Office of the Historian

760F.62/370: Telegram

The Ambassador in France (Bullitt) to the Secretary of State

Paris, May 31, 1938—11 a.m.
[Received 1:30 p.m.]

851. There has been considerable comment in the French press concerning Secretary Hull’s statement with regard to Central Europe and the Briand–Kellogg Pact.65 This comment covered the following points:

(1)
The Secretary purposely chose the time for this declaration due to the situation in Central Europe on the eve of the second elections in Czechoslovakia;
(2)
The declaration was considered as a support of the efforts of England and France towards a peaceful solution of the Czechoslovak question;
(3)
It was of extreme importance since it was a public declaration indicating the interest of the United States in the maintenance of peace in Central Europe.

Bullitt
  1. Statement of May 28, p. 520.↩