740.0011 Mutual Guarantee (Locarno)/603
Memorandum by the Chargé in Lithuania (Kuykendall)19
Inquiry was made of Mr. Bizauskas20 as to the reason for the failure of the Lithuanian press to express any comment on the action taken by the German Government in denouncing the Locarno Treaty and in sending military forces into the demilitarized Rhineland zone. Mr. Bizauskas stated without hesitation that there was one compelling reason which prevented the expression of comment on the denouncement of the Locarno Treaty and the military reoccupation of the Rhineland. Herr Hitler had stated in the Memorandum handed to the Locarno Powers on March 7, 1936, that Germany was willing to sign a non-aggression pact with Lithuania, provided that Lithuania agreed to respect the autonomy of the Memel Territory. Until an official confirmation of the offer had been received, it was hardly fitting that an expression of opinion should be given. Up to the present time, there had been received by the Lithuanian Ministry for Foreign Affairs no communication extending to the Lithuanian Government an offer of a non-aggression pact in the event that Lithuania would agree to observe the autonomy of the Memel Territory. For this reason, Mr. Bizauskas stated, there had been no comment of any sort relative to the action taken by the German Government on March 7th last.
Mr. Bizauskas added that the sympathy of Lithuania would be on the side of the Locarno powers—i. e. Great Britain, France, Italy and Belgium—as against Germany. If the German Government saw fit to denounce the original Locarno Treaty, which had been freely entered into, the signature of Germany to any new treaty could hardly give definite assurance that the pact would not be violated whenever found convenient by Germany. Presumably the man in the street, said Mr. Bizauskas, would be attracted by the offer of Germany to enter into non-aggression pacts covering a period of twenty-five years, but any responsible Government would view with great skepticism new agreements which might be concluded with the German Government. Such an agreement would be observed by Germany only so long as it proved advantageous to the German Government. In the opinion of Mr. Bizauskas, Germany might carry out the provisions of such a treaty until her preparations for aggressive action were completed, which—according to Mr. Bizauskas—could hardly be later than 1939.