863.00/1442½
The British Ambassador (Lindsay) to the
Under Secretary of State (Welles)
Washington, March 16, 1938.
Dear Mr. Welles: I enclose a confirmatory copy of a
message just received from London which has already been conveyed to Mr.
Pierrepont Moffat of your Department by telephone.
I am instructed to communicate this message to the United States
Government.
Yours sincerely,
[Enclosure]
The British Embassy to
the Department of State
In a speech which Lord Halifax is making in the House of Lords this
afternoon the following passage will occur.
[Page 449]
“His Majesty’s Government are therefore bound to
recognise that the Austrian State has now been abolished as an
international entity and is in process of being completely absorbed
into the German Reich. They do so indeed without waiting for the
plebiscite, the result of which, in view of the circumstances in
which it is going to be held, is a foregone conclusion.”
This statement foreshadows the intention of His Majesty’s Government in
the United Kingdom to recognise the fait accompli
of the absorption of Austria in the German Reich. They are considering
the time and method of according recognition and a further telegram on
this point is awaited.
March 16, 1938.
