GAULLE Charles de. L.A.S. L. A. S. "Charles", Paris 20 December 1936, to his mother; 4 pages in-8. Very interesting letter on Hitler and the need to prepare for war. They will celebrate Christmas "in the simplest way", at home. He gives his opinion on the "Franco-Russian pact": "We are rapidly heading for war with Germany and, if things go badly for us, Italy will not fail to take advantage and give us the boot. It's about survival, everything else is literature. Now, I ask you, who can we count on to help us out with their weapons in their hands? Poland is nothing, and moreover it is playing a double game. England has its fleet, but no army and an air force that is currently lagging far behind. We do not have the means to refuse the help of the Russians, however much we detest their regime. It's the story of Francis I allied with the Muslims against Charles V. I am well aware that Hitler's relentless and very skilful propaganda succeeded in making many good people in France believe that he had no grudge against us and that all we had to do to buy him peace was to let him conquer Central Europe and the Ukraine. But personally, I am convinced that this is nothing but hypocrisy and that his main aim is to crush France after isolating it, as he says in Mein Kampf. So anything that can help us against Germany is a good thing, even Russian military forces. What's more, even if Hitler wanted to leave us alone first and establish his hegemony over the rest of Europe, how could we imagine that, once that was done, and his power thus doubled, he would leave us Alsace and our colonies? We would find ourselves face to face with him, with no possible competition, and forced to enslave ourselves to him, unless we succumbed without hope on the battlefields. We must have the courage to face the facts. Everything at the moment must be subordinated to a single plan: to unite against Germany all those who are opposed to her for any reason whatsoever, thus preventing her from going to war and, if she does, defeating her. If, unable to undertake the struggle with a sufficient chance of success, she wants to talk to us sincerely, let us talk! but without allowing ourselves to be deceived by fine words, as Napoleon III was by Bismarck before Sadowa"... LNC, I, p. 828.