Prelude to Downfall: Hitler and the United States, 1939-1941

351 Pages·1967·10.468 MB·English

by  Saul Friedländer

BOOKS ÖY SAUL FRIEDLÄNDER
PRELUDE TO DOWNFALL:
HITLER AND THE UNITED STATES, 1939“ 1941
(1967)
PIUS xn AND THE THIRD REICH:
A DOCUMENTATION
(I960)
These are Borzoi Books, published in New York by
ALFRED• A -KNOPF
PRELUDE
to
DOW NFALL

Saul Friedländer
PRELUDE
t o
DOWNFALL:
Hitler and the United States,
I939-I94I
Translated from the French by
Aline B. and Alexander Werth
V
ALFRED *A’KNOPF 1967
New York:
THIS IS A BORZOI BOOK
PUBLISHED BY ALFRED A. KNOPF, INC.
First American Edition
© Copyright 1967 by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American
Copyright Conventions. Distributed by Random House, Inc.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 66-10739
Manufactured in the United States of America
Originally published as Hitler et les États-Unis (1939-1941)
by Librairie Droz, Geneva, Switzerland, 1963.

F O R E W O R D
ONSiDERiNG the flood of publications about World War
II, it is astonishing that no systematic treatment has
yet appeared of so pivotal a factor as the relationship of the
Third Reich to the United States. Apart from one unpub­
lished German dissertation, devoted primarily to naval
matters and American policy toward the Reich, there are
only scattered publications here and there dealing with some
special aspect of the subject.
At first it seemed hardly possible to delineate German-
American relations during 1939 to 1941 within a reasonably
brief compass. But a thorough study of the documents in the
German Foreign Office archives in Bonn, the government
archives in Coblenz, the British Admiralty archives in Lon­
don, and the National Archives in Washington eventually
led to the crystallization of certain central questions that
press for an answer: How did the leadership in Berlin regard
the role of the United States in the struggle for world power?
How much was Hitler influenced in his strategic deliberations
by the probability that this colossus would enter the war?
Had it occurred to the German leaders that the fate of the
Third Reich might be decided, much as that of the Second
had been, by intervention from America?
If Hitler was not quite blind to this danger, what steps did
he take to guard against American entry into the war, and
how did these precautions actually affect the conduct of the
war and the Third Reich’s political policy? How heavily did
the American factor weigh in the scales during those first two
years of war? And what part did it play in Hitler’s Russian
policy?
[ Vii ]
FOREWORD
My detailed consideration of these questions will, I hope,
contribute something to the study of the history of World
War II, and perhaps answer some basic questions for
American readers in particular.
The American edition of this book is not merely a
translation of the origihal French edition first published in
1963. Much of the text has been modified, some of the
cumbersome footnotes have been dropped or integrated into
the text, and major new publications which appeared since
then have been taken into account. The publication, in 1965,
by the U. S. Government Printing Office in Washington of
Documents on German Foreign Policy, Series D, Volume
XIII, for June to December 1941, added some interesting
new material, and Andreas Hillgruber’s Hitlers Strategie,
Politik und Kriegführung, 1940-1941, some valuable in­
sights.
Because of the immense amount of material, its in­
tricacies, and its dispersion, new sources are bound to
emerge from time to time, rendering even the most exhaustive
treatment incomplete. This occurred when the Central
Security Office’s Lageberichte were uncovered recently in
Coblenz. But these “situational reports” of the security serv­
ice for the two years in question deal only with German
secret services activities in the United States, and nearly
confirm what has been said on the subject in this book. All
the main points and interpretations brought forward in the
original version apparently remain fully valid today.
The present edition has benefited from criticisms and
comments published about the earlier French and German
editions. Finally, my warmest thanks are due to Sophie
Wilkins of Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., for her most careful atten­
tion to every detail and her extremely competent and untiring
help in the preparation of the present edition of this book.
Geneva SAUL FRIEDLANDER
September 1967
Contents
C H A P T E R I
1933-1939
1. German-American Relations from 1933 to 1939 3
2. The German Evaluation of the American Factor in 1939 15
3. The Reich and the United States in Latin America 26
4. The Far East 30
5. The War 33
C H A P T E R II
September 1939-May 1940
1. The Polish Campaign 35
2. Possibilities of American Mediation 37
3. Amendment of the Neutrality Act 41
4. The Panama Conference 45
5. American-Japanese Negotiations as seen from Berlin 47
6. Press and Propaganda 49
7. The War at Sea 56
8. The Sumner Welles Mission 65
9. The Polish Documents 73
10. The Invasion of Denmark and Norway 78
11. General Assessment 79
[ ix ]