Archival documents have been released detailing amateur diplomat James Lonsdale-Bryans' attempt to conclude a peace agreement with Nazi Germany, the British newspaper The Observer writes on Sunday.

The internal memos, compiled during the Second World War by members of the British counterintelligence MI5, were kept in the National Archives under the heading "secret" until August 31, 2008.

According to published documents, James Lonsdale-Brines, who was part of the circle of Lord Halifax, head of the British Foreign Office in 1938-1940, tried to propose a deal under which the world would be divided between Germany and Great Britain.

Lonsdale-Brines first tried to negotiate with the former German ambassador to Italy, Ulrich von Cassel, who held anti-Hitler views. Declassified documents indicate that Lord Halifax ordered that all possible support be provided to Lonsdale-Brines, who was heading to Italy. With von Cassel, the amateur diplomat was supposed to negotiate an attempted coup in Germany, as a result of which Adolf Hitler would lose power.

However, according to documents declassified in 2008, Lonsdale-Brines also tried to contact the leadership of Nazi Germany and Hitler personally to offer them a peace plan dividing the world into two zones of influence - German and British. MI5 learned about the Lonsdale-Brines mission after the arrest of one of the amateur diplomat's friends. This man was found in possession of a letter from Lonsdale-Brines, which discussed possible peace negotiations with Germany.

From the released archival documents it follows that the leadership of the British Foreign Office knew about Lonsdale-Brines’ attempts to conduct peace negotiations. “He went to Italy to prepare a meeting with von Cassel, with the knowledge of the Foreign Office. However, he went far beyond the instructions given to him,” says an MI5 memo from the beginning of the Second World War.

Declassified documents indicate that the leadership of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was extremely afraid that the Lonsdale-Brines negotiations would become known to the general public. Lonsdale-Brines tried to outline his plan to American allies, including future US President Dwight Eisenhower. After which, the MI5 memo says, British authorities had to reassure the United States that Lonsdale-Brines "is not trustworthy, if not a traitor."

The British Foreign Office, in an official response to an MI5 inquiry made in 1952, categorically stated that Lonsdale-Brines expressed only his own point of view, was never in the diplomatic service and did not carry out any instructions for Lord Halifax. However, as The Telegraph notes, archival documents released in 2008 still do not provide a clear answer to the question of how much Lord Halifax supported the “peace plan” of the amateur diplomat.

British amateur diplomat tried to negotiate a peace treaty with Hitler