Pierre Laval Quotes
In the event of a victory over Germany by Soviet Russia and England, Bolshevism in Europe would inevitably follow. Under these circumstances I would prefer to see Germany win the war.
Laval, Pierre. The Diary of Pierre Laval. Charles Scribner's Sons, 1948.
FDR was right about Russia being a major factor in stopping Hitler, but partially wrong about the danger of Russia. The Soviets never did dominate Europe although the tried, but they did dominate Eastern Europe.
Leval was an appeaser and a collaborator with the Nazi’s. He led the government in name but the Germans really controlled the country. His actions killed tens of thousands of French men and women by turning them over to the Germans. After the Germans were defeated in WWII, Leval was shot as a traitor by the Free French forces.
Stalin decided not to help the Republicans in Spain—even his fellow communists.
The military security people were so used to ferreting out communists in the 1930s that they had a hard time adjusting to the fact that the security risks or people who might have German connections or backgrounds. Many immigrant scientists were recruited for work on the Manhattan project to build the atomic bomb and they only did security clearances. The military security people kept checking on any communist background they might have had as opposed to possible connections with fascist organizations. By the end of the war they had adjusted but then had to go back to looking for communists as the Cold War evolved.
In addition to the men who feared communism so much that they ignored the then greater menace of Fascism, there was also a small but influential pro Fascist influence in England which included the King who was forced to abdicate as The Duke of Windsor.
Coughlin was a great admirer of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini and the Fascists. He was one of the American “heroes” in Nazi Germany, receiving assistance from the Nazi government. Between his anti-Semitism and support for Hitler, Fascism and radical socialism, the Vatican ordered him off the air and shut down his political demagoguery.
Donovan had been criticized for utilizing "leftists" for intelligence activities. Precursor to CIA. Donavan was a prominant attorney, banker and financier as well as a Medal of Honor Winner when he was asked to organzie the OSS. America was far behind the axis and even our allies in spy craft. J Edgar Hoover focused the FBI on leftists and had veritually no capability for spying in Western Europe and Asia. Donavan's OSS produced almost all of the actionable intelligence and did a wonderful job in organziaing covert operations. He used people who would normally never be considered by an espionage agency including many scholars, intellectuals, scientists, and entertainers. His agents ranged from Julia Child, the gourmet chef. to Moe Berg, a New York Yankee Baseball Player who spoke many languages. Hoover and some if the military intelligence agencies were jealous of his success and his access to President Roosevelt, and complained about anything they could find and hisi agents were an easy target for their wealth, societal connections, sexual indescretions, liberal politics, Bohemians, upper class right wing politics and culture. None of thus phased Donavan. After the war and FDR's death, Donavan's enemies got the OSS disbanded. Soon, something was needed, and the CIA was organized along the lines of Donavan's recommendations.
The then Attorney General had established a back channel to the Russian agent. There was genuine fear by the Russians and some in America that there were still many Nazis and German nationalists who would try and influence, if not take over, German politics to produce another aggressive German fascist state. The Russians had lost 22 million citizens to the Germans in the war and had faced a defeated Germany where virtually every German over the age of 30 had been cheering for and supporting Hitler a decade ago. Neither the Russians nor we and the other allies had not yet seen the remarkable turn-around that the German nation would make and the intense anti-fascist, non-military ethos that would be brought by the younger German generations. The direction of Germany was then very unpredictable.
Pierre Jean Marie Laval was a French politician. During the time of the Third Republic, he served as Prime Minister of France from 27 January 1931 to 20 February 1932, and a second time from 7 June 1935 to 24 January 1936.
