740.0011 European War 1939/7010: Telegram
The Minister in Rumania (Gunther) to the Secretary of State
[Received December 5—12:52 p.m.]
783. In a long conversation last night General Antonescu told me that during his recent visit to Berlin52 Hitler had accorded him a three and a half hour interview. Three hours of that time, he said, had been devoted to the Rumanian situation. He, the General, had taken the occasion to serve notice on Hitler that Rumania would never abide by the Vienna Diktat, inasmuch as Transylvania had meant too much in the lives and sufferings of the Rumanian people for over 2,000 years to give it up without a struggle; he had, however, promised not to disturb the peace at the present time. With regard to the other boundaries of Rumania, Hitler had renewed his assurances that Germany would not suffer further encroachment by Russia. The General’s impression seemed to be that, though Hitler did not desire war with Russia at the present time, if the inevitable happened he would accept it and had sufficient troops not otherwise employed to deal with the situation.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[Page 534]Last night I had a conversation with Sturdza, the Foreign Minister, who remained in Berlin for a few days after the General, and then visited Copenhagen. He also seemed to feel certain that Germany’s territorial guarantee of Rumania would hold good.
- On the occasion of Rumanian adherence by special protocol of November 23, 1940, to the Tripartite Pact of September 27, 1940.↩