"Referring to the political situation, the Duce declared in addition that he considered a general war unavoidable. He only asked himself when the most favorable moment for it as far as the Axis powers were concerned would have arrived and who would seize the initiative in such a conflict. "Marshal GOERING was of the opinion that the Axis^ powers should still wait a bit until their armaments compared more favorably with those of the democracies. The Duce, once again and in a more precise form, asked about the most favorable moment for such a conflict. Upon which Marshal GOERING pointed out that the armaments ratio between Germany and England, particularly in the naval field, would be considerably more favorable in 1942-4-3, that France's arming was hampered by a shortage of men, so that France's preparations already today were all directed on the defensive side. "The Duce next asked, 'What are we to do until this favorable moment for a general conflict?' Marshal GOERING answered that the Axis powers must arm themselves to the utmost and maintain even now a state of mobilization. This was already the case in Germany. He (Marshal GOERING) based all his measures on the supposition that mobilization was already underway, even if it hadn't been publicly announced yet. There were only three limitations on German arming, production capacity, stock of raw materials, and the number of available workers.. Germany would under no circumstances abandon (for financial