CJ
This telegram must be                             BERLIN
closely paraphrased be-
fore being communicated                           Dated September 7, 1939
to anyone.  (D)
                                             Rec'd 10:38 a.m.,
 
Secretary of State,
     
     Washington.
 
     1114, September 7, 10 a.m.
     
     The Italian Ambassador here has given me the following account of the last moment
efforts of Mussoli to avoid war: As a culmination of the Italian efforts towards a peaceful solution
of the German-Polish controversy (see my 932, August 27, 3 p.m.)  Mussolini on the evening of
August 31st proposed a conference.  France and England agreed to this step and the German
Government declared that it was not averse thereto but requested twenty-four hours in which to
consider.  Hostilities commenced early on the following morning and Mussolini proceeded no
further as the matter seemed hopeless.  The French Government however expressed itself in favor
of a continuation of the Mussolini plan and negotiations were renewed.  It was at that moment
however that England decided to demand the withdrawl of German troops from Polish soil, a
demand which the Ambassador characterized as unprecedented and all further negotiations were
futile.