Months before war, Rothermere said Hitler's work was superhuman

Richard Norton-Taylor
Friday April 1, 2005
The Guardian

The proprietor of the Daily Mail sent a series of supportive and congratulatory telegrams to Nazi Germany's leaders, including Hitler, just months before the second world war, papers released today reveal.


Intercepted messages from Lord Rothermere to Berlin are among the first papers to be released from Foreign Office intelligence files. The files also show how, as early as 1906, MI6 drew up detailed plans to plant agents in Europe "in the event of war with Germany". At the end of 1938 they were telling London that Hitler believed Britain was "enemy No 1".


Yet in the summer of 1939, Rothermere was still appealing to Hitler not to provoke a war, saying that Britain and Nazi Germany must remain at peace. "Our two great Nordic countries should pursue resolutely a policy of appeasement for, whatever anyone may say, our two great countries should be the leaders of the world," he told Joachim von Ribbentrop, Hitler's foreign minister, on July 7 1939.


Ten days earlier, Rothermere had written to Hitler: "My Dear Führer, I have watched with understanding and interest the progress of your great and superhuman work in regenerating your country." He assured Hitler that the British government had "no policy which involves the encirclement of Germany, and that no British government could exist which embraced such a policy".


He added: "The British people, now like Germany strongly rearmed, regard the German people with admiration as valorous adversaries in the past, but I am sure that there is no problem between our two countries which cannot be settled by consultation and negotiation."
If Hitler worked to restore the "old friendship", he would be regarded by the British as a popular hero, in the same way they regarded Frederick the Great of Prussia, said Rothermere. "I have always felt that you are essentially one who hates war and desires peace."


Rothermere appealed to the Nazi leadership to convene a conference to sort out what he called the "misunderstanding" - concerns about Germany's intentions, particularly with regard to Poland and, as he called it, "the Danzig problem". On July 6 1939, he appealed to Rudolf Hess, Hitler's deputy, to help settle "all outstanding problems" by organising an international conference. "Could I ask you to use your influence in this direction. There is really no cleavage between the interests of Germany and Britain. This great world of ours is big enough for both countries."


Rothermere made clear he sympathised with Germany's grievances over the peace settlement after the first world war. He referred Ribbentrop to the "grave iniquities" of the Versailles treaty. "I am optimistic enough", he wrote, "to believe that even before the end of this year, glaring grievances can be redressed." Two months later, Germany invaded Poland.
At the time that Rothermere was sending his telegrams to Berlin, MI6 tried to warn Germany off Poland, the papers disclose.


It forged a British cabinet decision saying it regarded "any attempt by the German government to force the issue at Danzig, which might be resisted by the Polish government, as a casus belli". The papers released today disclose that in December 1938, MI6 informers in Germany were warning that Hitler's advisers were telling him to attack Poland in the summer of 1939.

How often are we told that Britain went to war against tyranny, for freedom. How often are we told that WW2 set us free.. well as if we needed proof.. but it is clear yet again with the stories of sympathies within the Royal family for Hitler and now further stories of Lord Rothermere former owner of the Daily Mail also supporting Hitler.. It is clear that had Hitler not attacked and invaded Poland.. England would have appeased this man via Chamberlain and we would have colluded with genocide..

I know K, that is why when Sieg Mail decided to embroil themselves in the argument over Ken Livingstone apologising to the Jewish reporter I had to laugh...

In addition, a number of brits actually joined the nazi party and fought on the side of the germans... definitely something that they won't mention in there history books...

Cockneybouy: Sorry but if you were taught that at school then you were in a minority of one. When i was at school we were only told about Lord Haw haw.. There was never a discussion about Britains either sympathetic to or fighting for the Nazis.

I appreciate you point Cockneybuoy... but I am telling you from my perspective that is something that I was never taught at school... it was something that I learnt after the fact SOLO, without any support from my teachers...

So it is not a case of it not being 'true'... it is more the fact that it is the truth of my experience and not yours...

Addendum: maybe it would have been better if I had said that it is something that I was never taught at school, however it is not a fact that is widely publicised... and tends to be brought up only through independently digging around...

Kunjufu

Certainly when I was at school they DID portray the Chamberlain administration poorly. The went into the process of appeasement in some detail without sugarcoating. That is because it is the Churchill government the remember with absolute fondness. De Gaule (sp) they portray badly too... They did not touch on British Nazi sympathisers or people who joined though, that I read about later.

You guys? man here they made you Britain look like the poor little country that got blindsided by Germany. We only know of Churchill and that is about it.

Interesting knowledge Kunjufu.

DM, Until I was watching the history channel the other night, I never even knew that Russia had helped Germany in the beginning of its war on Europe.

Our books just say Germany, Japan, and Italy were teamed up against the rest of Europe and Asia.

Saftey

Thats because the writers of history tried to make it too simplistic. As if Hitler, Hirohito and Musolini were the sole bad guys...



I dont see Stalin in that picture do you?? Why not?

Same sort of writing that says that the assasination of archduke Ferdinand was to blame for the wars... as if the thing wasnt going to go off anyway and the nations were itching for it as it was... they reduce the whole destiny of those two massive wars down to one man's killing.BOLLOCKS
In the reductionism they miss out the underlying causes of the wars and simplify things... demonising the losers and so on. Its bigger than that.

Also

LOL

poor little country LOL

Over here we are taught that brave little Britain faced the Germans and Italianson their own, in Africa and Europe and America just watched for three years.

Nothing on the Canadians bringing food and supplies across the atlantic and getting blown up by U boats... nothing about the Carribean and African and Asian soldiers who fought for Britain in the wars... NO
ALL we get is brave londoners drinking tea in train stations during the blitz, the battle of Britain. They even go so far as to paint Dunkirk as a success...

America are the mean old guys who created Hitler (versailles) and then stepped back and watched him munch Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, Holland, and France... You guys watched him beat Britain down while plucky brave Britain faced them alone... Brave courageous Britain. Only when Pearl Harbour was attacked (3 years well into the war) did America do anything. OH and that Oceanic war is sort of mentioned as a side issue. They dont even focus on the Russian front and Hitlers fatal mistake of going into Russia. That is really what changed the war as we know but they put it down to Brave ol Britain and the French resistance and a few scattered Americans here and there.

That is honestly how it is told over here Safety... Make of that what you will. However your history books are full of lie too. Like Americans deciphering the enigma code??? LOL Come on now.

Every country's books paint it how they will. I bet Japanese textbooks dont talk about the atrocities in China and Burma... I bet they dont dwell on Pearl Harbour. Or French textbooks dont dwell on the massive colarboration and vichy French eh?? That's just how it goes.

DrunkMonkey, arguably if it wasn`t for Stalin, we probably wouldn`t have won the war!!

BTW there is an excellent novel about the sympathies of the Brit establishment for the Nazis. It called " The Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishuguro.

General Zhukov is the real Russina hero of the war. Stalin bugged out several times. If Stalin ahd not helped Germany rebuild in the intre war years, Hilter might not have had the weapons to wage war effectively.