763.72/12360: Telegram
The Ambassador in France ( Sharp ) to the Secretary of State 11
[Received 9:43 p.m.]
6029. Following joint telegram received from Allied Ministers dated Jassy, November 23:
“The Roumanian Government has advised us, in asking that they be brought to the knowledge of our Governments, the following facts which are furthermore confirmed by all information at hand [Page 392] and especially by that supplied us by General Berthelot. The German troops still in Roumania in no degree respect the conditions imposed upon them by the conclusion of the armistice; in fact the troops in question, on leaving the ravished kingdom, are giving themselves over to veritable devastation, especially by blowing up the bridges, which on account of the season renders communication and the feeding of the population impossible in occupied territory. The depredations continue, especially the carrying off of provisions of all sorts, movables, and domestic animals; and what is worse, a large portion of the goods carried off from our sorely tried population are afterwards sold during the retreat at a low price in Transylvania. Therefore, the Roumanian Government asks our Governments to protest to the German Government, and to agree that a mixed commission composed of an equal number of Allied and Roumanian officers should be charged with guarding or overseeing in Transylvania, the retreat of the German troops, in order to prevent a repetition of the facts stated above.”
- By telegram No. 6499, Dec. 3, 1918, 3 p.m., the Department instructed the Ambassador in France to repeat this telegram to Colonel House.↩