ADSS 1.57 Tardini notes on Italian affairs.

ADSS 1.57 Domenico Tardini, notes on Italian affairs.

Reference: AES 3297/39, personal note

Location and date: Vatican, 06-07.06.1939

Summary statement: Mussolini believes war is inevitable.

Language: Italian

Text:

Fr Tacchi Venturi reports to the Secretary of State a conversation that he had with Mussolini.  The Holy Father had instructed Cardinal Maglione to hand to Fr Tacchi Venturi a note (1) in which Mussolini was invited to advise Hitler to restrain himself.

When receiving Fr Tacchi Venturi yesterday, Mussolini was in a pessimistic mood:  he said that war was no inevitable and would explode in August … or even before!  By order of my Superior (2) I go to report this reply to the Holy Father) as the Pope, who while waiting for it but before it had arrived had instructed Cardinal Maglione to call the Ambassador to send through him a similar message to Mussolini). (3)

His Holiness listened with attention, then said: It is terrible! Then he asked if Fr Tacchi Venturi had insisted pro pace, if he had asked what the Pope could do to avert the storm etc.  I replied that I was unable to tell him.  The Pope decided that Fr Tacchi Venturi should make a written report of the audience.

07.06.1939

In the early hours of the morning I wrote to Fr Tacchi Venturi to send a written report.

About noon Fr Tacchi Venturi sent me the report. (4) I read it: It says that Mussolini was in a very bleak mood: he affirmed that any intervention of his with Hitler would be useless (I don’t think it mentioned August, probably on account of haste), Is sent it immediately to the Holy Father.

In the Audience the Holy Father is serene.  He is even inclined to think that Mussolini tried to impress Fr Tacchi Venturi to push the Church to intervene.  I report on a conversation had yesterday by his Eminence with General Caviglia. (5)

The General said:

1. that only the Army really ready and prepared was the French;

2. that Italy cannot wage a war because it has not sufficient weapons, war material etc;

3. that the war would be a long one;

4. that Mussolini knows this better than any of us and therefore, unless he has lost his head, he would not go to war.

It is worth noting that in September 1938 – when we were on the brink of a war on account of the Sudeten question Mussolini, returning from a loquacious tour in the three Venetias, said to Fr Tacchi Venturi, “This time there will not be any way!”  In March of this year (or in another month, but certainly at the beginning of the year) he said to Fr Tacchi Venturi, answering a similar question: “Will there be a war?”  “I am afraid so”.

Notes: 

(1) ADSS 1.53.

(2) Cardinal Luigi Maglione.

(3) Dino Alfieri (1886-1966), Italian Ambassador to the Holy See 1939-40.

(4) ADSS 1.58

(5) Enrico Caviglia (1862-1945), Marshall of Italy from 1926; a known anti-Fascist.

ADSS 1.56 Borgongini Duca to Maglione: fears of war

ADSS 1.56 Francesco Borgongini Duca (1), Italy to Luigi Maglione, Sec State

Reference: Report 6941, (AES 3529/39)

Location and date: Rome, 03.06.1939

Summary statement:  Conversation with the Turkish Ambassador to Italy, fear that war could occur within 3 months

Language: Italian

Text:

During the last week in May I had many contacts with the principal Ambassadors of this Diplomatic Corps, especially with Sir Percy Loraine, British Ambassador, Francois-Poncet, French Ambassador and Huseyin Ragip Baydurm Turkish Ambassador. (2)

During a luncheon at the Turkish Embassy on 31 May the Ambassador, after having assured me that on the next day he would send the file regarding the registration of the Holy See’s properties in Istanbul to Ankara (about which I did not forget to recommend what your Eminence instructed me in the message of 22 May, Number 1608) (3), told me that, in his opinion, the situation was greatly improved, because through the various agreements between the democratic countries, the balance of power had been re-established between the two sides into which Europe was divided.  He, too, believed that the danger of war had been pushed back two or three months.  He also agreed with me that the Polish Corridor, where it is difficult to suggest a solution, which would satisfy both parties, is the greatest stumbling block.

Arab feelings, as expressed to me by the Iraq minister and Legation Secretary, are the following: Italy and Germany are in a state of absolute inferiority as Franco-British and Russian forces are drawing closer together.  I had the impression that Iraq was also leaning towards Great Britain.

More interesting appeared to be some confidential communications made to me by the new British Ambassador on 20 May, when I went to return his first visit.  He spoke at length about the Franco-Turkish Treaty on the Sanjak.) (4) The Ambassador is a specialist on this subject having been High Commissioner in Egypt and the Ambassador to Ankara until his appointment in Rome.)

He told me that he does not understand why Turkey accepted the Sanjak where the majority of the population is Christian and Arab and not Turkish, especially if one bears in mind that the Kemal Pasha’s revolution and the oath given by the Turkish Constituent Assembly had explicitly declared that the New Turkey, contrary to Ottoman Empire policy, wanted to rule only on Turkish territories. (5) But the Ambassador was aware of the great material advantage to Turkey to have the port of Alexandretta, which is the only one on the coast.  It is clear that Ismet is somewhat modifying Kemal Pasha’s policy and returning to the Islamic Ottoman policy with the evident intention of reaching Haleb. (6)

I asked the British Ambassador if the Christian people’s uneasiness for the Turk’s entry into Sanjak was not well founded; the Armenians, who live there in about thirty mountain villages and, as is well know, fought against the Turks in the great War, would be exposed to reprisals as was the case in Cilicia when France ceded it to Turkey who in turn promptly massacred all Armenians living there.

The Ambassador replied that after the separation between State and Caliphate proclaimed by Kemal Pasha the various religions live peacefully on Turkish soil and therefore he thought it very unlikely that the same incident would occur again; to which statement I took the liberty of raising my doubts especially after having heard the confidential report of Monsignor Peter Kedidjian, Vicar General of the Armenian Patriarchate, on the flight of eminent Armenians to Syria following the advance of the Turks in the territory and their first hostile acts against the Armenian clergy. (7)

I had occasion to speak to Francois-Poncet during the dinner given at Palazzo Farnese on 1 June, where the only Italians invited were Baron Aloisi and ex-Ambassador De Martino and their wives. (8)

I wanted to know if certain rumours regarding recent secret contacts between France and Italy were true; the supposition arising from the presence in Paris of Senator Volpi. (9)

He replied that there is no new development or at least not an important one; twice Foreign Minister Ciano, who had been courteous to him, had recently received him but it cannot be said that real and proper negotiations have taken place.  He added that the Italian Authorities show a stiff attitude towards him contrary to the practice of the German Authorities in Berlin. (10)

He also affirmed that the general situation has really improved and one can expect that there will not be any shocks until the end of the harvest.  Mussolini’s speech in Turin was a moderate one, but the words pronounced shortly after in front of the students of Turin could be defined as alarming. (11)

The new Brazilian Ambassador, Senor Pietro Leao Velloso, told me – during his first official call on me yesterday – that he had been received by Mussolini, who told him that he wants to supply the Italian people with coffee and wishes that the negotiations now taking place in Rio de Janeiro between the Italian Ambassador and the Brazilian Government should be concluded as quickly as possible, and as satisfactorily as the trade agreement with Argentina had been concluded. (12) Italy proposes to exchange Brazilian coffee with Italian manufactured goods.  The ambassador, although favourably inclined towards Italy, points out that Brazil too, is a poor country and needs gold and foreign currency more than manufactured goods, in order to meet its commitments with other nations; however, a solution will be found.

The Ambassador, proceeding to describe the international satiation, then said: “Gold production in the world is 1,200 millions; the among of gold which entered the United States during last year was – if I understood correctly – 1,800 millions, that is 35% more than the total production.”  Which proves that there are countries dying of starvation and countries dying of indigestion and, according to his opinion, the abnormal gold circulation can be compared with the abnormal blood circulation in the individual; hypertension is also deadly.

I send these items of news to your Eminence in the form in which they were collected by me, leaving the responsibility to their authors, and your Eminence will give them the value they deserve.

Notes:

(1) Francesco Borgongini Duca (1884-1954), Nuncio to Italy 1929-53.

(1) Percy Lorraine (1880-1961), British Ambassador to Italy 1939-40; Andre Francois-Poncet (1887-1978), French Ambassador to Italy 1938-40; Huseyin Ragip Baydur (1890-1955) Turkish Ambassador to Italy 1934-43.

(2) Not published in ADSS.

(3) The Franco-Turkish Treaty or the Franco-Turkish Agreement of Ankara of 20.10.1921 ended the short war between French imperial troops in Syria and Turkish forces engaged in the war of independence that marked the end of the Ottoman Empire.  Under provisions made in the secret Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916 France was to be given control of Ottoman Syria and southern Anatolia.  France also agreed to support the Armenians against the Turks.  French troops along with Colonial soldiers and a French Armenian Legion fought in different parts of Turkey from May 1920 to October 1921.  Surprised at the strength of Turkish resistance, France eventually withdrew from areas claimed by the Turks, especially the region of Cilicia with its ancient Armenian Christian community.  Turkey agreed to respect the French occupation of Syria and France agreed to respect Turkish sovereignty.  The Alexandretta Sanjak, with its large Christian minority, was incorporated into the French Mandate but in 1936 a growing pro-Turkish group alongside a Syrian independence movement led to a league of Nations intervention granting the Sanjak autonomy within the Mandate but with links to both France and Turkey on matters of defence.  The Turkish government encouraged the migration of thousands of Turks into the Sanjak prior to the election of July 1938, effectively creating a Turkish majority.  On 02.09.1938 the newly elected assembly proclaimed the Sanjak as Hatay State and sought incorporation with Turkey. Hatay became a province of Turkey on 29.06.1939.  Thousands of Arabs and Armenians, fled to Syria.

(4) Kemal Attaturk (1881-1938), founder of the Republic of Turkey.  Attaturk argued, using the pseudo-scientific Sun Language Theory, popular in the 1930s, that Hatay had been a Turkish homeland for over 4,000 years.

(5) Mustafa İsmet İnönü (1884-1973), second President of Turkey, 1938-1950.  Much of the Province of Haleb, or Halep (Aleppo) was annexed to Turkey after the First World War and during the Turkish War of Independence.

(6)

(7) Pompeo Aloisi (1875-1949) former Italian Foreign Minister 1932-36; Giacomo De Martino (1868-1957), former Italian ambassador to Germany, Britain, Japan and the USA between 1919-32.

(8) Giuseppe Volpi (1877-1947), president of Confindustria (Fascist Confederation of Italian Industry) 1934-43.

(9) Francois-Poncet mentions this in him memoirs Souvenirs d’une Ambassade a Berlin, p 340.

(10) 10.05.1939.

(11) Pedro Leao Veloso (1887-1947), Brazilian Ambassador to Italy 1939-44.

ADSS 1.55 Orsenigo to Maglione - news from Berlin

ADSS 1.55 Cesare Orsenigo, Germany, to Luigi Maglione, Sec State

Reference: Report 8 (27,518); AES 4465/39.

Location and date: Berlin, 03.06.1939

Summary statement: Prince Paul of Yugoslavia visits Berlin; German-Polish conflict has not been resolved; German-Russian agreement appears to be fading.

Language: Italian

Text:

I hasten to convey to your Eminence some items of news, certainly not important in themselves, but which double useful in forming an opinion about the situation.

On Friday Prince Paul, Regent of Yugoslavia, arrived in Berlin and was received with all the honours bestowed on similar occasions to other important personalities, as for example, Admiral Horthy, Regent of Hungary (1).

A military review was organised in his honour, and it was a really imposing spectacle, as these events always are here; the Diplomatic Corps was invited, and I also went along.  The Polish and Turkish ambassadors were also present; the Russian ambassador was away form Berlin and was represented by his Counsellor.  A gala performance of Wagner’s masterpiece “The Master Singers” was also given in honour of the Prince Regent of Yugoslavia at the State Opera Theatre; the Diplomatic corps was also present, and the various diplomats were introduced to the Prince Regent; I, as usual, was not present.

From conversations I had with the diplomats I gathered the impression that the fear of a war between German and Poland has not disappeared at all.  Some say that Germany first want to complete its line of defence in the east; in fact gigantic works are being carried out on the Polish frontier; others mention the hope, not yet abandoned, that one should wait for the result of the pending negotiations for an understanding with Russia.  Others, although not very optimistic, hope that the conflict could be postponed at least until next year, which – they say – would be a sign of German weakness, and therefore almost a psychological defeat in the eyes of the German people, full of fanatic conceptions about the military power of their country.

I have not been informed in the strictest confidence, in view of the severity with which breaches of official secrecy are punished, that during my visit to the Chancellor at Berchtesgaden the following immediate instructions were given to the German newspapers:

1. Not to report any news about possible proceedings against priests for immorality.

2. No longer use the front page, but only the second page, for reporting any news regarding the Danzig problem.

The instructions were repeated three times during three weeks after May 5 at the Press conference held at the Propaganda Ministry.

The papers were also instructed not to mention Russian Bolshevism, but three days ago this prohibition was cancelled; which leads the Press to understand that an agreement between Germany and Russia must not be considered improbable.

I enclose the last issue of the magazine Nordland which I must say is not completely respectful to the Catholic church and even less to the so-called Christian Churches.  The Nordland tends to oust all the churches, to substitute for them the notorious atheism of the Deutschenchristen, called also Gottglaubig. (2)

Notes: 

(1) Friday, 02.06.1939. Prince Paul of Yugoslavia (1893-1976), Regent 1934-41.

(2) The Deutschenchristen or Deutsche Christen  (German Christians) were a small group within German Protestantism that sought to reconcile National Socialism and Christianity.  The rejected the Jewish elements of the Bible and the Jewish ancestry of Jesus, adopted Nazi anti-Semitism as compatible with Christian faith, aligned themselves the Fuhrerprinzip and Gleichschaltung with regard to the creation of a Reich church.  After some initial support from Hitler who believed he could use the group to further consolidate power, the German Christians faded to a noisy background group with little influence on either the Nazi Party or the Protestant Churches in Germany.  Orsenigo has not understood the term Gottglaubig (“belief in God”). The term was used for Germans who had left the Christian Church but still retained a faith in a higher power. It was also used as a way of “getting ahead” in Nazi organisations that grew increasingly hostile to institutional Christianity.  It was the most common form of “belief” expressed by men joining the SS.

ADSS 1.54 Pius XII Name Day Address to the College of Cardinals

Volume and Document Number: ADSS 1.54 Pius XII Name Day Address to the College of Cardinals

Reference: Discorsi e Radiomessagi, I, 151-155

Location and date: Vatican, 02.06.1939

Summary statement: Pope speaks of the concerns of the day; peace proposals made to the five countries and their reaction; intention to launch a renewed initiative if needed to; prayer crusade for peace.

Language: Italian

Text:

We have been permitted today through God’s inscrutable ways to commemorate for the first time the feast of Our Blessed Patron in Peter’s chair – all unworthily inherited – to which Eugenius I brought new lustre by his vigilant Apostolic action as well as the dedicated sanctity and integrity of his life’ and on this day, nothing could be more reassuring than the presence of those providentially assigned to be the closest collaborators in the many sacred cares of the Supreme Pastoral Office.

The eloquent and heartfelt good wishes which the Venerable Dean (1) of the Sacred College, most beloved of yourselves and Us, has addressed to Us in your name with that loftiness of thought and phrase of which he holds the secret, are for Us the clear expression of an intimate association, of the sincere devotion of your innermost selves for which we thank you profoundly.

At the same time, we feel especially moved to beseech Our Lord as did the Apostle of the Gentiles “that your rejoicing may abound in Christ Jesus for me” (Philippians 1.26).  Our hope finds support and strength, first of all in the grace of the diverse ways of Him who “has chosen the weak things of the world … the he may confound the strong” (1 Corinthians 1.26).  But the day and hour wherein your fraternal confidence and the will of God, which thereby was made manifest, laid upon Us this office whose dignity and burden overwhelm Us, as for Us consolation and pacification in the assurance of having you Our side and finding in you, in your knowledge, your experience, your profound wisdom garnered and matured at the price of long years of labour, the strongest and most faithful collaboration.

Your good wishes – wishes expressed for the Father of the spiritual family, on His Name Day – for which We thank and love you in the charity of Christ – Our heart gives back to the Church, Spouse of the Redeemer and Our Mother, and then to the world, to which in its present travail all Our thought and solicitude are directed.  At this very moment the world is, in so many places, seething with activities, with the birth and culminating of happenings whereof not even the most farsighted human wisdom could say whether the final result of their course will end in construction or ruin.

The Church is not the child of this world; but she is in the world, she exists in its midst, and from it she receiver her children.  She has her part in the alternations of joy and of sorrow.  And it is in the midst of the world that she suffers, strives and prays with the great Apostle Paul, making “supplications, prayers and thanksgivings for all men: for kings, and for all that are in high station: that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all piety and chastity.  For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our saviour who will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2.1-4)  And what is that if not a prayer for peace between nations which since the dawn of Christianity the Church has sent up before that God who would have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth?

But throughout the course of history, facing these things that fall across that course, the forward march of the Church has become more difficult and arduous than in times past.  She finds herself engaged in a world of oppositions and contrary purposes, of conflicting feelings and interests, of immoderate ideas and uncurbed ambitions, of fear and of insolence.  She is surrounded by humanity that seems undecided on which side to range itself: whether to admit the decision of the sword of the noble sovereignty of right as the first principle of action and supreme arbiter of its proper destinies; whether to confide in the empire of reason or trust to that of force.  Hence the Spouse of Christ encounters obstacles in her efforts to secure for her principles and admonitions, which are dictated by her religious mission and in their development tend to the welfare of each nation as to the whole human community, that welcome which she expects, that readiness in acceptance, without which her word is no more than a voice crying in the wilderness.

But for all that, the bounded duty of Our Apostolic ministry cannot permit these external obstacles, whether fear of being misinterpreted or Our intentions and aims being misunderstood even when their object is good, to hinder Us in the salutary work of pacification, which is proper to the Church.

The Church does not permit herself to be turned aside or restrained by any private interests.  Unless invited thereunto, she dreams not of busying herself in the territorial disputes of States, nor of allowing herself to be entangled in the complexity of conflicts which easily spring therefrom.  Nevertheless, she must not, in these hours when peace suffers the greatest dangers and the most violent of passions enter into discussions, forebear to speak maternally and, should conditions permit, offer her maternal services to stay the imminent eruption of force, with all its incalculable material, spiritual and moral consequences.

In this spirit of justice and peace which, as a common Father We feel in the depth of Our heart, We considered it to be opportune, after mature deliberation at a time particularly grave in the life of the peoples, at the beginning of last May, to make known to certain Statesmen of the great European nations the anxieties that preoccupied Us regarding the situation, and Our fear lest international dissensions should become exasperated, and we should drift into conflict and bloodshed. (2) That step – which We can refer to thankfully – has in the main met with the sympathy of the Governments and, having been made public – without Our cooperation – called forth the gratitude of the nations.  We received assurances of goodwill and a desire to preserve peace as the peoples hoped.

Who more that Us would want to see a continuation of that uplifting of spirits whose beginning We perceived or would wish and hope with greater zeal for the strengthening of every good point gained?  Nor do We pretend to conceal the fact that other information was brought to Us regarding the intentions and sentiments of influential statesmen.  We are very grateful to them, for in a distant measure they have raised Our hopes that considerations of noble humanity and the consciousness of the unavoidable responsibility they have incurred before God and history, as well as a proper idea of the true interest of their peoples, have sufficient force and weight to induce the Governments to safeguard both a stable peace and the liberty and honour of the nations, to overcome the material and moral obstacles which prevent a firm and sincere understanding.  That itself has opened the way for new offers and appeals on Our part. (3)

But the destiny and welfare of the peoples are in the hands of “the Emperor who reigns in Heaven”, of the Father of Light, the source of every perfect good that is in the world,  With the destinies and happiness of the peoples He holds also in His hands the hearts of men.  And as he wills, so he does incline them, enlarge them restrain them, check or direct their will without changing their nature.  In men’s work everything is weak, as in man himself.  His thoughts are timid, his foresight uncertain, his ways unbending, and his steps feeble; he marches towards an end that is forever obscure.  But in the handiwork of God, all is powerful, like himself.  His designs have no uncertainty: his dominions extend throughout the governing of the world.  His delight is with the children of men and nothing may withstand that.  In his hands the very obstacles themselves are become the means whereby ends are shaped and human spirit and free will directed towards the sublimeness of his mercy and justice – twin stars of his universal sway.  In him rests our strongest hope.

In order to implore the divine illumination and blessing on the actions of today as well as the decisions to which they lead, last May We had already called the Catholic World around the altar of Mary, to a crusade of prayer, and placed the white legions of the children in the vanguard: children, who are the flowering lilies at the feet of the most Blessed Virgin, protected by the Holy Angels, called by Jesus himself, by him embraced, blessed and proffered as a pattern to every heir to the Kingdom of Heaven. (4)  Innocence, praying and supplicating, is a manifestation and an example.  And on this occasion We are gladdened in testifying to the gracious joy that is disclosed in Our heart at the recollection of that praiseworthy and pious stirring, that burning fervour, that holy and heart-felt emulation which sprung forth among the Faithful of the whole world in response to that appeal.

And now, as we enter the delectable month of June, dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, We direct Ourselves with increased ardour, with greater and more insistent hope towards him who is the King and focal point of our hearts, Rex et centrum omnium cordium; the refuge and sustainer of all the agonising and fearful.  May he, to whom is given all power in heaven and on earth, vouchsafe to allay the surge of a troubled and stricken world, and bring to pass among men and nations the breathing of a new spirit.  May Our appeals for peace through him find echo in the hearts of both rulers and peoples.  And in the actions decisions of those that are responsible, ay there be those practical realisations for which the yearnings and prayers of all men goodwill are breathed forth.

And with that wish on Our lips and in Our hears, as a pledge of the abundance of the divine graces, in the fullness of Our thankfulness, We accord to you the Apostolic Benediction.

Notes: 

(1) Granito Pignatelli di Belmonte (1851-1948).

(2) See ADSS 1.18, 19.

(3) See ADSS 1.38

(4) See ADSS 1.15.

ADSS Volume 1 and the Summer of 1939

Reading my way through the first volume of ADSS and putting the documents into the wider context of the efforts to prevent another European war has been insightful.

1. The Holy See was well informed about nearly all aspects of European and North American diplomacy.  Reports from the major European capitals were mostly accurate and nuanced.  Vatican diplomats were skilled practitioners of their craft and nearly all had regular access to the corridors of power, as well as often being sought after as "men of influence".  In the months leading to the war, the Vatican was informed as to the developments of most diplomatic proposals, counter-proposals, propaganda, overtures made to the Soviet Union by the British and French as well as the Germans, and of the growing unease that war was inevitable.  Of all the "players" in the field at this time I believe the Holy See was arguably the best informed.  This did not change after September 1939.

2. From many quarters in Europe, including Germany, as well as the USA, Pope Pius XII was seen as someone of great moral influence whose voice and opinion was sought after.  This is not to be confused with heeding the voice of the Pope - he was just as readily ignored - but Pius' views were asked.  There is a near consensus that the Pope was the most significant person to speak on peace in Europe, a voice of moderation and, most significantly, a voice above politics and power systems.

3. Pius XII's attempts at brokering peace in the months before the outbreak of the war were regarded positively by the European powers, including Germany.  However, the limits of papal power were obvious when papal proposals ran up against national interests.  Already there was criticism that Pius' silence in the face of the Italian invasion of Albania and the ever-increasing anti-Catholic actions of the Nazis, his enthusiastic message to Franco at the end of the Spanish Civil War and seeming lack of interest in an ecumenical prayer crusade for peace.  The Vatican argued that the pope must remain above all political matters; and Catholic teaching in 1939 was not in favour of joint prayer with the "separated brethren".

4. Within the first months of Pius' pontificate there are the beginnings of a relationship with President Roosevelt that would endure until FDR's death in 1945.  

5. Of all the Vatican diplomats, Cesare Orsenigo in Germany appears to have been the weakest.  Orsenigo's reports convey much information that suggests a sympathy for the German government outside of matters of particular relevance to the Church.  The nuncio also appears to have shown willingness to accept German news reports as reliable even to the point of advising Rome that there was no likelihood of war despite Polish "provocations" on the border.  In Italy the Pope's personal contact with Il Duce, Fr Tacchi Venturi reported the opposite and quoted directly from Mussolini.  Nuncio Borgongini Duca reported the opposite from Mussolini's son-in-law and Foreign Minister, Galeazzo Ciano.

6. As hopes for a peace conference faded, the attention of the diplomats turned to the increasing tension between Poland and Germany.  Cardinal Maglione advised the nuncios in France and Germany that he had sent instructions to Nuncio Cortesi in Warsaw asking the Poles to be prudent in their relations with Germany.

7. As summer progressed the Vatican grew more and more concerned at the likelihood of war.  Pleas were made to Poland to be "reasonable" and "moderate" and the Vatican listened closely to all proposals to resolve the question of Danzig and The Corridor.

8. There are occasional quirky moments.  Nuncio Valerio Valeri was convinced that anti-Catholic and anti-papal feeling in France came from Freemasonry.