Office of the Historian

740.0011 European War 1939/20005: Telegram

The Chargé in the United Kingdom (Matthews) to the Secretary of State

London, March 7, 1942—midnight.
[Received March 7—9:55 p.m.]

1095. By way of preliminary reply to the Department’s telegram No. 982, March 6, 12 midnight,55 I may say that reports which have reached me from a number of sources of Sir Stafford Cripps’ private discussion with members of Parliament confirm that he did advocate the recognition by Great Britain of Soviet frontiers as they existed on June 22, 1941.56 I shall endeavor to cable more fully next week concerning his talk.57 In the interim the Department may desire to refer to my telegrams No. 1058, March 5, 11 p.m., and No. 1082, March 7,58 both on the subject of Anglo-Soviet relations.

Matthews
  1. Not printed; it requested information about a speech by Sir Stafford Cripps in which “he advocated the recognition by Great Britain of Soviet frontiers as they existed on June 22, 1941.” (740.0011 European War 1939/20030a)↩
  2. Sir Stafford’s remarks were made at a private, all-party gathering attended by 300 members of Parliament on February 18, 1942.↩
  3. See telegram No. 1116, March 9, 7 p.m., from the Chargé in the United Kingdom, p. 530.↩
  4. Latter not printed.↩