For this and other reasons, the Belgium King held his incompetent government in contempt, hence the estrangement.
The King immediately grasped what was on offer from Germany. He agreed with it but was not sure how his ex-ministers would view it. Leopold had little respect for their common sense. He suggested to von Altendorf that the Vichy French detain them in Bordeaux — not arrest, just detain — and escort them to Brussels for talks.
Von Altendorf did not particularly want to play it this way, but to be realistic; it was probably the only way he was going to get to talk to them easily.
He telephoned von Brauchitsch.
The following day the members of the Belgian government-in-exile, angry, tired, and more than a little apprehensive, were duly delivered to Brussels. Without delay they were in deep discussions with their King and von Altendorf. Despite the hostility between the two Belgian sides, they eventually saw the futility of trying to carry on as before. Just as all the other exiled governments had done.
It took a further day to hammer out a firm and binding agreement that was acceptable to all parties. A point of contention had been von Altendorf’s insistence on the historic problem of differences between the two language groups that made up Belgium’s population being resolved by way of a future referendum.
The German demand for the return of their territory ceded to Belgium after the Great War raised no great objections. It had been expected, and in any case did not amount to a large area.
Immediately afterwards von Altendorf flew to Copenhagen.
His meeting with King Christian X and his fully constituted government went smoothly. When Germany had invaded their country, the Danish government had almost immediately capitulated in exchange for their retaining political independence in domestic matters.
Historically there had always been a large degree of interaction with Germany. The existing Danish politicians quickly formed a government of national unity involving the main political parties, but excluding communists. It was led by the serving Danish Prime minister. Danish public opinion generally backed the government as they recognised the reality of the situation.
Von Altendorf was actually offering more than expected. He had no great difficulty in procuring a deal!
He now made preparations to visit London to meet a lot of people who, for very good reasons, currently had no great love for Germans. Once he had agreements with them, he could turn his attention to what would be the biggest single problem — France. But he would let the French simmer for a little longer.
In a relatively short but emotionally charged meeting with the Czechoslovaks, von Altendorf repeated, in a sympathetic but firm way, what they had already heard from the British Foreign Secretary. The country previously called Czechoslovakia, no longer existed. They would all be welcome to return to what were now the German provinces of Bohemia and Moravia, conditional only on them accepting German citizenship and undertaking not to engage in subversive activities. All previous property rights would be respected.
As a body, the delegates knew they were finished. The British government had already informed them that they had withdrawn their official recognition. Of the five individuals in the delegation, two advised they wished to return to Bohemia, — it was hard for them to call it this — two others elected to remain in Britain, and the delegation leader, Edvard Benes, the ex-President of the Czechoslovak Republic, was going to live in the USA. He had had enough of Europe and its politics!
Dealing with the Poles turned out to be less complicated than von Altendorf had thought. In less than two hours the two sides had agreed on all major points of a lasting peace treaty between Poland and Germany. Von Altendorf thought they seemed quite eager to get back to their native country. He realised that a major incentive for the Polish acceptance of what had been offered was Germany’s binding guarantee against foreign aggressors, i.e. the Soviet Union.
The matter of atrocities committed by the SS in Poland was brought up by General Sikorski. Von Altendorf was prepared for this and informed the Poles of the investigation currently underway, and assured them that any guilty party would be suitably punished. The new Polish government would be kept informed.
Remarkably they parted on good terms with General Sikorski actually inviting von Altendorf to visit Poland at the earliest opportunity.
“Wonders never cease,” he thought as the Poles left.
The Dutch were also in a more receptive frame of mind following their previous discussions with Lord Halifax. Von Altendorf thought that he had managed to allay some of their fears and misgivings. The delegation had left the meetings in a seemingly more positive, less suspicious, mood. The Queen had even managed a smile — once.
He counted his diplomatic offensive as a success! Now he had to get back to Berlin to ensure the military governors of the occupied countries knew what they had to do, and co-operated wholeheartedly with the soon to be re-established internal governments.
But first, tomorrow he was being introduced to the British Prime Minister by Lord Halifax. Von Altendorf was looking forward to meeting the old war horse. Winston Churchill was the only man who had consistently and vocally warned about the dangers posed by Adolf Hitler. The only high profile politician, in any country, including Germany itself, who had recognised Hitler for what he was!
In the meantime he would enjoy a nice quiet dinner this evening with the new German Ambassador and his wife.
The next evening a car duly arrived at the German Embassy to collect von Altendorf for his meeting with the Prime minister and the Foreign Secretary. It was to be an informal dinner at number 10 Downing Street.
As he arrived at Downing Street he privately marvelled at the developments that had taken place over the past few weeks. Now, here he was, about to share a meal with the man who only a few weeks earlier was considered to be Germany’s greatest enemy. Absolutely fantastic! Unbelievable! The stuff of fiction books.
He was escorted to a room in which there were three people. Lord Halifax he already knew, and the portly figure of Winston Churchill he immediately recognised, of course. The third person present was someone he thought was vaguely familiar and whom he felt he should know, but he could not put a name to him.
Immediately he entered the room Churchill had spied him and lumbered forward to introduce himself. The introduction was scarcely over when the unknown person walked over and said, “Winston, I would very much appreciate it if you would introduce me to his Excellency.”
Churchill looked at both of them, and said, “Your Majesty, may I present His Excellency Baron von Altendorf.”
A slight pause. “Your Excellency, may I present His Majesty, King George.”
The imperturbable Von Altendorf was stunned! To meet the King! What an honour for him and his country! He was absolutely speechless for a few seconds before he recovered his wits.
Lord Halifax joined them and the conversation swiftly became relaxed and informal. There was no probing or contentious questions in the beginning, but later his hosts were very interested in the current situation in Germany. All had the good grace not to mention Hitler. He answered all comments and queries as fully as he could.