Office of the Historian

740.0011 European War 1939/2043: Telegram

The Chargé in the Soviet Union (Thurston) to the Secretary of State

Moscow via Berlin, April 9, 1940—6 p.m.
[Received April 10—7:05 a.m.]

362. My 361, April 9.91 I am informed in strictest confidence that Molotov this afternoon received the German Ambassador with great cordiality and in regard of the German actions against Denmark and Norway92 told him that the Soviet Government fully understood the “defensive character” of these measures.

Thurston
  1. Not printed; in this telegram the Chargé in the Soviet Union reported that a member of the German Embassy had stated that advance information of the German action against Denmark and Norway had been brought to Moscow by special courier late in the afternoon of April 8. Because Molotov “was in the country,” this information could not be given to him before the following afternoon. It was believed, however, that the Soviet Government had already been informed through its Embassy in Berlin. (740.0011 European War 1939/2037)↩
  2. For correspondence regarding the invasion of Norway and Denmark by Germany, see pp. 136 ff.↩