Work has started on the completion of the aircraft carrier, Graf Zeppelin, which is eighty five percent finished at the moment. Work had been stopped some time ago on the orders of Adolf Hitler. The Graf Zeppelin is expected to be operational by late 1941 or early 1942. To give you a rough idea, this ship is about the same size as the USS Enterprise.
I believe designs for improved and larger carriers have been called for with a view to possibly adding another two or three carriers in the not too distant future.
Newer and bigger submarines are also on the agenda.
While on the subject of the military, I have to tell you about progress made with General von Mannstein’s dream of a ‘European Alliance’, which, you may remember, I mentioned in my last letter.
If the rumours I hear are true, General von Mannstein is having some success with his idea. It seems that Norway may already have agreed to join this alliance, and Denmark is about to join. I have even heard that Poland is seriously considering it. My friend Colonel Blackstone, told me that the concept has definitely been discussed in high circles in Britain, but nothing has come of this yet.
I personally find the whole concept breathtaking. Who knows, maybe it could mean the end of war in Europe!
Another item of interest I heard, is that Mussolini has been told in no uncertain terms by the German Foreign Minister, to evacuate the land he snatched in Southern France. He has been given a week or so to comply, or his forces will be forcibly ejected, (obviously by the Germans army).
Under pressure from the Germans, he has already put his invasion plans for the Sudan and East Africa on hold — almost certainly for good. In any case, the Italian troops would have bitten off more than they could chew as Britain began reinforcing those countries once they were warned of Mussolini’s intentions.
I also heard that Germany will officially withdraw from the Pact of Steel very soon.
Which brings me to a subject closer to home — Japan. Germany’s Foreign Minister called in the Japanese Ambassador this week. Conjecture is that he is letting them know about German concerns about their continued aggression in China. The Foreign Minister also had a meeting with a senior Chinese diplomat, but I don’t know what transpired.
Reading between the lines I think Germany’s Governing Council have moved away from the friendly relationship they had with the Japanese in Hitler’s time. The anti-communist stance of Japan must still be valued by Germany, but it is my belief that you will find some German support for American policies with Japan.
In general, everything seems to have settled down here. Talking to normal everyday people, there is no doubt that Hitler is still revered as the man who gave the Germans back their pride. However, there seems to be few people who regret the demise of Nazism.
One big surprise was the speedy repeal of all the anti-Jewish laws. Furthermore, political prisoners — which basically means anyone suspected of opposing the Nazi regime — are now being released in droves.
The economy is picking up and people are feeling confident. There is a widespread feeling of optimism.
I think the Governing Council are doing a good job.
Von Brauchitsch had instituted separate weekly meetings with the military members of the Governing Council, Generals von Mannstein and Beck. These usually included his own two deputy Ministers, Admiral Donitz and General Kesselring. Occasionally the head of the Abwehr, Admiral Canaris, was invited to attend at his own request. Today was one of those occasions.
As usual the first item on the agenda was the Soviet Union. The German military had a very large espionage and intelligence gathering operation all over that vast country. Of particular interest were any signs of increasing production of armaments by the Russians.
Canaris reported that production of the standard tank in the Soviet Army, the T26 light tank, had come to an end as it was now considered obsolete. This would be replaced with a much better design, the T34 medium tank, which was just about to go into production. From what his agents could learn, this was a well-designed tank with a clever combination of firepower, mobility, armour and ruggedness. He believed it was probably superior to Germany’s current main tank, the Panzer lV.
This was not good news. However the decision had already been made by the Wehrmacht to cease production of the Panzer lV while speeding up the development of the next generation of tanks. Germany’s other medium tank, the older Panzer lll was already being withdrawn from service. Fortunately the existing chassis of this tank was perfect for adaption to a mobile assault gun, for which there was a great need.
The conclusion was that the German army had by far the strongest tank force in the world at present, and by the time the new Soviet tank was being produced in significant numbers, the new German designs would be rolling of the production lines.
As regards the Soviet air force, their current operational aircraft were considerably inferior to the German equivalents. They had, however, developed a new ground attack aircraft, the Sturmovik, which was reported to be a formidable aircraft. This was scheduled to be introduced into service sometime next year.
The Luftwaffe remained the strongest air force in the world, and the new aircraft now being developed would maintain this superiority for the foreseeable future.
The Soviet navy was unimpressive. Despite the building of a strong Soviet fleet being officially a national priority for some years, progress had been slow. Their large ships consisted of three very old battleships and seven cruisers, three of which were also ancient. They were, however, now starting construction of three more battleships, and had plans for further additions.
They were considerably stronger than Germany in submarine numbers, though not necessarily in quality of ships.
However, all three branches of the Soviet armed services suffered from an appalling lack of leadership. This was a direct result of Stalin’s purges in previous years.
With the Kriegsmarine’s new submarine and aircraft carrier building program, the Soviet Navy was not considered to be a significant threat to Germany in the near or medium term.
This report from Canaris was discussed for the next half hour. The general consensus at the end was that the Soviet Union presented no near term threat to Germany.
Admiral Donitz spoke next.
“Following this analysis of the Soviet navy, I can report that we have had great interest in the heavy surface ships we wish to dispose of. The Soviets have expressed interest in purchasing our two battleships, the Spanish would like a battlecruiser and a heavy cruiser, Mexico, Argentina and Turkey each want a heavy cruiser, and the Chinese are desperate to sign a deal for our other battlecruiser. The Japanese also want to talk to us about some of these ships but in view of our new policy of friendship with China, and co-operation with Britain and the United States, I am proceeding slowly with this.
The good news is that the final sale price of these vessels will be higher than expected. We will not recover the cost of building them, of course, but that is beside the point.
The bad news is that all the buyers want some form of credit for their purchases, as well as assistance and crew training before handover. The credit facilities they are looking for would be a small initial payment in cash, and the balance paid by way of shipments of agricultural produce and raw materials.
This is outside my expertise and is something for the Minister for Economics to rule on. I also believe the Ministers of Foreign Affairs or Interior, are better placed than I am to finalise these sales.”