The Road to War - Five Government Papers from the Library of Lord Portal, 1939-1942

From the personal collection of Marshal of the Royal Air Force Charles Portal, 1st Viscount Portal of Hungerford, Chief of the Air Staff during the greater part of the Second World War. Together, these five original government and diplomatic publications document the rapid collapse of European diplomacy and the opening years of the conflict in which Portal would become one of Britain’s most senior military commanders.

1. Final Report by Sir Nevile Henderson, 1939. Germany No. 1, Cmd. 6115. Henderson’s official account of the final collapse of Anglo-German diplomacy and the termination of his mission as British Ambassador in Berlin.

2. Papers concerning the Treatment of German Nationals in Germany, 1938-1939. Germany No. 2, Cmd. 6120. British diplomatic reports covering Nazi repression, including Martin Niemöller’s imprisonment, antisemitic violence and conditions in concentration camps.

3. Documents concerning German-Polish Relations and the Outbreak of Hostilities, 1939. Miscellaneous No. 9, Cmd. 6106. The substantial British “War Blue Book”, assembling the diplomatic correspondence culminating in Britain’s declaration of war on 3 September 1939.

4. Statement concerning Finnish-Russian Relations and the Invasion of Finland, 1939. The Finnish Government’s English-language account of the breakdown in relations preceding the Soviet invasion of 30 November 1939.

5. The Molotov Notes on German Atrocities, 1942. Issued on behalf of the Soviet Embassy in London, reproducing Molotov’s diplomatic notes concerning atrocities reported in German-occupied Soviet territory.
   

Provenance: from the collection of Marshal of the Royal Air Force Charles Portal, 1st Viscount Portal of Hungerford.