860D.00B/219: Telegram
The Chargé in the Soviet Union (Thurston) to the Secretary of State
[Received 2:38 p.m.]
989. I have answered Schoenfeld’s 355, August 7, 1 p.m., in the following terms:
“August 8, 1 p.m. Strictly confidential for the Minister. Your August 7, 1 p.m. In all instances of Soviet aggression since my arrival here last year, the ultimate decisive moves have been preceded by press campaigns of varying degrees of intensity and duration. On the basis of this observation alone, the present campaign against Finland should be regarded as ominous. In addition, however, military observers here (including the Finnish Military Attaché) have reported new troop movements towards Finland during the last few days, and it is estimated that some 25 Soviet divisions are now adjacent to that country.
Whether such action as Soviet Government may contemplate against Finland will take the form of limited demands for additional rights and facilities or political reorganization, or complete absorption as in the case of the Baltic States, can of course only be surmised. Regards.[”]