President Roosevelt and Winston Churchill met at the Second Quebec Conference, the Octagon Conference. It took place between 9 and 21 September 1944. The public was informed that the primary purpose of the meeting was to discuss military matters. According to Alexander Cadogan, the British Foreign Office Undersecretary, the President stated, “Quebec is to be entirely military; if any other subject come up I shall call Cordell right away.” It would therefore be unnecessary to have State Department representatives. The President not only deceived the public but his own State Department about the purpose of the conference. The intended purpose of the Conference was to gain Churchill’s acceptance of the Morgenthau Plan.
On September 12 Morgenthau requested he be allowed to attend. Churchill was interested in Morgenthau attendance because he wanted to discuss Lend Lease. Roosevelt discussed the Morgenthau Plan with Churchill over lunch on the 13th. Morgenthau and White arrived after lunch. The President met with Morgenthau after lunch and told him he wanted him to talk with Churchill’s advisor, Lord Cherwell. He informed Morgenthau that Churchill was not very enthusiastic about the Plan.
The following day there was a dinner meeting. After dinner Morgenthau began to explain his plan. According to Morgenthau Churchill was violently opposed to the plan. He looked upon it as he would on chaining himself to a dead German. Churchill was aware that the plan would cause economic chaos throughout Europe. The three hour long discussion did not change his mind. The meeting ended with the President saying, “Let the Prof (Lord Cherwell) go into our plans with Morgenthau.
In the morning of the 14th of September Morgenthau and White met with Lord Cherwell. Cherwell explained that Churchill’s opposition stemmed from the fact that he did not understand the plan. At 11 A.M. Roosevelt met with Churchill. The were joined a half hour later by Morgenthau and White. Cherwell recorded that Churchill “was converted” to the agrarian plan. He had made a 180 degree change.
That afternoon Anthony Eden and Alexander Cadogan arrived That evening there was another dinner meeting. It was at this meeting that Anthony Eden expressed his strong opposition to the plan.
Morgenthau and White met with Cherwell on the morning of the fifteenth to prepare for their meeting with the President and Prime Minister. At noon Morgenthau and Cherwell met with Eden, Cadogan, Churchill and Roosevelt. The first matter of discussion was an agreement to provide Britain with six and one half billion dollars in Lend Lease assistance. this assistance was Churchill’s primary goal in attending this conference. Morgenthau and Roosevelt did not make it easy for Churchill. At one point Churchill stated, “What do you want me to do, stand up and beg like Fala?” Churchill was referring to Roosevelt’s dog Fala.
Immediately after the agreement on Lend Lease Churchill turned to Morgenthau and Cherwell and asked, “Where are the minutes on this matter of the Ruhr?” There was no memo describing the plan so Churchill took the initiative and dictated his interpretation of the plan:
At the conference between the President and the Prime Minister upon the best measures to prevent renewed rearmament by Germany, it was felt that an essential feature was the future disposition of the Ruhr and the Saar.
The ease with which the metallurgical, chemical and electrical industries in Germany can be converted from peace to war has already been impressed upon us by bitter experience. It must also be remembered that the Germans have devastated a large portion of the industries of Russia and of other neighboring Allies, and it is only in accordance with justice that these injured countries should be entitled to remove the machinery they require in order to repair the losses they have suffered. The industries referred to in the Ruhr and in the Saar would therefore be necessarily put out of action and closed down. It was felt that the two districts should be put under somebody under the world organization which would supervise the dismantling of these industries and make sure that they were not started up again by some subterfuge.
The program for eliminating the war-making industries in the Ruhr and in the Saar is looking forward to converting Germany into a country primarily agricultural and pastoral in its character.
Churchill’s addition of the them “pastoral” was a nice touch making this genocidal plan sound like a plan to create a utopian agricultural community.
Churchill’s physician Lord Moran, was “bewildered” by Churchill’s abrupt change. He recorded that Eden “flew into a rage” and stated the plan would not work. Churchill lost his temper and they had a “heated Discussion.” Churchill responded, “I’ve no patience with people who are always raising difficulties.” Eden recorded this incident in his memoirs: “This was the only occasion I can remember when the Prime Minister showed impatience with my views before foreign representatives.”
Secretary of State Cordell was shocked by the news from Quebec. He wrote:
On the same day, Sept. 15, that the President sent me the memorandum embracing the Morgenthau plan and the decision on the zones of occupation, he sent me another memorandum which informed me that Morgenthau had presented at Quebec in conjunction with his plan for Germany, a proposal of credits to Britain totaling six and a half billion dollars. This might suggest to some the quid pro quo with which the Secretary of the Treasury was able to get Mr. Churchill’s adherence to his cataclysmic plan for Germany.
A few pages later Hull is more specific when he writes, “The British at Quebec had joined in on this extreme starvation plan in order to get Morgenthau’s help in obtaining six and a half billion dollars credit proposed by the Secretary of the Treasury.”
The Quebec Conference is a classic example of the deceptiveness of the Roosevelt Administration. The purpose of the conference had to be concealed from the public and even the President’s own State Department. Henry Morgenthau III commented, “In order to obscure the true nature of Octagon, spokesmen told the press that the discussions were exclusively concerned with military matters, particularly the war in the Pacific and Asia, and so the highest-ranking uniformed personages were put on display.”
It is understandable that the public and press would accept the press releases of the Administration. It is far less understandable that respected historians would continue this pretense. With few exceptions the unbelievable credulity of professional historians is on display when covering President Roosevelt’s policies.
https://youtu.be/xV4h4o8JS8s
Epilogue
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiKyzE_4mMI Provides a 1944 newsreel of the
Quebec Conference 1944 - Octagon, WWII, 28870. Produced by The National Film Board of Canada it provides a view of the military "put on display.”
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