File No. 763.72111N83/11
The British Embassy to the Department of State
paraphrase of a telegram from mr. balfour to mr. barclay, dated august 6
The following telegram has been sent to His Majesty’s Minister at Christiania, dated August 5:
You are instructed to make a communication in the following sense to the Norwegian Government. It may be made in whatever way you think most desirable.
A mine barrage has been laid by the Allies between Great Britain and Norway across the North Sea. This barrage at the Norwegian end stops outside territorial waters, the British Government having taken every precaution not to infringe the sanctity of such waters.
As a result of this barrage the territorial waters of Norway are now habitually made use of by German submarines in all lines of passage between their bases and the Atlantic. The British Government has ample proof of this practice from numerous reports received from the commanders of British submarines.
Belligerent submarines are, under the Norwegian royal decree of October 13, 1916, prohibited from making use of Norwegian territorial waters on any conditions except through stress of weather,1 and British submarines have most strictly adhered to the terms of this decree. His Majesty’s Government now requests the Norwegian authorities to secure the enforcement of the decree against all the belligerents equally.
There is only one method by which this equal enforcement of the decree can be secured, and this method has already been adopted in principle by Denmark and Sweden, namely by laying mines in territorial waters to the east of the area mined by the Allies, in such a manner as to prevent the passage of German submarines, by which the Norwegian law is deliberately broken, at the same time permitting peaceful traffic to pass by an inner passage left open for the purpose.
[Page 1771]His Majesty’s Government are confident that this policy will be acceptable to Norway. If it were refused this would amount to discrimination in favour of Germany and against the Allies; it would be to help the German submarines in their illegal destruction of Norwegian vessels; and to allow them freedom to ignore the regulations laid down by Norway herself in order to protect her neutrality.
In this situation His Majesty’s Government confidently believe that the Norwegian authorities will either themselves undertake the mining operations required, or that they will allow the British Government to undertake them on their behalf. In our opinion, it is essential that this work should be undertaken, and at the earliest possible moment, and I authorize you to press on the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the strongest manner the views which we take of this question.
[Received August 10.]