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THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OP HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY' S GOVERNMENT).

S 3 C R 3 T. COPY NO.

C A B I N E T 53 ( 3 5 ) .

Meet ing of the Cahinet t o he he ld in the Prime M i n i s t e r ' s Room, House o f Commons, on Monday,

9th December, 1935, a t 6.0 p.m.

A G E N D U M.

THE ITALO-ABYSSINIAN DISPUTE.

(Re f e rence Cabinet 51 ( 3 5 ) Conclusion 1 ) .

Note by the M i n i s t e r f o r League of Nat ions A f f a i r s , c ove r ing a Record o f a Conversat ion he ld i n Pa r i s on Saturday, 7th December, 1935, between the Secre ta ry o f State f o r Fore i gn A f f a i r s and Monsieur L a v a l .

( C P . 233 ( 3 5 ) - c i r c u l a t e d h e r e w i t h ) .

Note by the Sec re ta ry o f State f o r Fore i gn A f f a i r s , conta in ing an account of the P a r i s Conversa t i ons , t o g e the r w i th recommendations as to a c t i o n to be taken.

( C P . 235 (35 ) - c i r c u l a t e d he r ew i th ) ,

Memorandum by the P r e s i d en t of the Board of! Trade regard ing O i l Suppl ies f o r I t a l y .

( C P . 236 ( 3 5 ) - c i r c u l a t e d h e r e w i t h ) ,

(S i gne d ) M.P.A. HANKEY, Secre tary to the Cabinet .

, Whi tehal l Gardens, S .W. I .

9th December, 1935.

J ̂ gjvvgMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT).

E T. COPY NO.

C A B I N E T 58 (35 ) .

CONCLUSIONS of a Meeting of the Cabinet held, ia the Prime Min i s te r ' s room, House of Commons,

on MONDAY, 9th DECEMBER, 1935, at 6 p,m,

PRESENT;

The Right Hon. Stanley Baldwin, M.P. , Prime Minister . ( in the C h a i r ) .

Ijhe Right Hon. The Right Hon. J, Ramsay MacDonald, Nev i l l e Chamberlain, M.P., Lord President of the Council . Chancellor of the Exchequer.

fie Right Hon. The Right Hon. The Viscount Hailsham, S i r John Simon, G .C .S . I . ,K .C .V .O . , Lord Chancellor. O.B.E. , K.C. , M.P. , Secretary * f

State for Home A f f a i r s .

le Right Hon. The Right Hon* The Viscount Hal i fax , K.G. , A. Duff Cooper, D.S.O. , M.P., G.C.S. I . , G.C. I .E. , Secretary of State for War, Lord Privy Seal .

[he Right Hon. The Right Hon. Malcolm MacDonald, The Viscount Swinton, G.B.E. , Secretary of State for Dominion M . C , Secretary of State for Affairs. A i r .

"he MoBt Hon. The Right Hon. The Marquess of Zetland, S i r Godfrey Co l l ins , K.B.E., G.C.S.I. , G.C. I .E. , Secretary C.M.G. , M.P., Secretary of State of State for India. f o r Scotland.

he Right Hon. The Right Hon. J.H. Thomas , M. P. , Anthony Eden, M.C. , M,P*, Secretary of State for the Ministor f a r League of Nations Colonies. A f f a i r s .

he Right Hon. The Right Hon. Lord Eustace Percy, M.P. , Walter E l l i o t , M.C., M.P., Minister without P o r t f o l i o . Minister for Agr iculture and

F isher ies .

he Right Hon. The Right Hon. Oliver Stanley, M.C., M.P. , S i r Kingsley Wood, M.P. , President of the Board of Minister of Health. Education.

be Right Hon. The Right Hon. Ernest Brown, M.C., M.P., W. Ormsby-Gore, M.P., Minister of Labour. F i r s t Commissioner of Works.

Dloriei Sir M.P.A. Hankey, G.C.B. , G.C.M.G., G.C.V.O. , Secretary.

; IRE ITALO-ABYSS IN IAN DISPUTE.

Anglo-French Conversations .

proposed. Embargo on Oil Supplies for I t a l y .

Propose^ Basis of Peace D i s ­cus?ions .

(Previous Reference: Cabinet ( 3 5 ) , Con­olusion )

The Cabinet he ld a S p e c i a l Meet ing t o cons ide r

the f o l l o w i n g documents i n connect ion w i t h the I t a l ) -

Abyss in ian d i s p u t e : -

A Note by the M i n i s t e r f o r League o f Nat ions A f f a i r s ( C P . - 2 3 3 ( 3 5 ) ) c o v e r i n g a Record, o f a Conversat ion h e l d i n Pa r i s on Saturday, December 7, 1935, between the Secre tary o f S ta te f o r Fo r e i gn A f f a i r s and M. L a v a l :

A Memorandum by the Secre tary o f S ta te f o r Fore i gn A f f a i r s ( C P . - 2 3 5 ( 3 5 ) ) g i v i n g an account o f the Pa r i s Conversa t i ons , t o g e the r w i t h urgent recommendations as t o the a c t i o n to be t aken . Attached t o the Memorandum was a note on Procedure , and . suggested d r a f t te legrams to Rome o u t l i n i n g proposa ls which the United Kingdom and, French Governments proposed t o submit to the Committee o f F i v e a t Geneva as a bas i s o f n e g o t i a t i o n f o r a se t t l ement o f the d i s p u t e :

A Memorandum by the P r es iden t o f the Board o f Trade ( C P . - 2 3 6 ( 3 5 ) ) on the sub jec t o f o i l supp l i es f o r I t a l y , annexing a memorandum by the A n g l o -Iranian"" O i l Company and the She l l Group, which made i t c l e a r that the Companies do not cons ider that a vo lun ta ry l i m i t a t i o n o f shipments to I t a l y could be e f f e c t e d , and that i n t h e i r v i ew they would incur r e a l r i s k s i n I t a l y i f by t h e i r own vo lun ta r y a c t i on they endeavoured t o r e s t r i c t shipments. A Memorandum by the Petro leum Department o f the Board o f Trade was a l so a t t a ched , b r i n g i n g up t o date the in fo rmat ion conta ined in Annex I to CP .-212 (35 ) .

x A r e v i s e d v e r s i o n o f the Annexes to the note was c i rcu la ted , s h o r t l y b e f o r e the Mee t ing .

The Prime M i n i s t e r informed, the Cabinet that the

Meet ing had been summoned, at the request o f the

Sec r e t a r y o f S ta te f o r Fo re i gn A^ffairs . In a short

l e t t e r (which the Prime M in i s t e r read to h i s

c o l l e a g u e s ) c ove r ing h i s Memorandum and i t s Annexes

the Sec r e ta ry o f S ta te had s t r ong l y recommended, tha t

h i s proposa ls should be adopted . The Prime M i n i s t e r

s a i d that both the P res iden t o f the Board, o f Trade

and the F i r s t Lord o f the Admira l ty were absent through

i n d i s p o s i t i o n . The l a t t e r ha.d. informed, him that he

supported the recommendations o f the Fo r e i gn Sec re ta ry

The M i n i s t e r f o r League o f Nations A f f a i r s asked

the Cabinet t o agree to two amendments t o the

proposed procedure . I t had been arranged at the

P a r i s conversa t ions that Signor Musso l in i should be

informed i n f u l l o f the proposals t o be submitted to

the Committee o f F i v e at Geneva by the B r i t i s h and

French Governments as a bas i s f o r d i s cuss i on , and

should be asked to agree to them i n p r i n c i p l e , and

the Emperor o f Abyss in i a was to be n o t i f i e d i n an

approp r i a t e form that t h i s attempt at peace was

be ing made and tha t the Abyssinians would have the

f u l l e s t oppor tun i ty o f e xp la in ing t h e i r p o s i t i o n

t o i t at the Committee o f F i v e . As the new

proposa l s went i n some r espec t s a good deal fur ther

than the e a r l i e r proposa ls o f the Committee o f F i v e ,

i n so much as they i n vo l v ed exchanges o f t e r r i t o r y

i n the North . as w e l l as i n the South and

East o f A b y s s i n i a , i t seemed f a i r e r t o the Emperor

t o t r e a t him e x a c t l y the same as S ignor Musso l in i

and send him the whole p r o p o s a l s . His Majesty 1 s

Ambassador i n P a r i s had agreed to t h i s sugges t i on ,

and i t was hoped tha t he and S i r Robert Vans. i t tart

(who was i n P a r i s ) would be able to arrange t h i s

w i t h the French Government. A second po in t o f

procedure which , a f t e r mentioning i t t o the Prime

M i n i s t e r , he had asked S i r Robert V a n s i t t a r t to

a r r ange , was t h a t , instead o f postponing the

Mee t ing o f the Committee o f Eighteen on December

12th, which the B r i t i s h and French Governments had

no au tho r i t y to do , the Meeting should take p lace

as arranged and the B r i t i s h and French r ep r e s en ta ­

t i v e s should s t a t e that they were engaged on a

peace e f f o r t and ask the Committee to r e f e r the

matter t o the Committee o f F i v e (Spa in , the United

Kingdom, Prance , Turkey and P o l a n d ) . That ,

a d m i t t e d l y , increased the r i s k o f l e akage , but ,

as the French had a l r eady a l l owed the proposa ls t o l eak

out i n t o t h e i r P r e s s , t h i s d id not much mat ter . I f the

course he now proposed were adopted, the Committee o f

Eighteen would probably adjourn, and the quest ion o f the

o i l sanct ion would be postponed. The M i n i s t e r f o r League

o f Nations A f f a i r s then exp la ined the P a r i s p roposa l s w i th

the a i d o f maps, which were handed round. He emphasised

that the proposed exchange o f t e r r i t o r y in the North would be

the hardest f o r the Emperor o f Abyss in ia t o a c c ep t , but he

would r e c e i v e compensation in an o u t l e t to the sea; and he

po in t ed out the ex t en t of the t e r r i t o r y that i t was proposed

to inc lude in the area f o r economic development, the

whole of which, however, was non-Amharic. He added that

he had r e c e i v e d a persona l message from M. Lava l t o the

e f f e c t that a t Geneva he would want t o i n t e r p r e t the proposa ls

as generously as p o s s i b l e f o r S ignor Musso l in i . He then

added c e r t a i n d e t a i l s o f the proposa ls that he had ga thered

from Mr, Maurice Pe t e r son , of the Fore ign O f f i c e , who had

been present at the Pa r i s d i s cuss i ons . The M i n i s t e r f o r

League of Nat ions A f f a i r s , w h i l e support ing the Fore ign

S e c r e t a r y ' s p r o p o s a l s , f e l t bound to warn h is c o l l e a gues

tha t some f e a tu r e s o f the proposa ls were l i k e l y to prove very

d i s t a s t e f u l t o some S ta tes Members of the League o f Na t i ons ,

i nc lud ing S ta t e s r epresen ted on the Committee o f F i v e .

He ment ioned 'a l so tha t M. L a v a l , wh i l e s t a t i n g tha t France

would honour her o b l i g a t i o n s t o the League and i t s Member

S ta t e s in the event o f an I t a l i a n agg ress i on as the r e s u l t

of fu r the r s a n c t i o n s , had made c l e a r in the conversa t i ons

tha t sanct ions were unpopular to an important s e c t i o n of

French pub l i c op in i on . T h i s , which had perhaps in f luenced

the Fore ign S e c r e t a r y , r a i s e d doubts as to whether ,

i n the e v en t , a c t i v e French co - ope ra t i on could be r e l i e d on,

p a r t i c u l a r l y i f S ignor Musso l in i should accept the p roposa l

/but the Emperor o f Abyss in ia

should r e f u s e . I f the League o f Nations as w e l l as

the Emperor should r e j e c t the proposals the French

a t t i t u d e was hard to f o r e c a s t .

The proposa ls were discussed by the Cabinet at some

l e n g t h . I t was r ecogn i sed that i f I t a l y , Abyss in ia

and the League should a l l accept the proposals as a

bas i s f o r d i scuss ion the p o s i t i o n would be s a t i s factor,?

as conforming t o the dec la red po l i c y o f the Government.

I f I t a l y and the League should a c c e p t , but Abyss in i a

should r e f u s e , the p o s i t i o n would be more d i f f i c u l t ,

as France would f e e l j u s t i f i e d i n re fus ing to c o ­

opera te i n fu r the r sanct ions or t h e i r consequences.

I f both the League and Abyss in ia should r e j e c t the

p r o p o s a l s , w h i l e I t a l y accepted them as a b a s i s , the

p o s i t i o n would be one o f uncer ta in ty and d i f f i c u l t y .

In that event the f i r s t th ing to be done would be to

t r y and n e g o t i a t e f o r a more acceptab le b a s i s ; but

the p o s s i b i l i t y was recogn ised o f an undes i rab le

p o s i t i o n a r i s i n g i n which the League was d i v ided on

the ques' i on o f sanct ions and o f our having to dec ide

whether we would s t i l l adhere to our recommendation

o f t h i s p r o p o s a l .

The Smperor, i t was po inted o u t , was un l ike l y t o

g i v e a d e f i n i t e acceptance o f the p roposa l , even as

a bas is o f d i s cuss i on ; he was l i k e l y at l e a s t t o ask

f o r an I t a l i a n wi thdrawal from occupied t e r r i t o r y

or an a r m i s t i c e — and that would r a i s e the d i f f i c u l t

ques t i on o f whether the present economic sanct ions

could be maintained during a n . a r m i s t i c e . I t was

suggested that economic sanc t i ons , once r a i s e d , could

never be re imposed . These , however , were f e l t t o be

problems f o r the f u t u r e .

Among c r i t i c i s m s o f the ac tua l proposals were that

they were b e t t e r f o r I t a l y than those o f the Committee

o f F ive? that i t would be sa id that I t a l y ' s r e s o r t

t o f o r c e had gained her more than she could have

obta ined o t h e r w i s e ; that the suggested Chartered

Company was ra ther a dubious p r o p o s i t i o n : and tha t

the sphere o f economic e x p l o i t a t i o n f o r I t a l y was

unduly ex tended. On the o the r hand the proposa ls f e l l

a good deal short o f what Signor Musso l in i had demanded

in the summer.

The ques t i on was r a i s e d as to why the proposa ls

had not been sent t o the League o f Nat ions b e f o r e

they were sent to I t a l y , and whether t h i s could not

s t i l l be done- I t was suggested tha t M. Lava l had

probably thought i t more advantageous from the po in t

o f v i ew o f S ignor M u s s o l i n i ' s amour pro pre, t o send

the proposa ls to him in the f i r s t i n s t a n c e . Proposa ls

from the United Kingdom and France were fa r more

l i k e l y to r e c e i v e favourab le c ons i d e ra t i on from Signor

Musso l in i than i f they emanated from the League .

There w e r e , i t was sugges ted , obvious advantages i n

g e t t i n g the assent o f the two p a r t i e s , i f t h i s could

be done, b e f o r e submit t ing proposals to the League,

and e v e r y th ing p o s s i b l e should be done to secure t h i s .

There was genera l agreement i n the proposa l o f the

M i n i s t e r f o r League o f Nat ions A f f a i r s that the

proposed pea.ce terms ought t o be communicated to

Abyss in ia a t the same time as to I t a l y , and tha t the

Emperor should be s t r ong l y pressed to accept them as

a bas i s f o r d i s cuss i on , or at l e a s t not t o r e j e c t them.

The f a c t tha t the terms had leaked out i n the Pa r i s

Press made t h i s i n d i s p e n s a b l e . Mi L a v a l ' s agreement

to a t e l eg ram to Abyss in ia ought , i t was urged , t o

be obta ined the same even ing , and our agreement i n

the d r a f t t e l eg ram to I t a l y ought to be made cond i ­

t i o n a l on h i s acceptance o f t h i s .

Towards the end. o f the d i s cuss i on the Secre tary

o f S ta te f o r A i r informed the Cabinet t h a t , from

such s l i g h t in f o rmat i on as he had r e c e i v e d by

te l ephone from P a r i s , the conversat ions on a i r

f o r t h i n h i s Memorandum ( C P . - 2 3 5 ( 3 5 ) )

c o - o p e r a t i o n were not proceeding v e r y f a vourab l y .

The Cabinet agreed —

( a ) Too f

support the po l i c y o f the Sta te f o r Fore i gn A f f a i r s

Secre ta ry as set­

and the (amended) Annexes:

( b ) To approve the m o d i f i c a t i o n o f procedure proposed by the M i n i s t e r f o r League o f Nations' A f f a i r s w i th the o b j e c t o f secur ing the support o f the League o f Nat ions to the bas is f o r d i scuss ion as soon as p o s s i b l e : tha t i s to say , tha t the Meet ing o f the Committee o f F ighteen at Geneva should take place on December 12th, as a l r eady arranged , and that the B r i t i s h and French Represen ta t i v es should in form the Committee g e n e r a l l y o f the p o s i t i o n and i n v i t e i t t o r e f e r the examination o f the peace proposals to the Committee o f F i v e . Meanwhile i t was assumed that the d e c i s i on on the O i l Sanct ion would be adjourned:

( c ) To author i se the M i n i s t e r f o r League o f Nat ions A f f a i r s ( i n the absence o f the Fore i gn Sec re ta ry ) to despatch the ( r e v i s e d ) d ra f t t e l eg ram (annexed to C P . - 2 3 5 ( 3 5 ) ) to Rome, prov ided that a s i m i l a r t e l eg ram i s sent by France and t h i s country t o Abysg in ia :

(d.) To ask the M i n i s t e r f o r League o f Nat ions A f f a i r s to take immediate steps t o ob ta in the agreement o f the French Government to f c ) , and to po in t out to them t h a t , as the proposed bas is f o r d i s cuss i on had leaked out i n the French P r e s s , i t i s imposs ib le t o make a communication to one par ty and not to the o t h e r ;

( e ) That , when the proposed ba^is i s forwarded to Addis Ababa, a message should be sent to the B r i t i s h M in i s t e r asking him t o do h i s bes t t o induce the Emperor t o accep t , or at l e a s t not to r e j e c t i t out o f hand:

( f ) That the Meet ing o f the Cabinet on Wednesday, December 11th, should be he ld at 10 a .m. in o rder to a f f o r d an oppor tun i ty f o r fur ther d i scuss ion o f these matters in the l i g h t o f the l a t e s t developments be f o r e the departure o f the M i n i s t e r f o r League o f Nat ions A f f a i r s f o r Geneva.

2, Whi teha l l Gardens, S.:/F.l December 9 , 1935.