Office of the Historian

704.60F62/1: Telegram

The Secretary of State to the Minister in Czechoslovakia (Carr)48

Washington, September 19, 1938—9 p.m.

65. Wilson reports49 Czechoslovak Consul General informed the American Consul General in Vienna that he had been instructed to inquire whether our Vienna Consulate General would take over Czechoslovak interests in case of rupture.

We can obviously not agree to take over the interests of any one Czechoslovak Consulate in Germany unless we are asked officially by the Czechoslovak Government to take over Czechoslovak interests, in case of rupture, throughout the Reich. This we will gladly do upon receiving a request to this effect.

We feel it is due the Czechoslovak Government to know, however, that we feel that we may not be in as good a position to further their interests in Germany as some other nation which has not had the divergence of views in its relations with Germany which we have had in connection with some of the matters which have recently come up in our relations with that country.

You should take this matter up with the Czechoslovak Government as soon as possible in the above sense in a spirit of entire willingness [Page 625] to be of any help we can to the Czechoslovak Government in the event of their wishing to have us assume their interests in Germany, but at the same time wishing to be entirely frank.

Report results of your conversation.

A copy of this telegram is being sent to the Embassy in Berlin.

Hull
  1. Repeated to the Ambassador in Germany as Department’s No. 160, September 19, 7 p.m.↩
  2. Telegram No. 447, September 16, noon, from the Ambassador in Germany, not printed.↩