760C.60M15/368
The Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Davies) to the Secretary of State
[Received April 20.]
Sir: The past two weeks here is aptly described by what the British broadcast described recently as the period of “most serious intensity and horror”, incident to the absorption of Austria by the German Reich, and on the heels thereof the following of Poland’s ultimatum to Lithuania. I submit herewith a report of the situation as it developed from this viewpoint.
The audacity and completeness with which Hitler invaded Austria shocked and generally benumbed diplomatic opinion here. The Soviet Government, through Commissar Litvinov, promptly came to the support of France in giving out an announcement through the press that if the Austrian incident were followed by German aggression against Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union would go to Czechoslovakia’s aid and that a “way would be found”. The implication generally accepted here was that the U.S.S.R. was serving notice on Poland in particular, and possibly on Rumania as well, that if necessary the Soviets would violate territorial boundaries to go to the aid of Czechoslovakia.
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Respectfully yours,