case the Bank of France as claimed by *Delaisi, Francis,
La Banque de France aux mains des 200 familles?
, Vaïsse, see quoted article, p. 475, thinks this is a rather deeper influence.

  
17
.
    
MAE, Series B, carton 57.

  
18
.
    
See ibid., Letter from Fougère, 19 October 1934: “Confédération générale de la production française,” “Association de l’Industrie et de l’Agriculture,” “Chambre de Commerce de Paris,” “Comité d’action économique et douanier,” “Comité national des conseillers du commerce extérieur,” “Fédération des associations régionales,” and finally “Association nationale d’expansion économique.”

  
19
.
    
MAE, Boissieu, consul general in Dresden, 3 October 1934, quotes an important article in the
Allgemeine Zeitung
in Chemnitz.

  
20
.
    
Document provided by the Finance Ministry to MAE, signed by Boisanger, 27 September 1934.

  
21
.
    
MAE, note to the Belgian embassy, 13 October 1934.

  
22
.
    
MAE, Notes from the deputy director for the Minister, 20 October 1934.

  
23
.
    
See MAE, Series B, carton 57: important report by the deputy director of Commercial Affairs, 26 June 1935.

  
24
.
    
Ibid., Letter from Marchandeau to Laval, 29 January 1935.

  
25
.
    
Ibid., Note from the deputy directorate of Commercial Affairs, 26 January 1935. See also T. 1085, Roger Cambon, chargé d’affaires, 25 October 1934 who met with Sir Frederick Leith-Ross, T. 1143, Corbin, 10 November 1934. The financial attaché Mönick met with Leith-Ross on the 22nd and he confirmed his refusal to tie the pound sterling to gold since the dollar was at the time “strongly devalued,” he said (MAE, D. 18946 sent to Foreign Affairs).

  
26
.
    
Ibid., commercial attaché to Ambassador Laboulaye, and T. 464, Laboulaye, 23 November 1934.

  
27
.
    
Ibid., D. 34, Raymond Brugère, 5 December 1934.

  
28
.
    
MAE, T. 1025-1026, Chambrun, 6 October 1934.

  
29
.
    
MAE, Bouchet to Lamoureux.

  
30
.
    
MAE, Claudel, 3 November 1934.

  
31
.
    
Rueff, op. cit., p. 124.

  
32
.
    
La Tour du Pin, op. cit., pp. 118–120.

  
33
.
    
See Jeanneney, op. cit., p. 522.

  
34
.
    
See below, chap. X.

  
35
.
    
Rueff, op. cit. pp. 122–127. See his paper regarding the “market” as the only regulatory entity of human choices given at the Academy of moral and political sciences. Only the “monetary regulator” remained. “The post war period by extending to the currency the doctrine of planned economy, also attempted to free itself from that kind of influence.” 5 January 1935.

  
36
.
    
Sauvy, op. cit., II, p. 133.

  
37
.
    
“A billionaire” wrote *Coston, Henry,
Les financiers qui mènent le monde
, p. 187. He inherited a large newspaper fortune from his American mother’s side. See *Broustra, J.-C.,
Le combat de Raymond Patenôtre
, 1969, pp. 17–18; Jeanneney, J.-N., op. cit. p.360.

  
38
.
    
As we shall do soon. Below, chap. X.

  
39
.
    
*Girault, René, “La dévaluation de 1936 et la conduite de la politique extérieure de la France,”
Colloque de Nanterre
, 1977.

  
40
.
    
Figures taken from Sauvy, op. cit., II, p. 563.

  
41
.
    
See chart in Sauvy, op. cit., II, p. 562.

  
42
.
    
Sauvy, op. cit., pp. 572–574.

  
43
.
    
See below, Chap. XII, the “Alphand mission.”

  
44
.
    
MAE, T. 3257, Lacroix, Prague, 28 December 1938 (commentary by the
Prager Tageblatt
on the same day).

  
45
.
    
By Raymond Poidevin, Pierre Guillen, René Girault, Jacques Thobie, Jean-Claude Allain, Pierre Milza.

  
46
.
    
This number is offered by *Feis, Herbert,
Europe, the World Banker
, and *Cameron, Rondo,
La France et le développement économique de l’Europe
, p. 86. The authors mentioned in the preceding note confirm this order of magnitude.

  
47
.
    
*Pose, Alfred, “Structures et Méthodes bancaires,” in Rist, Charles and Pirou, Gaétan,
De la France d’avant-guerre à la France d’aujourd’hui
, Paris 1939; *Dauphin-Meunier, Achille,
La banque, 1919–1935
, Paris, 1936.

  
48
.
    
*Soutou, Georges, “L’impérialisme du pauvre,”
Relations internationales
, no. 7, 1976, pp. 219–239.

  
49
.
    
*Teichova, Alice,
An economic background to Munich
, Cambridge, 1974, Chap. 1, “The distribution of International Investments.”

  
50
.
    
Sauvy, Alfred, op. cit., I, p. 30, gives a much higher number. France would have lost 20 billion and liquidated 3 and one half billion (in gold francs). There was, therefore, 21.5 billion left.

  
51
.
    
*Marseille, Jacques, “L’investissement français dans l’Empire colonial: l’enquête du gouvernement de Vichy (1943),”
Revue historique
, October–December 1974, pp. 409–432.

  
52
.
    
*Debeir, J.-C., “Le problème des exportations de capitaux français de 1919 a 1930. Substitutions et concurrences,”
Relations internationales
, no 6, 1976, pp. 171–182.

  
53
.
    
Op. cit., pp. 5–6.

  
54
.
    
See MAE, Léger Papers, letter from Fleuriau, former ambassador to London, 15 June 1933; letter from Claudel, 23 September 1933: “If you can find me any kind of board of directors I can assure you I would gladly give up my job to someone else.”

  
55
.
    
See Jeanneney, J.-N., op. cit., p. 503: Initiatives by François de Wendel to Léger to secure French government backing regarding the very high taxes he was obliged to pay for his business in the Ruhr.

  
56
.
    
Coston, Henry,
Les financiers qui mènent le monde
, op. cit.; *Aymé-Martin, Aymé,
Nos grands financiers contre la Nation
, 1931; *Beau de Loménie, Emmanuel, Les responsabilités des dynasties bourgeoisies, Vols. IV and V. Beau de Loménie mentions the ties between Charles-Roux and the business community, however this diplomat was posted at the Vatican; see *Charles-Roux, François
Huit ans au Vatican
, Paris, 1946.

  
57
.
    
Jeanneney, op. cit., pp. 554 and 590.

  
58
.
    
For example in conquering Manchuria the Japanese, took over two French companies operating there. See
DDF
, 1, II, no 139, Wilden, Peking, 2 September 1932.

  
59
.
    
Despite the attempts made by Paléologue in 1920–1921 that are well described by *Toscano, Mario, “L’accordo revisionista franco-ungherese del 1920,”
Pagine di storia dei trattati
, pp. 303–438.

  
60
.
    
Dauphin-Meunier, op. cit., p. 216.

  
61
.
    
All the information that follows originates from
DDF
, 2, XII, no. 30, Note for the Minister from the deputy political director, 5 October 1938.

  
62
.
    
DDF
, 1, XII, note already quoted. Regarding the Rambouillet agreement, see *Lukasziewicz, Juliusz,
Diplomat in Paris, 1933–1939
, New York, 1970, pp. 12–21.

  
63
.
    
See below, chap. XII.

  
64
.
    
*Marguerat, Philippe,
Le IIIe Reich et le pétrole roumain, 1938–1940
, Geneva, 1977.

  
65
.
    
Below, chap. XII.

  
66
.
    
Below, chap. XII.

  
67
.
    
*Ageron, Ch.-R., in
Cahiers de l’Inst. d’histoire de la presse et de l’opinion
, Tours, no. 1, 1973, p. 3.

  
68
.
    
For a longer list, see *Leblond, Marius-Ary,
Anthologie coloniale
, 1943, p. 323.

  
69
.
    
All of these details in Ageron, op. cit.

  
70
.
    
Ageron, op. cit., p. 21.

  
71
.
    
See Andrew, C. M. and Kanya-Farstner, A. S., “
The groupe colonial
in the French Chamber of Deputies 1892–1932,”
Historical Journal
, 1974, 4.

  
72
.
    
Marseille, J., “Le commerce entre la France et son Empire colonial dans les années 30,”
Colloque de Nanterre
, March 1977.

  
73
.
    
See above, §3.

  
74
.
    
Numbers quoted from Ageron, op. cit., pp. 23–24.

  
75
.
    
Ageron, op. cit., p. 24.

  
76
.
    
Below, chap. XII.