871.01/11–3044: Telegram
The American Representative in Rumania (Berry) to the Secretary of State
[Received 4:40 p.m.]
40. The Marshal of the Court74 called on me late last night to say that the King had decided upon a new government and that it would likely be formed within the next 24 hours. Government would be a government of technicians. It would be formed to (1) maintain order, (2) discharge the obligations assumed by the country under the terms of the armistice and (3) carry on the fight against the Hungarians and Nazis.
[Page 271]The Marshal said it was likely the local Communists would react violently to the formation of a government of technicians. They might even attempt a coup d’état. If they had the cooperation of the Soviet authorities, a coup d’état would succeed. In such a case, he asked, what would happen to the King? Would the Americans offer him hospitality? I turned off the question by saying that I felt the Marshal was thinking in a much too pessimistic vein and that tomorrow morning, after a good night’s sleep, he would likely laugh at his own question. I would appreciate, however, instructions75 upon the point he raised as the question may be asked again under more urgent circumstances when I could not turn it off without a definite reply.