Brooke noted that Rommel shook his hand warmly and told him “It is a great honour to meet you.”
The rest of the delegates merely shook hands with straight faces.
The room was bright, airy and cool. Large ceiling fans silently whirred away. Several large bowls of fresh flowers had been placed to brighten the room. And hopefully the atmosphere!
Portuguese soldiers discreetly patrolled the gardens at a respectable distance.
A beautiful teak table had been made ready for them. There were carafes of iced water and glasses placed at intervals along the table. In front of each seat was placed a notepad and pencil, as well as a dossier put there by the Germans. The British noted that the dossiers bore the German eagle but curiously, no swastika.
The Germans distributed themselves on one side of the table, and the British on the other. Von Altendorf sat opposite Halifax. The two generals faced each other, as did the aides, personal secretaries and the intelligence operatives.
All was ready.
Von Altendorf opened the proceedings by addressing the British.
“Gentlemen. Firstly I would like to offer you my sincere thanks on behalf of the German Government for agreeing to this meeting. These are difficult times and I know that certain past events may have led to diminished trust between our two great countries. I hope that we can put this behind us today.
I can say that there is no doubt, no doubt whatsoever, that the outcome of these negotiations will have an enormous impact on our two countries, and indeed, on the whole world. It is in our hands to make history here today.”
He paused for a moment, and then continued in a more business-like manner.
“We have a great deal to discuss, and time is limited. The reason for our insistence on speed will become apparent as I speak.
I suggest that as you are graciously here at our request, it is up to me to explain matters first. This should take me no more than one hour. During that time I respectfully ask that you reserve any questions or comments you may have, until later.”
He waited for their reaction. There were nods of assent on the British side.
Von Altendorf allowed a few seconds. He looked at the British and continued.
“Adolf Hitler is dead.” The terrible secret of the Generals was out!
The British delegates were absolutely stunned. They had been hit with a verbal sledgehammer! None of them could hide their surprise. With great self-discipline they refrained from comment and eagerly waited for some more good news.
Von Altendorf looked Halifax in the eye as he then said, “Certain overambitious and power-hungry individuals within the Nazi hierarchy, plotted a coup. The army was aware of it and was waiting for them to commit themselves. Unfortunately three weeks ago they assassinated Hitler before the military could take action.
The criminals were quickly arrested and tried by a military court. They were found guilty and subsequently executed. Germany for the time being is governed by a Military Council, the nominal head of which is Field Marshall Goering, but in actuality it is led by General von Brauchitsch.
Halifax interpreted von Altendorf’s look as meaning “Please accept this at face value. This is not the time and place to talk about the demise of a bunch of gangsters.” He kept the thought to himself.
“These events will be made public in Germany in the next 24 hours. They will be timed to coincide with the announcement of the armistice with the French, and hopefully, if things reach a successful conclusion here, a second announcement of an end to the war with Great Britain.” He paused for a moment to let that sink in.
“Now, on to the actual proposed peace terms.
Firstly, the original cause of the war. Poland.
We propose a peace treaty between Germany and Poland, re-establishing Poland’s independence. There would be an orderly withdrawal of our troops, and by way of reparations to them for Germany’s unwarranted attack, we will assist them to create a new army, air force and navy. We would be prepared to enter into a military alliance with them to protect them from future aggressors.”
All present knew he was referring to the Soviet Union, which had occupied the eastern half of Poland after Germany’s declaration of war on that poor country.
“We will renounce our historical claim to the former German territory known as ‘the Polish corridor’, in return for which we insist on a plebiscite in the free city of Danzig, to see if its inhabitants want to be part of Poland, or Germany, or remain a city state. As you may know, some ninety percent of Danzigers are German and we would hope they would wish to be part of Germany. However, we will respect their wishes whatever they may be.
Unfortunately we are powerless to do anything about Soviet occupied Poland. The Poles must understand and accept this. Perhaps the Soviet Union may one day take notice of world opinion and withdraw. Who knows?”
This development was another surprise for the British. It effectively removed the original cause for the war. What else have they up their sleeve? The needle on the British optimism meter was climbing!
“Norway.” A slight pause. “Germany will enter into immediate peace negotiations with the Norwegian Government-in-Exile, with a view to withdrawing our troops from that country, subject to certain — non-contentious — trade and security commitments. Norway will once again be a sovereign country.
Luxembourg. Regardless of these talks, we intend to withdraw from that country in the coming weeks and restore full sovereignty. Conditional only a treaty of friendship.
Denmark, Holland and Belgium. These are slightly more complicated cases. It is our contention that a period of stabilisation is needed in Western Europe, perhaps a year, but it may have to be longer. During that period they will largely govern their own internal affairs. Eventually this will lead to plebiscites for independence or possible incorporation as autonomous states within the German Union. The choice will be theirs.”
Halifax thought this not unreasonable, given the recent turmoil in Western Europe.
Von Altendorf continued. “France. We believe that country may never have any affection for Germany. Perhaps rightly so. We will complete the process of negotiating a final peace treaty to replace the existing armistice agreement. A new peace treaty would include significantly easier terms than the armistice agreement. We certainly don’t want to sow the seeds of yet another war with them.”
He was making an oblique reference to the onerous treaty conditions imposed on Germany by the Treaty of Versailles, after they had lost the Great War. That treaty was deeply resented in Germany and, in part, had led to the rise of Adolf Hitler.
“The irritating attack by Italy on southern France and their declaration of war on Great Britain, will be taken care of by Germany. It is not a material factor. All will revert to the situation that previously existed.”
Brooke took this to mean that the Germans obviously thought as little of Mussolini as everybody else did.
Von Altendorf paused for a sip of water. He had come to the crux of the matter.
“As regards Great Britain.” He paused again.
“On signing of an armistice or peace treaty, all British prisoners of war will be transported to any port of your choice in France, Belgium or Holland, over a period of time to suit you.
Any of the equipment abandoned by you at Dunkirk last month, is yours should you want it.
We ask for no army, naval or air force limitations. In fact it is our hope that we can establish military co-operation between our two countries in the near future.”
Another slight pause.
“In respect of Germany’s former colonies in Africa which are now part of the British Empire,” He looked at Halifax.