French Military Mission?!, Was there such a proposal in 1939?

I've recently read in a book of mine - which, of course, I cannot find right now that in the spring of 1939 (I believe...), the French proposed quite half-hearted to send some troops as a Military Mission in Romania; however, the Romanian side seemed not very receptive, so nobody else insisted.
Do any of you know of such an episode? If yes, please name your sources.
PS: I guess I really should've make notes, but I promise to do that sometime

This post has been edited by MMM on May 05, 2009 07:10 pm

MMM

I am not sure if I can be of any help to you here, but some facts.
The french military mission in Warsaw was closed in 1932, I have not heared of any in Romania. (Though I have a fine book about the French military mission and troops in the German/Lithanian disputed enclave Memellland)
Allready in oktober 1938 French general Colson propesed to form some sort of eastern bloc from Baltics to Balkan against the German drang nach osten, Gamelin supported this and Daladier knew this too. Later france understood only USSR would make a difference, in the German problem.
In 1939 in Warsaw was french ambassador Beauffre, he wrote some memoirs but did not check all documents, military attache was Felix Musse.
The French military mission in Moskva was headed by General Joseph Doumenc (and Admiral Reginald Drax of course for the Britis part).

Some books of interest to you might be

Anglo French relations, Sharp & Stone
French Foreign and Defence Politics, Robert W D Boyce
France and Nazi threat- collapse of French diplomacy 1932-1939 J B Duroselle and others
but there seems to exist many books on these matters..

In the mean time, have you found the book you came across?
best wishes
Jeroen

This post has been edited by Jeroen on May 27, 2009 07:41 pm

Leon Noël. André Beauffre was a member of the French military mission to Moscow.

OK, I got the idea! Tht was not my point, however...
Thanx!

I found it! There it was, in the autumn of 1939...
Be back with details...
LE: Hillgruber+Otu= sources!!!!!

This post has been edited by MMM on September 15, 2010 08:17 pm

nice I am waiting.......

Hello. I’ve found that info in Petre Otu, Îmbrăţişarea anacondei (2006), page 76. According to him the discussions took place after the beginning of WW 2, in October-November-December 1939, when the French (and, among the French military, especially gen. Weygand) were quite enthusiastic persisstent about preparing an Oriental Front in the Balcans/Salonic (and envisaging even the Caucasus area). In this context they suggested sending a military mission led by general Eugene D. Mitelhauser to Bucharest – tailored after the model of the French military mission sent in Romania in WW 1 - and even (as a distinct proposal) the opening of an Anglo-French military base in Constanţa.

The Romanians rejected both proposals, motivating that they would have been contrary to the country officially declared neutrality.

That - and in Hillgruber's "Hitler, Regele Carol etc.", the 2007 edition, page 146: "the Romanian gov't had refused to receive a French Military Mission, led by general Mittelhauser". Here I first read about such a thing, and afterwards in Otu.
Anyway, we refused it - in the vain hope we'll stay neutral and sell our products (oil, grains, troops eventually to the highest bider. Then came June 26-th...