Robert Lansing Papers
The French Ambassador to the United States ( Jusserand ) to the Secretary of State
My Dear Mr. Secretary: I wrote to you the other day,37 concerning a possible recognition of the new Serbian-Croatian-Slovene Kingdom, in case the 4 Powers chiefly interested agreed as to this.
The British and Italian Govts prefer that the question be settled by the Peace Conference. We have no objection.
My Govt considers that an answer of some sort shd be made however to the Serbian note, which answer might be something like this:
“The Allied Govts having taken knowledge of the notification made to them of the union under the Karageorgevitch dynasty of all the Serbs, Croatians and Slovenes, must specify to the Serbian Govt that they can not recognise a political transformation realised on the eve of the Congress of Peace, which is alone qualified to decide on the definitive attribution (fate) of territories and the constitution of new states, taking into acct both the general situation and the wishes of the populations.”
Would that meet your approval.
Believe me [etc.]
- Supra. ↩