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long distance telephone, speaking personally with Foreign Ministers Halifax and Bonnet and with
 
Hitler himself, urging a meeting between them and Mussolini to be held at Stresa on September 5. 
 
He had recorded that Hitler had agreed to such a meeting on September first, but that he had had 
 
no replies from Bonnet and Halifax until September 2, and that while the latter had then agreed in 
 
principle, Halifax had insisted that as a condition precedent German troops must be withdrawn
 
back beyond the German frontier with Poland. Ciano felt that if the reply from Halifax had come 
 
on September first, Hitler would have agreed to this condition, but that by September 2 German 
 
troops had advanced so far and German military enthusiasm had reached such a pitch, as to make
 
this condition impossible of acceptance.
 
     The Minister doubted whether any similar meeting at this time would be productive of any 
 
useful purpose.
 
     Count Ciano then spoke at very considerable length of German-Italian relations. He spoke 
 
with no effort at concealment of his hearty dislike of Ribbentrop. He said, "If Hitler wants 
 
anything--and God knows he always wants enough--Ribbentrop always goes him one better." He 
 
llkewise made it clear that he bitterly resented not only the lack of courtesy shown the Italian 
 
Government by Hitler in failing to consult it with regard to German policy, but also by what he 
 
claimed was Hitler's complete disregard for the terms of the understanding between Italy and
 
Germany.
 
     He stated that during the past summer when he had twice conferred with Hitler and
 
Ribbentrop, the subject of the negotiations then progressing between the Soviet Union and France
 
and England had, of course, come up for discussion. The Germans had told him that in order to
 
impede