740.0011 European War 1939/2225a: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Minister in Denmark (Atherton)21
53. The President has issued the following statement:
“Force and military aggression are once more on the march against small nations, in this instance through the invasion of Denmark and Norway. These two nations have won and maintained during a [Page 158] period of many generations the respect and regard not only of the American people, but of all peoples, because of their observance of the highest standards of national and international conduct.
The Government of the United States has on the occasion of recent invasions strongly expressed its disapprobation of such unlawful exercise of force. It here reiterates, with undiminished emphasis, its point of view as expressed on those occasions. If civilization is to survive, the rights of the smaller nations to independence, to their territorial integrity, and to the unimpeded opportunity for self-government must be respected by their more powerful neighbors.”
- The same, mutatis mutandis, April 14, to the Ministers in Norway (No. 83) and in Sweden (No. 82).↩