Monday, 26 July

Mussolini resigned yesterday. The Italian King has already agreed and also appointed General Badoglio to take over. According to news from Switzerland, it happened that Hitler met with Mussolini. Hitler has offered to send Germans soldiers to defend Italy. Mussolini was back in Italy and then proposed this to the Italian Congress. The “for and against” were equal, so he asked the King of Italy’s opinion. The King didn’t want Italy to become a battleground for the German army, so Mussolini had no choice but to resign. This could be true. And now the Italian army in Sicily has no fighting spirit and many have surrendered, over 100,000 in two weeks. The bombing in Rome really scared the Italians. They are hopeless for the future. It seems Italy will surrender soon after Mussolini’s resignation. Germany will not be able to win on its own, and soon she will fall too, and the end of the European war won’t be far away.

In the afternoon I returned a visit to the Canadian Minister, and he was worried about the misunderstanding between the Soviet Union, Britain and the United States. He also said he had heard the KMT might undergo reorganisation and allow the Chinese Communist party to join. I said I hadn’t heard about this and I didn’t believe this would happen. The Ambassador of Yugoslavia, Simic, told the Military Attaché Guo that he was unhappy that Britain and the United States have not yet opened the second war zone. With regard to the Sicily landings, he thought it was not enough. He said the Italian army has 60 divisions. More than half of them (29 divisions) are in Yugoslavia. A quarter are in the eastern war zone, and another quarter in Italy. He also opposed British and American troops landing in the Balkans, and he thought that if the British and American army landed in France, opened the second war zone, and also put increased pressure on Italy itself, then the German and Italian armies would have to retreat from the Balkans. After the Germans and Italians had retreated, Yugoslavia’s own force would be able to maintain peace and there would be no need to have foreign troops. I thought that what he said was rather selfish, and that he did not want to sacrifice. Probably, the Soviet Union didn’t want so many British, American, French and Polish armies fighting in the Balkans. As victory is within reach, each country has its own calculations, and I find the future very bleak.

The French Minister, Garreau, said the Soviets are not pleased with Britain and all their political deployments guarding the Soviet Union. So the Soviets have no choice but to express their dissatisfaction. To organise a National Committee for a Free Germany was one of the examples. The person who actually took charge of the committee was Bismarck’s grandson, Professor Graf von Einsiedel. As to the proposal by Poland about an Eastern Europe Federation, it is merely a joke. Therefore, if Britain and the United States don’t change their anti-Soviet policy, the Soviets might want to establish mutual understanding with the Japanese. Although they might not take part in the Japanese war against us, they might supply the Japanese with resources. He is the one who is very close to the Soviet Union. Therefore we could have a little glimpse of the Soviet mindset through his words.

The British Charge d’Affaires Crosthwaite invited us to have a tea party at his house to celebrate the victory for attacking Italy. The Soviet Government’s personnel were not there.