Office of the Historian

762.9411/297: Telegram

The Minister in Finland (Schoenfeld) to the Secretary of State

Helsinki, November 22, 1941—noon.
[Received November 22—10:45 a.m.]

600. I asked Minister for Foreign Affairs this morning as to truth of rumors which have come to my attention in recent days to effect that Finland would adhere to Anti-Comintern Pact79 in near future. Witting said that this was “possible” but that if Finland should so adhere it would represent no change in “political orientation” of this country which had been consistently anti-Communist and was perhaps first country to have adopted this line. He did not commit himself as to when Finland might adhere to pact but local rumor has it that this will take place very shortly.80 He denied that such adherence, if it is effected, would bring Finland into Axis but as I am [Page 108] not sufficiently familiar with various treaties involved I am unable to say to what extent it would be possible for Finland as party to Anti-Comintern Pact to consider itself outside Axis.81 Witting did say that Finland’s position in contingency mentioned would be similar to that of Spain.

I consider Witting’s statements as confirming rumors above mentioned.

Schoenfeld
  1. Originally signed at Berlin between Germany and Japan on November 25, 1936. For text, see Reichsgesetzblatt, 1937, Teil ii, p. 28; or the unofficial translation from the Japanese text, Foreign Relations, Japan, 1931–1941, vol. ii, p. 153. A secret additional agreement is published in Documents on German Foreign Policy, 1918–1945, Series D, vol. i, p. 734, footnote 2a.↩
  2. The ceremonies which attended the signing of the protocol renewing the Anti-Comintern Pact of 1936, took place in Berlin on November 25, 1941, at which time Finland, among others, acceded to it. See telegram No. 4175, November 25, 1941, from the Chargé in Germany, Foreign Relations, 1941, vol. iv, p. 1025. The text of the protocol of renewal is in Reichsgesetzblatt, 1942, Teil ii, pp. 126, 127.↩
  3. The Chargé in Sweden, Winthrop S. Greene, advised the Department in telegram No. 770, November 23, that “Finland was forced to agree to sign because Germany threatened not to deliver large quantities of wheat which had previously been contracted for.” (762.9411/299)↩