WAR IN SPAIN: Police Job

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France soon made it clear that her border had been opened to a population larger than Lille's (201,000) only in the name of humanity, that the Loyalist Government would be treated as a friendly one but would not be permitted to function inside French territory. The rumors flew thick & fast that France and Britain were about to do something to prevent further bloodshed in the war. From London came a report that the British had been asked by the Loyalists to act as intermediaries. From Perpignan came a dispatch saying that President Azaña opposed further resistance. He was said to have split with Dr. Negrin and to have gone to Paris. The Catalonian Government was said to have declared the war at an end as far as it was concerned, which it was.

Premier Negrin offered publicly to mediate the war on three conditions: 1) that Spain would be freed of foreign influence (meaning Italians and Germans); 2) that a Government be established through a plebiscite (meaning the probable displacement of Generalissimo Franco); 3) that the liquidation of the war be accompanied without persecution so that all Spaniards could join in reconstruction. On the other hand, Generalissimo Franco, answering inquiries from London and Paris, was reported to have demanded unconditional surrender. Despite the crescendo of peace reports, it seemed more than likely that Dr. Negrin and his loyal ministers would soon transfer the Government back to Madrid or Valencia. They had nothing to gain by surrendering, little to lose personally by fighting. The Madrid-Valencia area could not be expected to hold out long against a full-bodied Franco attack, but in the meanwhile the world situation might change. The Loyalists still had some money. And a general European war between the Fascist and democratic powers could still save their cause.