The German Peace

by Derek Pennington

  “U-37 signalling again, sir. Signal reads ‘U-37 to destroyer. Everything is now in order. U-48 and ourselves will depart on a course directly away from you. We will remain surfaced until convoy is out of sight. Please acknowledge.”

  Nicholson felt relief surge through him, closely followed by disappointment and frustration. For the first time since the war started he had a chance to sink a sub, and his bloody hands were tied.

  “Acknowledge” he ordered.

  As he watched, the captain of U-37 saluted him, followed instantly by the captain of U-48. He returned the courtesy.

  The two subs moved off. They were carefully watched by almost every sailor in every ship in the convoy until they were out of sight.

  Only then did Nicholson relax – a little. “That was something you don’t see every day, Charles!” He said to his first Lieutenant. “There goes a brave man. He deliberately placed himself and his ship in great danger. His orders are somehow tied in with the ‘no offensive’ orders that we received. I wonder what is going on. Could it be peace?

  Then, with a glimmer of a smile, “I think under the circumstances it would be in order to pipe ‘up spirits’. The hands will appreciate an extra tot of rum. Inform the escorts accordingly. I will be in my cabin. This would appear to be a good opportunity to catch a little sleep.”

  Ten minutes later he was in his bunk and out to the world!

  On board U-48 Captain Schiller explained the situation to his mystified crew. He looked at their trusting faces and his heart went out to them. They were tired and dirty. With U-48 nearly at the end of its cruise, all of them needed some rest.

  U-48 lying surfaced and unmoving, directly under the guns of the British warship, had been unnerving. His men deserved to know what was going on. Not that he knew much himself.

  After he had finished speaking, a voice towards the back said, “Its peace. I tell you, it is peace,” After a second’s delay everybody excitedly started talking at once. There were even some smiling faces. Maybe they would live through this war, after all.

  Schiller would never know how close he had come to re-starting the war between Germany and Great Britain. If that had happened, who knows where it might have led. Possibly even another World war?

  15 JUNE

  Lord Halifax had positioned his personal secretary by one of the windows in the dining room. From there he could see the summer house. He had been instructed to let everyone know when the Germans arrived at the meeting point.

  At eight fifty five, he called out “They have arrived.”

  Nobody wanted to give the impression of nervousness, so they all finished doing whatever they were engaged in. Halifax and Brooke finished sipping their lukewarm tea, Blackstone and Smyth closed the files they were pretending to read.

  “Shall we go forth and do battle?” Quipped Halifax, with a slight but somehow reassuring smile on his face. He was in his element. He was sure he could secure a treaty acceptable to both sides. This would be his crowning achievement in politics. Then perhaps he could think about retiring to his beloved country estate.

  They stepped outside into the glorious early summer sunshine.

  The first meeting of the two sides was only a little strained. It had been a long time since the two nationalities had met, other than on a battlefield. Baron Von Altendorf and Lord Halifax greeted each other warmly with murmured “Good to see you again,” before introducing their respective associates.

  Brooke noted that Rommel shook his hand warmly and told him “It is a great honour to meet you.”

  The rest of the delegates merely shook hands with straight faces.

  The room was bright, airy and cool. Large ceiling fans silently whirred away. Several large bowls of fresh flowers had been placed to brighten the room. And hopefully the atmosphere!

  Portuguese soldiers discreetly patrolled the gardens at a respectable distance.

  A beautiful teak table had been made ready for them. There were carafes of iced water and glasses placed at intervals along the table. In front of each seat was placed a notepad and pencil, as well as a dossier put there by the Germans. The British noted that the dossiers bore the German eagle but curiously, no swastika.

  The Germans distributed themselves on one side of the table, and the British on the other. Von Altendorf sat opposite Halifax. The two generals faced each other, as did the aides, personal secretaries and the intelligence operatives.

  All was ready.

  Von Altendorf opened the proceedings by addressing the British.

  “Gentlemen. Firstly I would like to offer you my sincere thanks on behalf of the German Government for agreeing to this meeting. These are difficult times and I know that certain past events may have led to diminished trust between our two great countries. I hope that we can put this behind us today.

  I can say that there is no doubt, no doubt whatsoever, that the outcome of these negotiations will have an enormous impact on our two countries, and indeed, on the whole world. It is in our hands to make history here today.”

  He paused for a moment, and then continued in a more business-like manner.

  “We have a great deal to discuss, and time is limited. The reason for our insistence on speed will become apparent as I speak.

  I suggest that as you are graciously here at our request, it is up to me to explain matters first. This should take me no more than one hour. During that time I respectfully ask that you reserve any questions or comments you may have, until later.”

  He waited for their reaction. There were nods of assent on the British side.

  Von Altendorf allowed a few seconds. He looked at the British and continued.

  “Adolf Hitler is dead.” The terrible secret of the Generals was out!

  The British delegates were absolutely stunned. They had been hit with a verbal sledgehammer! None of them could hide their surprise. With great self-discipline they refrained from comment and eagerly waited for some more good news.

  Von Altendorf looked Halifax in the eye as he then said, “Certain overambitious and power-hungry individuals within the Nazi hierarchy, plotted a coup. The army was aware of it and was waiting for them to commit themselves. Unfortunately three weeks ago they assassinated Hitler before the military could take action.

  The criminals were quickly arrested and tried by a military court. They were found guilty and subsequently executed. Germany for the time being is governed by a Military Council, the nominal head of which is Field Marshall Goering, but in actuality it is led by General von Brauchitsch.

  Halifax interpreted von Altendorf’s look as meaning “Please accept this at face value. This is not the time and place to talk about the demise of a bunch of gangsters.” He kept the thought to himself.

  “These events will be made public in Germany in the next 24 hours. They will be timed to coincide with the announcement of the armistice with the French, and hopefully, if things reach a successful conclusion here, a second announcement of an end to the war with Great Britain.” He paused for a moment to let that sink in.

  “Now, on to the actual proposed peace terms.

  Firstly, the original cause of the war. Poland.

  We propose a peace treaty between Germany and Poland, re-establishing Poland’s independence. There would be an orderly withdrawal of our troops, and by way of reparations to them for Germany’s unwarranted attack, we will assist them to create a new army, air force and navy. We would be prepared to enter into a military alliance with them to protect them from future aggressors.”

  All present knew he was referring to the Soviet Union, which had occupied the eastern half of Poland after Germany’s declaration of war on that poor country.

  “We will renounce our historical claim to the former German territory known as ‘the Polish corridor’, in return for which we insist on a plebiscite in the free city of Danzig, to see if its inhabitants want to be part of Poland, or Germany, or remain a city state. As you may know, some ninety percent of Danzigers are German
and we would hope they would wish to be part of Germany. However, we will respect their wishes whatever they may be.

  Unfortunately we are powerless to do anything about Soviet occupied Poland. The Poles must understand and accept this. Perhaps the Soviet Union may one day take notice of world opinion and withdraw. Who knows?”

  This development was another surprise for the British. It effectively removed the original cause for the war. What else have they up their sleeve? The needle on the British optimism meter was climbing!

  “Norway.” A slight pause. “Germany will enter into immediate peace negotiations with the Norwegian Government-in-Exile, with a view to withdrawing our troops from that country, subject to certain - non-contentious - trade and security commitments. Norway will once again be a sovereign country.

  Luxembourg. Regardless of these talks, we intend to withdraw from that country in the coming weeks and restore full sovereignty. Conditional only a treaty of friendship.

  Denmark, Holland and Belgium. These are slightly more complicated cases. It is our contention that a period of stabilisation is needed in Western Europe, perhaps a year, but it may have to be longer. During that period they will largely govern their own internal affairs. Eventually this will lead to plebiscites for independence or possible incorporation as autonomous states within the German Union. The choice will be theirs.”

  Halifax thought this not unreasonable, given the recent turmoil in Western Europe.

  Von Altendorf continued. “France. We believe that country may never have any affection for Germany. Perhaps rightly so. We will complete the process of negotiating a final peace treaty to replace the existing armistice agreement. A new peace treaty would include significantly easier terms than the armistice agreement. We certainly don’t want to sow the seeds of yet another war with them.”

  He was making an oblique reference to the onerous treaty conditions imposed on Germany by the Treaty of Versailles, after they had lost the Great War. That treaty was deeply resented in Germany and, in part, had led to the rise of Adolf Hitler.

  “The irritating attack by Italy on southern France and their declaration of war on Great Britain, will be taken care of by Germany. It is not a material factor. All will revert to the situation that previously existed.”

  Brooke took this to mean that the Germans obviously thought as little of Mussolini as everybody else did.

  Von Altendorf paused for a sip of water. He had come to the crux of the matter.

  “As regards Great Britain.” He paused again.

  “On signing of an armistice or peace treaty, all British prisoners of war will be transported to any port of your choice in France, Belgium or Holland, over a period of time to suit you.

  Any of the equipment abandoned by you at Dunkirk last month, is yours should you want it.

  We ask for no army, naval or air force limitations. In fact it is our hope that we can establish military co-operation between our two countries in the near future.”

  Another slight pause.

  “In respect of Germany’s former colonies in Africa which are now part of the British Empire,” He looked at Halifax.

  “Here it comes,” Halifax thought, “We always thought the Germans would want their old territories back. And we will have no choice but to give them back.”

  “We have no claim on them,” von Altendorf stated. “We regard the British Empire as a great stabilising force in the world.”

  Again the British delegates were pleasantly surprised. Things were progressing far better than expected.

  The German Foreign Minister then spelt out some changes that were to take place with regard to Germany’s internal governance and policies. The drift towards a totalitarian state of the previous regime would be reversed. The message here was that the need for change was recognised, but the Military Council first had to be reconstituted into a Governing Council with civilian members.

  This required another week or two.

  He advised the meeting of sundry other items of lesser importance before ending his speech.

  “The time is now ten o’clock, gentlemen. You have been given a lot to think about. The dossier in front of you explains things in more detail.

  I think that we should now retire for some refreshment and meet again at twelve o’clock. Would this give you sufficient time to discuss matters between yourselves and prepare any questions or response?”

  Halifax answered. “Baron von Altendorf, - gentlemen. On behalf of the British Government we thank you for the disclosures you have made to us. Your frankness is deeply appreciated. As you suggest, we need to thoroughly appraise the points raised. Two hours will be sufficient.”

  The delegates now rose, shook hands again, and filed out of the room.

  Not a word passed between the British until they were inside their own villa. As arranged with their hosts, there were refreshments laid out, and a plentiful supply of ice. The day was warming up!

  Jeremy Blackstone, ignoring a slight frown on General Brooke’s face, poured himself an ice cold Portuguese beer and took a swig. Beautiful! Once they all had their drinks, the talking started.

  First and foremost was the news of Hitler’s death.

  “This puts a totally different complexion on everything” Halifax stated. “Damn, that is very good news. The Prime Minister will be very pleased when he hears it.” He continued, “I strongly suspect that the army may be behind it all. They have got rid of the whole Nazi rabble. Good riddance, I say. This helps our own negotiating position a little. They are anxious to conclude a deal with us before the news of the death of their hero reaches the German public.”

  “Positive development it may be, but the terms on offer are extremely generous. What else could we possibly ask for?” Brooke, as usual, went straight to the point. “Even if Britain won the bloody war we would not end up with better terms.”

  “You are right, and to be quite frank, General, there is nothing of substance that I can think of to improve the terms offered. But I would feel happier if we can find something. I was prepared for many alternatives but their more than reasonable proposals have taken the wind out of my sails.”

  For the next two hours the discussion went back and forth with everybody having a comment to make. They could not think of anything substantial that would improve on the German proposals. It seemed as though their opponents had thought of everything and were leaning over backwards to ensure a successful outcome.

  It was time to go back to the meeting.

  They settled down in their respective seats. This time Lord Halifax opened the discussions.

  “We have to commend you on the thoroughness of the proposals submitted to us. We can find no reason not to submit these to our government with a recommendation that we attempt to successfully conclude peace negotiations with the German Provisional Government - here today - on the basis outlined.”

  There, it was said. Perhaps some small sense of relief was apparent on the German side?

  “We have only a few small questions to clarify certain points. If I may?”

  Please, Lord Halifax, go ahead,” answered von Altendorf.

  “Firstly, the future expanded Governing Council for Germany that you mentioned. Will this include any Nazis or prominent members of the previous regime?”

  “I cannot give you a simple answer to that. In Germany for the past several years many people joined the Nazi party for reasons other than being dedicated Nazis. I can, however, assure you that there will be no trace of Nazi ideology in the new government. Neither will there be any communists.”

  A pleasing answer for Halifax.

  His next questions were on various matters concerning the London based Governments-in-Exile of Poland, Norway, Holland and, (probably soon to be), France. Belgium’s government was also based in France at that moment and would need to be considered.

  The Germans were ready to negotiate with them, in London or anywhere else, on the basis already outlined.

  The pligh
t of Czechoslovakia was raised.

  Von Altendorf’s answer was that this, unfortunately, was not open to discussion. That country was now considered to be an integral part of Germany. He gave firm assurances that there would be no discrimination of any kind against the Czechs and Slovaks. They would be integrated into German society and become full German citizens with all rights and obligations. They would benefit greatly from this. Alternatively there would be no barriers to them leaving the country if they so wished.

  General Brooke asked what their attitude to Japan was.

  It was Rommel that answered, in response to a look from von Altendorf.