The Battle of Britain Five Months That Changed History, May—October 1940 by James Holland (z-lib.org).epub

also the Italians to consider. On 16 May, Churchill appealed to Mussolini,
the Fascist dictator, not to enter the war. ‘Down the ages,’ he wrote, ‘above
all other calls came the cry that the joint heirs of Latin and Christian
civilisation must not be ranged against one another in mortal strife. Hearken
to it, I beseech you in all honour and respect, before the dread signal is
given. It will never be given by us.’ Mussolini replied that Britain had
entered the war to honour her treaty with the Poles and that Italy felt bound
not to dishonour her treaty with Germany – the Pact of Steel, made back in
March the previous year. ‘The response was hard,’ wrote Churchill. ‘It had
at least the merit of candour.’ So that was that: Italy would soon be in too.
The outlook was grim, very grim.
It was thus not surprising that certain men and leaders in Britain now
began to think rather like Weygand and Pétain: that the situation was
hopeless, and that surely it was better to come to terms with Germany –
terms that might not necessarily be too bad – rather than drag the war on,
with all its terrors and loss of life, especially when the outcome, now or
later, looked so certain to end in German victory.
Earlier on that Saturday, Lord Halifax had met with Signor Giuseppe
Bastianini, the Italian Ambassador in London. He had told Churchill what
he was doing and the PM had agreed to the meeting so long as no word of
the meeting got out, as that would be seen as a confession of weakness.
They met that afternoon and, in a conversation shrouded in diplomatic
euphemism, Halifax asked Bastianini whether there was any way in which
Italy could be persuaded to stay out of the war. Bastianini replied that he
would, of course, pass on any offer, then asked whether Halifax thought
Britain might be open to a broader discussion not just with Italy but with
‘other countries’ as well. They were now talking about Germany. Halifax
said that would be difficult while there was a war still going on. ‘Once such
a discussion were begun,’ Bastianini told him, ‘war would be pointless.’
Both agreed that their countries would be willing to discuss any
settlement that protected European peace for the next century. Halifax, for
one, was beginning to explore the chances of finding a way out. And he was
not only the Foreign Secretary; he was also one of the most respected men
in Britain.