The nature of Britain's full reply to the Franco-German armistice terms was not evident here last night, but it.was believed Britain would now extend every effort to rally French support outside France to continue the war against Germany.
British officials pointed out the thoroughness of German preparations for an attack on England as embodied in the Franco-German armistice terms.
They believed that whatever concessions, Germany granted for French self-government were intended to strengthen the hand of the pro-armistice faction in the Petain Cabinet in Bordeaux.
The fact that Germany has made no immediate territorial demands on France, in her demands for the absorption of the French Navy into the German fleet, was believed to have been intended to appeal to circles in Britain who, Chancellor Adolf Hitler may imagine, are inclined to seek peace with Germany.
"It might be added to this point," said authoritative circles, "that such a tendency is not exactly vocal in England today." The German demands, with obvious adaptations to hanged conditions, in many points are similar to the Compiegne armis-fice of 1918, it was pointed out here.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.