Clandestine Negotiations between George Steward, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's Press Officer, and Dr Fritz Hesse, Press Adviser to the German Embassy, 1938: Hesse's Report to Ribbentrop

A file of documents recording and analysing the clandestine negotiations carried out in 1938 between George Steward, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's press officer, and Dr Fritz Hesse, press adviser to the German Embassy. Documents in this file include a report obtained by an agent from Hesse to German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop describing the negotiations, including the British suggestion that the two sides reach an agreement for moderation in air warfare, and an invitation for Ribbentrop to meet secretly with Chamberlain; a second, slightly amended version of the report; a memorandum giving arguments for and against carrying out these meetings, analysing the potential political and diplomatic fallout in Britain, Germany, and Italy; documents relating to the Security Service's (MI5) monitoring of the meeting; a description of Hesse’s contact; and an extract from the diaries of Sir Alexander Cadogan describing the reaction of Lord Halifax to the meetings.