740.00119 European War 1939/1972
The Department of State to the British Embassy 39
Aide-Mémoire
The Department of State has received a telegram from the American Ambassador in Madrid40 in which he reports that he has been shown by the First Secretary of the Rumanian Legation a letter in which the latter had been instructed by Michel (Mihai) Antonescu, Rumanian Vice President of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Affairs, to establish contact with the Ambassador to the end of ascertaining what Rumania should do in order to withdraw from the war.
The Ambassador further reports that he informed the Rumanian Secretary of the Legation that the formula for withdrawal from the war was unconditional surrender. The Ambassador went on to state that, whereas there might in the case of Rumania be certain mechanical differences in procedure, a precedent could be found in the case of Italy’s conclusion of a military armistice with Great Britain, Soviet Russia and the United States. The Ambassador then suggested that, in the light of the publicly known details of the Italian negotiations, a Rumanian representative possessing satisfactory credentials should declare Rumania’s willingness to surrender unconditionally to Great Britain, Soviet Russia and the United States, requesting that negotiations to that end be undertaken between a Rumanian military representative and a military representative of the United Nations. [Page 504] Rumania, he added, should accordingly designate for this purpose a military officer with plenipotentiary powers. The Ambassador concluded by saying that such negotiations could be conducted in almost any neutral capital.
The Rumanian Secretary of Legation said that he would communicate the Ambassador’s statements to Bucharest through a courier leaving Madrid for Rumania on Wednesday, November 17.
The foregoing is communicated to the British Embassy in accordance with agreed procedure whereby any one of the three principal Allies will communicate to the other two any peace overtures which it may receive from enemy countries.