A worried Schulenburg, in mid-April, had engaged his staff to draft a long memorandum arguing against a titanic war and, with the facilitation of Ribbentrop and Weizsäcker, who also thought the war a mistake, had traveled to Berlin, but Hitler put off seeing him for two weeks. Finally, on April 28, the Führer granted an audience. Schulenburg’s memo was sitting on Hitler’s desk (he made no mention of it). Schulenburg evidently stated that “Stalin was prepared to make even further concessions to us,” including ramping up to 5 million tons of grain the next year. In fact, Mikoyan could barely find, let alone transport, 2.5 million tons of grain, and it was not clear how the Germans could pay for more grain without yielding vital armaments. Hitler, noncommittal and discourteous, said at parting, “Oh, one more thing: I do not intend a war against Russia!”186
In London, Maisky was effectively paralyzed by Stalin’s position vis-à-vis Britain. On April 30, Churchill’s private secretary told the Soviet envoy, “In Conservative circles, one hears the following argument. If Germany attacks the Soviet Union (as many now believe will happen), the USSR will come to us of its own accord. If Germany does not attack the USSR, it will do nothing for us anyway. So is it worth courting the USSR?” Maisky burst out laughing.187
That same day, “Elder” reported to Moscow, based on conversations in Göring’s air ministry with the liaison to the foreign ministry, that “the question of the German attack against the USSR has been definitively decided and its onset can be expected any day. Ribbentrop, who until now had not been a supporter of an offensive against the USSR, knowing Hitler’s firm resolve on this question, has taken the position of support for an attack on the USSR.”188 “Elder” was spot-on: that very day, Hitler settled on a date fifty-three days hence—June 22.
Neither the German invasion of Greece (“Marita”) to compensate for Mussolini’s failures nor of Yugoslavia (Operation “25”) had a material effect on Barbarossa. Many of the divisions earmarked to take part in the Balkans never saw fighting; some were never even sent. Before May was over, all German units that had taken part in the Balkan campaign were back at their positions on the Soviet border.189 The delay by about five weeks from the original target stemmed mostly from deficits of key equipment in what, after all, was a colossal undertaking. Indeed, “Corsican” had reported (April 28) that Germany was experiencing severe shortages—and therefore would need to expand economic relations with Japan and the Soviet Union, in the latter case “by force.” He had heard one top German official state that “the Russians must supply Germany with more raw materials and foodstuffs, without demanding that Germany had to fulfill Soviet orders exactly or by short deadlines.”190 “Elder,” too, reported the possibility of Germany engaging in blackmail. The ultimatum canard—which never formed part of Hitler’s plans—had contaminated even the best-placed, most reliable Soviet spies.191
NO ARMY IS INVINCIBLE
On May 4, Hitler delivered a peroration to the Reichstag detailing how he had smashed Poland, Norway, Belgium, Holland, France, Yugoslavia, and Greece. “The German armed forces have truly surpassed even themselves,” he bragged. “Infantry, armored, and mountain divisions, as well as SS formations, battled without rest, in bravery, endurance, and tenacity to achieve their goals. The work of the general staff has been outstanding. The air force has added new heroic deeds to its historic glory. . . . Nothing is impossible for the German soldier!” He concluded: “The German Reich and its allies constitute a power that no coalition in the world can surpass. German armed forces will unremittingly intervene in the course of events whenever and wherever it will be required.”192
The signals were getting even more confounding.193 In Tokyo, the day after Hitler spoke, Japanese foreign minister Matsuoka reassured German ambassador Ott that “no Japanese prime minister or foreign minister could ever be able to maintain Japan neutrality in the event of a conflict between Germany and the Soviet Union. In such an event, Japan, naturally, would be compelled to attack Russia right behind Germany.”194 That would have violated the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact, and it did not comport with Japan’s internal deliberations. That same day, a dispatch from “Corsican” in Berlin went to Moscow indicating that a press person from the German economics ministry had told the staff that Germany wanted peace on its eastern frontiers, for it would soon attack the British-controlled Suez Canal. Germany would demand that the USSR attack Britain on the side of the Axis, and, as a guarantee that Moscow would follow through, Germany was going to occupy Ukraine and possibly the Baltics.195
