No. 270 - M. Georges Bonnet, Minister for Foreign Affairs, to M. BARGETON, French Ambassador in Brussels. Paris, August 27, 1939. 10.30 p.m.
France · 1939AUTHOR — France
The French Yellow Book
No. 270 : M. Georges Bonnet, Minister for Foreign Affairs, to M. BARGETON, French Ambassador in Brussels. Paris, August 27, 1939. 10.30 p.m.
PLEASE request the King of the Belgians to grant you an audience, and hand him the following communication on behalf of the Government of the Republic:
"The Government of the Republic have neglected nothing that might contribute to the maintenance of peace. If their efforts should fail, the French Government know that the Belgian Government would act in exact conformity with their international obligations.
"In the event of Belgium adopting an attitude of neutrality, the French Government would, of course, as in 1914, fully respect this neutrality. Only in the event of Belgian neutrality not being respected by another Power might France be led to modify her attitude in order to secure her own defence.
"The binding promises of assistance given by the French Government to Belgium, as expressly stated in their communication to the Belgian Government of August 24, 1937, as a matter of course, retain their full value."
Georges Bonnet.