File No. 763.72/8068
The Ambassador in France ( Sharp) to the Secretary of State
[Received December 11, 5.15 a.m.]
2835. The following joint telegram from the Ministers of Great Britain, United States, France and Italy at Jassy has been handed for transmission by the Foreign Office.
Jassy, December 7.
The President of the Council read to you [us] this morning the telegram received from his representative at Paris. He concludes from the insistence of the Allies in demanding, without, as he said, taking into account the realities, the evacuation of the Roumanian Army] in[to] Russia that our Governments are demanding from Roumania that which is now an impossibility. Reiterated that the Roumanian Army is placed between one million hostile Russians [and] the Austro-German enemy forces, whereas there is nothing ready at the present time in southern Russia to receive and support it. [Page 470] He has exposed his opinion in a telegram addressed to Mr. Antonesco1 which he read to us.
Regarding the technical side of the question we beg to refer [to] the correspondence of the heads of our [military?] missions.
Mr. Bratiano added that if the Allies persisted in requesting the impossible his Government would be constrained to resign.
He cannot dissimulate that Roumanian public opinion is becoming hostile both to his Government and to the Allies. He concluded saying recognized that in the present situation the Roumanian question is an embarrassing one for the Allies without any redeeming point and that it is my duty to appreciate whether they prefer to liberate themselves from their engagements.
We earnestly protested against the latter hypothesis. On the other hand General Shcherbachev having warned us last night of impending Maximalist attempts against the Russian High Command, the Russian Legation, and the Roumanian dynasty, asking us to prevail upon the Roumanian King to take most energetic measures either of precaution or eventually of repression, we have taken steps in that respect with Mr. Bratiano.
- Victor Antonesco, Rumanian Minister at Paris.↩