26 Nov. 45
the motherland, is nine to one,
and it should act as a warning to us that if we expand in space, we
must not allow the level of our population to become too
low."
I take it he meant by that: "Keep the
population of occupied territories low in comparison with ours."
"France's position is more favorable than
that of England. The French Empire is better placed geographically;
the population of its colonial possessions represents a potential
military increase. But France is faced with difficulties of internal
politics. In the life of the nations, parliamentary governments ruled
only 10 per cent of the time, approximately; whereas, totalitarian
governments ruled 90 per cent of the time. Nevertheless, we have to
take the following into our political consideration as power factors:
"Britain, France, Russia, and the adjoining
smaller states. "The German question can be solved only by way
of force, and this is never without risk. The battles of Frederick
the Great for Silesia, and Bismarck's wars against Austria and France
had been a tremendous risk and the speed of Prussian action in 1870
had prevented Austria from participating in the war. If we place the
decision to apply force with risk at the head of the following
expositions, then we are left to reply to the questions 'when' and
'how'. In this regard we have to decide upon three different
cases."
I interpolate: The Tribunal will recall the
specific allegation in the Indictment that at this meeting there
emerged three different plans, any of which might be utilized.
"Case 1. Period 1943-45: After
this we can only expect a change for the worse. The rearming of the
Army, the Navy, and the Air Force, as well as the formation of the
Officers' Corps, are practically concluded."
I remind the Tribunal that this meeting was on 5
November 1937, but he is contemplating the period 1943-45.
"Our material equipment and
armaments are modern; with further delay the danger of their becoming
out-of-date will increase. In particular, the secrecy of 'special
weapons' cannot always be safeguarded. Enlistment of reserves would
be limited to the current recruiting age groups and an addition from
older untrained groups would be no longer available.
"In comparison with the rearmament, which
will have been carried out at that time by other nations, we shall
decrease in relative power. Should we not act until 1943-45, then,
dependent on the absence of reserves, any year could bring