861.20/482: Telegram
The Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Steinhardt) to the Secretary of State
[Received September 10—10:55 a.m.]
525. My 535 [523], September 9, 10 p.m. The press today publishes under the title “The Partial Calling up of Reserves to the Red Army”, a Tass communiqué of which the following is a full translation:
“In connection with the German-Polish war which is assuming an increasingly extensive and threatening character, the Government in the interest of the further strengthening of the defense of the country has decided on partial calling up to the army of certain classes. The summoning of reserves to the Red Army has been carried out in the Ukraine, White Russia, Moscow, Kalinin and Orlov [Orel] military districts.”
The above announcement was presumably provoked by the press reports from Moscow concerning the measures taken by the Soviet Government and as will be observed reveals little in regard to the purpose of the partial mobilization or the areas of the western frontier to which reinforcements are being sent. From the syntax of the last paragraph it would appear that the summoning of reserves in the military districts indicated has been completed. As a result of the commandeering of non-military motor vehicles there is noticeably less traffic in Moscow.