French Prime Minister Undermines Negotiations in Moroccan Crisis

July 27, 1911: Another communique between Prime Minister Caillaux and German Foreign Ministers, soon to be intercepted by French Officials.

Only after German codes were obtained during World War I, could the full texts of dispatches between the German Foreign Minister in France and German Officials show the extent of secret negotiations between French Prime Minister Joseph Caillaux and the German Government. In dispatches between July 26 and 27th of 1911, Caillaux feared that ceding the entire Congo coast, in exchange for German recognition of French authority in Morocco, would be humiliating to France and would infuriate the English, who wished to limit German colonial growth.

Through the mediator, Hyacinthe-Alphonse Fondère, French Colonial Explorer and businessman, the secret negotiations, which possibly lead to great monetary gains by the prime minister, eventually did lead to Germany expanding their territorial gains in the Congo.

Intercepted by French officials, the French Foreign Minister of Foreign Affairs, Justin de Selves, would become furious at the Prime Minister.  The documents were ultimately obtained by the French newspaper, Le Figaro, leading to speculation that Caillaix's wife murdered the editor of the paper to prevent release of these very explosives communiques, in 1914. Ultimately, their release was suppressed until after the war.

To the Foreign Office, Berlin

Alfonse Fondère

 "Caillaux has charged  Fondère to inform the embassy that he is moved by a sincere desire to come to an understanding with us, and that he would prefer to bring an agreement on broad lines, settling all differences which have arisen between us during the past years. This would help bring him to justify before public opinion the cession of Colonial territory, by pointing out the great advantage of suppressing all matters of friction with us.
   The greater the extent of the agreement and the larger the number of different objects embraced by it, the more able would France be to show a spirit of accommodation in the cession of Colonial territory; whereas a deal limited to Morocco and the Congo would cause here an impression of humiliation and could hardly be achieved in a form satisfactory to us.

Wilhelm von Schoen

   Caillaux asks for an inquiry to be made in Berlin as to what would be desired n the most different possible directions. What he is thinking of - although these would be but small concessions - is a German Chairman of the Ottoman Debt, the retrocession of 30 per cent. of the stock of the Bagdad Railway to the Paris Bourse (stock exchange) and an understanding about railways in the East. He has also considered the possibility of ceding to us the French possessions in Oceanica (Oceania). I am sending at midday tomorrow the Counselor of Embassy in order to give you a verbal report.

Caillaux urges strongly that nothing about these overtures should be communicated to Cambon(French Ambassador to Germany)."  Signed Schoen (Wilhelm von Schoen German ambassador in Paris)