Scraping a Very Narrow Conservative Party Victory: A timeline from 1929

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At the beginning of February 1935, the Foreign Secretary, Hugh Dalton, and the French Foreign Minister, Pierre Laval, met in London. They decided that the armaments clauses of the Treaty of Versailes should be abolished. They would be replaced by a new agreement, in particular on airforces. Also Germany would accept its eastern frontiers. In return Hitler would be asked to be part of a multilateral promise to maintain Austrian independence, and return Germany to the League of Nations.

Because there was nothing to be gained by rejecting the Anglo- French proposals, Hitler said that he would welcome talks and invited the British but not the French to Berlin. The British government accepted the invitation.

 

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On 7 March 1935, Dalton, and the Lord Privy Seal, Thomas Johnston, travelled by plane to Berlin. The next morning, Hitler welcomed them and the British ambassador to Germany, Sir Horace Rumbold. He gave a long speech in which he said that his life work was reviving the German people. But National Socialism was for Germany only. Dalton pressed Hitler on an eastern pact which would guarantee Europe's eastern borders, to which Hitler objected. He refused any participation by Lithuania, which he claimed was abusing the German minority in Memel. Besides, Communist Russia was the great threat to European peace. Johnston said that Russia was not able to, nor wanted to wage war. Hitler asked him not to under estimate the threat from the Soviet Union, the strongest power on land and air. He assured his British guests that he would never contemplate war against either Russia or Czechoslovakia.

 

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In the afternoon session, Hitler denied any intention of violating Austrian independence. He said that Germany wanted an agreement with both France and Britain, but while one with France was full of difficulties, one with Britain would be mutually beneficial. Great Britain could not defend all her colonies and would one day be glad to have the help of Germany's armed forces. He wanted Germany to have friendly relations with Great Britain. Dalton told him that any good relations with Germany would not be at the expense of Britain's friendship with France.

 

[HexWargamer]

Looking forward to British response to the Italian invasion of Abyssinia this time around.
(no mention of the OTL, 7 January 1935 Franco-Italian Agreement that gave Italy a free hand in Africa in return for Italian co-operation in Europe)

By now the military build up in Eritrea with Italian troop and munitions ships transitting the Suez Canal should becoming obvious & a cause for concern to the British ... (OTL the actual invasion started October 1935. British comission in Ethiopia since Nov 1934 to settle the border - see Walwal Incident)

EDIT - IMHO British & French (and all the other League members) abandoment of Ethiopia to an agressive invasion is a major indication to Hitler that no-one is going to stop him stomping on any independent minor country .. especially as he has a lot more 'justification' (incorporation of ethnic Germans, recover lands lost after WW1) whilst the Italians have none (other than wanting to build up an African Empire).
ADDITIONAL - Stalin, of course, would also note the Leagues refusal to get invloved ..

 

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The Franco-Italian Agreement on 7 January 1935 happened as in OTL.

The Nazis had organised a lavish banquet in an ornately decorated with hordes of flunkies with powdered hair. The whole hierarchy of German government was there. In his memoirs, Hugh Dalton wrote about the talks with Hitler and the banquet. Goring wore a sky-blue uniform with lots of gold braid. Hitler wore a badly cut evening suit.

The talks resumed the next day, 9 March 1935. Hitler said he was in favour of a ban on indiscriminate bombing, but insisted on reaching parity with Britain or France, whichever was the greater. Dalton asked him about the size of the German Air Force. He replied untruthfully that it had attained parity with Britain. (1) Dalton and Thomas Johnston then challenged Hitler on several aspects of German government policy.

Dalton asked about the assassination of the Austrian Chancellor, Englebert Dollfuss, by Austrian Nazis on 25 July 1934. Hitler asserted that he and the German government had nothing to do with it, and was as much as shock to he and them as to everyone else. Germany would respect the independence of Austria. It had no territorial claims in Europe.

Johnston asked about the Night of the Long Knives from 30 June to 2 July 1934, in which officially 85 people died, but estimates range up to a 1,000. Was the murder of Elisabeth von Schliecher, wife of former Chancellor, General Kurt von Schliecher, in accordance with National Socialist values? Hitler said that her death was a tragic accident. He had not authorised it. The SS were responsible for it. Johnston then asked who authorised the murders of Kurt von Schliecher; Edgar Jung, a close associate of Vice Chancellor, Franz von Papen; Erich Klausener, the leader of Catholic Action; and Gregor Strasser, who resigned from the Nazi Party in 1932. Hitler declared that they were executed because they were enemies of the German people. It was solely a German matter.

Dalton then asked about the concentration camps and the conditions in them, with the brutal treatment of prisoners. Did not their existence and the murders of critics and rivals in the Night of the Long Knives show that the German government allowed no opposition Hitler said that conditions in the camps were not easy, but prisoners were reasonably well treated. But they were enemies of the German people, and deserved to be there. Dalton commented that they were opponents of the German government.

(1) The banquet and talks up to here are taken are from the OTL talks in Berlin in March 1935, between the Hitler and the Foreign Secretary, Sir John Simon, and the Lord Privy Seal, Anthony Eden, as described in the book Appeasing Hitler: Chamberlain, Churchill and the Road to War by Tim Bouverie, London: The Bodley Head 2019.

 

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Thomas Johnston raised the matter of the persecution of Jews in Germany. Hitler assured him that Jews had their place in Germany, and were safe there. They were not being persecuted and no harm would come to them. Johnston said he hoped what Hitler said about the safety of Jews in Germany was true.

Hugh Dalton said that the Nazi regime was a gangster regime. In the last two years it had shown its true colours. The light of freedom had gone out in Germany. Great Britain wanted peace with Germany, as long as it stayed within its borders. But there could never be friendship between the two nations, while Germany was ruled by the Nazi Party. He and Johnston had no illusions about the real nature of the Nazi regime. There was no point in continuing the meeting. So they left the room and the building.

 

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When Hugh Dalton and Thomas Johnston returned to London, they gave a full report of their talks with Hitler to the cabinet and the House of Commons. At its meeting on 18 March 1935, the cabinet agreed to publish a White Paper which announced an increase of £10 million pounds in defence spending. (1) George Lansbury, First Commissioner of Works, and Lord Ponsonby, Lord President of the Council resigned in protest. The Prime Minister, Arthur Greenwood, made the following changes to his government:
Lord Thomson from Dominions Secretary to Lord President of the Council,
Earl de la Warr from Under-Secretary Colonial Office to Dominions Secretary,
John Strachey appointed Under-Secretary Colonial Office,
Wilfrid Paling from Parliamentary Secretary Ministry of Fuel and Power to First Commissioner of Works,
Aneurin Bevan appointed Parliamentary Secretary Ministry of Fuel Power.

(1) In OTL the National government cabinet published a White Paper which increased defence spending by 10 per cent, It was opposed by the Labour Party.

 

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Arthur Greenwood, the British Prime Minister, and the French Prime Minister, met Mussolini near the town of Stresa in northern Italy from 11 to 14 April 1935. They agreed to a League of Nations resolution which would respond with sanctions to any violation of the Treaty of Versailles. 'They reaffirmed their commitment to the Locarno Treaty - which included the maintenance of the demilitarised Rhineland - and declared their determination to oppose, by all practicable means, any unilateral repudiation of treaties which may endanger the peace of Europe, and [to] act in close and candid collaboration for this purpose.' (1)

In June 1935, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Hitler's Ambassador at Large, arrived in London for talks with the British government. The British accepted Hitler's demand for a German fleet which would be 35 per cent of the Royal Navy. The reason for this was that in December 1934, the Japanese had given notice that they would not be renewing the Washington Naval Treaty 1922, which gave Britain and the USA each a 5:3 ratio of naval superiority over Japan. This would mean a naval race with Japan which Britain decided it could not afford. The Admiralty, which did not want a naval arms race with Germany, persuaded the cabinet to accept Hitler's offer. (2)

Though there were sound military reasons for the Anglo-German Naval Agreement, it was a diplomatic disaster. The British had unilaterally repudiated the Treaty of Versailles. This was contrary to the agreement reached at Stresa ten weeks earlier. Pierre Laval, who became Prime Minister of France on 7 June, which remaining Foreign Minister, was furious. Mussolini drew the conclusion that Britain no longer supported collective security. (3)

(1) This was as in OTL. See the book Appeasing Hitler: Chamberlain, Churchill and the Road to War by Tim Bouverie.

(2) As in OTL.

(3) As in OTL.

 

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The Agriculture Marketing Act 1932 established the Milk Marketing Board and the Potato Marketing Board. (1) They gave farmers minimum prices for those products. The Holidays With Pay Act 1933 doubled the number of workers entitled to paid holidays from 1.5 million to 3 million.

Hugh Murnin, Labour MP for Stirling and Falkirk Burghs died on 11 March 1932. The subsequent by-election on 21 April was held for Labour with a majority over Conservative of 2.6%, down from 8.8% in the April 1931 general election, both in straight fights.

The North Cornwall by-election caused by the death of Donald Maclean (Liberal) on 1 June 1932, took place on 22 July. The percentage votes for each party were (1931 general election):
Violet Bonham Carter (Liberal): 52.9 (53.1)
Conservative: 40.7 (39.5)
Labour: 6.4 (7.4)
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Liberal majority: 12.2 (13.6)
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Bonham Carter was Asquith's daughter by his first wife. She joined Megan Lloyd George, who was Liberal MP for Anglesey, on the Liberal benches in the House of Commons.

(1) See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milk_Marketing_Board, and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AHDB_Potatoes.

 

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The Montrose Burghs by-election, caused by the resignation of Sir Robert Hutchinson (Liberal), was held on 28 June 1932. The percentage votes for each party were as follows ( April 1931 general election):
Charles Kerr (Liberal): 39.3 (55.4)
Labour: 37.0 (44.6)
Conservative: 12.0 (n/a)
National Party of Scotland: 11.7 (n/a)
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Liberal majority: 2.3 (10.8)
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The Norfolk South West by-election on 16 September 1932, caused by the death William Taylor, was a Conservative gain from Labour. The percentage votes were:
Conservative: 44.6 (34.0)
Labour: 43.4 (44.4)
Liberal : 12.0 (21.6).
The constituency went Labour for the first time in the April 1931 general election.

 

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The Stepney Mile End by-election, caused by the death of John Scurr (Labour) was held on 16 September 1932. The percentage votes were:
Daniel Franken (Labour): 47.1 (49.7)
Conservative: 28.9 (25.2)
Liberal: 24.0 (25.1)
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Labour majority: 18,2 (24.5)
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Franken was the first Jewish Labour MP for an east end of London constituency.

The East Fife by-election, caused by the death of Sir James Duncan Miller (Liberal), took place on 2 February 1933. The percentage votes were:
James Henderson-Stewart (Liberal): 38.8 (45.3)
Conservative: 30.7 (32.4)
Labour: 16.5 (22.3)
Agricultural: 10,4 (n/a)
Eric Linklater ( National Party of Scotland): 3.6 (n/a)
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Liberal majority: 8.1 (12.9)
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Linklater was a writer and poet. Here is his entry in Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Linklater.

 

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Sir John Tudor Walters, Liberal MP for Penryn and Falmouth, died on 16 July 1933. He had previously been Liberal MP for Sheffield Brightside from 1906 to 1922, and was Paymaster-General from 1919 to 1922. The subsequent by-election held on 1 September 1933 was a Labour gain from Liberal. The percentage votes were:
Alfred Leslie Rowse (Labour): 35.7 (33.8)
Liberal: 32.7 (38.6)
Conservative: 31.6 (27.6).
Rowse was a historian. (1)

Jennie Lee and Frank Wise were lovers. She was Labour MP for North Lanark and Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to Thomas Johnston, Lord Privy Seal. Wise was Labour MP for Leicester East, and PPS to Frederick Pethick- Lawrence, President of the Board of Trade.

Wise was a graduate of Cambridge University. In the Great War he organised supplies and army contracts. In 1923 he became economic adviser to the Russian Consumers Co-operative, and the Soviet Trading Mission. He was also director of other Soviet companies trading in grain and timber. He held these posts for the next eight years, until he became a PPS. At one time he captained the English amateur football team, and was a skilled climber and horse rider. He was tall with receding dark hair. Though not especially good looking, he had an imposing and forceful personality, and projected a strong physical presence. He was twenty-one years older than Jennie Lee.

Their love affair began in the summer of 1929 in Vienna. Lee had gone there to recover from the North Lanark by-election the previous March and the general election two months later. He joined her for a few days before he went to Moscow on business.

(1) For Rowse see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._L._Rowse.

 

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By November 1929, the relationship between Jennie Lee and Frank Wise was no longer a casual affair, they were committed to each other. However he was married with four school-age children. His wife Dorothy wanted to stay married to him. She and their children lived in a large house in the Buckinghamshire countryside. She had an MA from London University and taught English at a teacher training college. She was also Frank's political partner, canvassing and speaking for him at elections.

By January 1932 the affair between Jennie and Frank was common knowledge around Westminster. So they had to be discreet. Neither Dorothy nor Jennie wanted a divorce. Anyway Jennie did not want to get married, let alone to a divorced man, which was politically out of the question.

In the first weekend of November 1933, Frank stayed with Charles Trevelyan, President of the Board of Education, at Wallington, the latter's country estate in Northumberland. On Sunday 5 November, while walking in the woods, Frank collapsed with a brain haemorrhage. He was dead before he could be brought back to the house. That evening Jennie received the news by a phone call from a journalist friend. She was alone in her London flat. She was grief stricken. Her close friend, Suse, feared she was suicidal. She could not mourn in public. That was Dorothy's right. Jennie threw herself into her work. (1)

The subsequent by-election in Leicester East was on 8 February 1934. The percentage votes for each party were (1931 general election):
John Dugdale (Labour): 50.3 (53.4)
Conservative: 34.2 (26.0)
Liberal: 15.5 (20.6)
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Labour majority: 16.1 (27.4)
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Dugdale was Labour candidate for Leicester South in the 1931 general election.

The Exeter by-election, caused by the death of Lady Eleanor Acland (Liberal), also took place on 8 February 1934. The percentage votes were:
Roger Fulford (Liberal): 39.1 (43.2)
Conservative: 32.6 (26.3)
Labour: 28.3 (30.5)
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Liberal majority: 6.5 (12.7)
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Fulford was a journalist with The Times . He was President of Oxford University Liberal Club 1925-26, and President of the Oxford Union in 1927. He was Liberal candidate for Woodbridge in the 1929 and 1931 general elections.

(1) The relationship between Jennie Lee and Frank Wise, and his death, was as in OTL. It is taken from the book Jennie Lee: A Life by Patricia Hollis, Oxford University Press, 1997.

 

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The election for the London County Council was held on 1 March 1934. It was won by the Municipal Reform Party, which was what the Conservative Party called themselves. The number of councillors elected for each party were (March 1931 election):
Municipal Reform: 65 (54)
Labour: 55 (63)
Liberal: 4 (7)
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Total: 124 (124)
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Harold Webbe (Municipal Reform) became Chairman of the County Council.

The Combined English Universities by-election on 16 November 1933 was a Conservative gain from Liberal. The Stockton-on-Tees by-election on 19 April 1934, and the Lincoln by-election on 21 May 1934, were won by Labour. But their majorities over Conservative fell from 12.7% to 4.2% in Stockton, and from 17.0% to 7.6% in Lincoln.

The Carmarthen by-election, caused by the death of William Nathaniel Jones, was held on 12 July 1934. The percentage votes were:
Richard Evans (Liberal): 41.1 (48.5)
Labour: 40.6 (38.4)
Conservative: 18.3 (13.1)
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Liberal majority: 0.5 (10.1)
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The Newcastle-upon-Tyne by-election, caused by the death of John Palin (Labour) was also held on 12 July. The percentage votes were:
Labour: 45.2 (49.2)
Conservative: 42.6 (33.8)
Liberal: 12.2 (17.0)
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Labour majority: 2.6 (15.4)
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John Sullivan, Labour MP for Bothwell, died on 13 February 1935. The subsequent by-election took place on 2 April 1935. The percentage votes were:
Labour: 60.9 (57.4)
Conservative: 39.1 (36.8)
(Communist: 5.8)
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Labour majority: 21.8 (20.6)
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There were by-elections in Conservative seats, and other Labour and Liberal seats, but none changed hands.