File No. 124.551/10
The Minister in Belgium (Whitlock) to the Secretary of State
Brussels, August 17, 1914, 5 p.m.
[Received August 18, 7 a.m.]
[Telegram]
Government will be removed to Antwerp to-night or to-morrow. As I shall be charged with protection of British interests in addition to care of German interests and our own work, I shall remain in Brussels, in accordance with views expressed in your August 7, 7 p.m. I shall arrange for communication through the Consul General at Antwerp and as events permit shall make visits of courtesy [Page 66] to Antwerp. Belgian Government for this purpose will informally recognize Consul General at Antwerp in a pseudo-diplomatic capacity. The Spanish Minister, charged with French and Russian interests, will likewise remain here and we shall maintain close relations and act in harmony. Several other ministers will also remain here.
The Austro-Hungarian Minister, thinking of going to Antwerp, asks me to take charge of his Legation, but as his Government is allied with Germany and still maintains diplomatic relations with Belgium his situation does not present itself to me as clearly within the category of a belligerent interest requiring protection. The matter is still under discussion.