[France also protested to Germany along the same lines as the British rebuke, it was reported in Paris.]
The strength of the protest showed how strongly the British Government felt over the day’s events and particularly over the methods by which Germany had finally attained her ends in Austria.
Referring especially to the second German ultimatum that had preceded the actual invasion, the British described it as the “coercion, backed by force, of an independent State in order to create a situation incompatible with its national independence.”
Such action, it was pointed out, was bound to produce the “gravest reactions of which it is impossible to foretell the issue.”
The protest was delivered at the Wilhelmstrasse by Sir Nevile Henderson, the British Ambassador.
In invading Austria tonight Germany flatly disregarded the warnings of the British Government earlier in the day that threat or use of force would damage the prospects of the Anglo-German talks and threaten future chances for reconciliation in Europe.
The warning was delivered personally to Joachim von Ribbentrop, German Foreign Minister, by Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and Foreign Minister Viscount Halifax after luncheon at 10 Downing Street.
But the British Minister’s words produced no effect upon Herr von Ribbentrop or upon his master in Berlin. Herr von Ribbentrop is said to have told Mr. Chamberlain, indeed, that the Fuehrer saw no reason for starting negotiations for reconciliation with Britain until German purposes “elsewhere” had been achieved.
While these words were being spoken the German Army was rolling along the express highways leading to the Austrian border and Berlin was preparing the ultimatums that forced the Austrian Government from power.
Britain will, of course, do nothing in the way of intervention. At this late stage in the absorption of Austria there is little left for Britain to do except to protest. Yet today’s shattering events in Vienna have already had repercussions that may affect British policy profoundly.
Tonight the government is appalled – there is no other word to describe it – at the recklessness of Germany’s action. The proposed Anglo-German negotiations have been postpones indefinitely if not ruled out altogether. The eagerness to reach an understanding with Nazi Germany has evaporated all of a sudden, but there is renewed eagerness, on the other hand, to complete negotiations with Italy and to speed up rearmament still further.
“Those noises you could hear tonight were sounds of blinkers falling from the British Ministers’ eyes,” said one wise observer. This was particularly true of Lord Halifax himself, who had some of his generous illusions dispelled at the time of his visit to Germany in November, but apparently he lost the last of them today.
In the few hours since the movement of German troops across the frontier opinion among friends of Germany here has swung more sharply than at any time since the blood purge of 1934. Newspapers of all shades of opinion are unanimous in looking upon the end of Austria as a warning to Britain and to all Europe.
The British Government has been nervous ever since Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg announced his plebiscite. It expected trouble from Nazi extremists in Vienna and also feared the resignation or assassination of Dr. Schuschnigg. But until yesterday the British never feared Germany would repeat the shock tactics of the Berchtesgaden ultimatum on a ten times greater scale.
It was Herr von Ribbentrop himself who first let the cat out of the bag in his talk with Lord Halifax yesterday. Lord Halifax had pleaded that Germany should take no precipitate action and apply no forcible pressure upon the Austrian plebiscite. Herr von Ribbentrop replied he could give no such guarantee since he could not foretell what might happen to German lives or property in Austria during the polling days.
This morning the first reports trickled through from Munich of troop movements toward the Austrian frontier. Yet by a coincidence probably unparalleled in diplomatic history the German Foreign Secretary was in London being wined and dined at the moment when the German movement was planning an invasion that might change the map of Europe.
In the morning Herr von Ribbentrop went to Buckingham Palace to take leave of the King as Ambassador to the Court of St. James, while Frau von Ribbentrop had a farewell audience with the Queen. From the palace they went to 10 Downing Street, where Mr. Chamberlain had invited a strange assortment of statesmen and their wives to meet them.
The Marquess of Londonderry and his wife were there as Herr von Ribbentrop’s most influential pro-German friends in London and Mr. and Mrs. Winston Churchill were there presumably as his most determined opponents. Other guests with their wives were Lord Halifax, Sir Samuel Hoare, Home Secretary; Sir John Simon, Chancellor of the Exchequer; Sir Thomas Inskip, Co-ordinator of Defense, and Sir Alexander Cadogan, new permanent head of the Foreign Office.
What was said around the luncheon table probably had little bearing on politics, for British politicians dislike talking about matters of state when their wives are present. But one wonders what thoughts went through the minds of Mr. Chamberlain and his guests or how they made conversation. While luncheon was being served, reports kept flowing into the Foreign Office from Germany and Austria of a situation that grew steadily more critical course by course.
Afterward Mr. Chamberlain and Lord Halifax had a private talk with Herr von Ribbentrop at which they delivered their sharp, but ineffectual, warning. It was late afternoon before Herr von Ribbentrop finished his conversations at Downing Street and the Foreign Office.
Early this evening it was reported that Herr von Ribbentrop had left by plane in accordance with his decision yesterday to cut short his London visit, but later it was reported he was spending the night in London. The German Embassy, when asked whether he was here or in Berlin, said noncommittally, “We don’t know.”
Quick, somebody warn Anne Frank!
If only that had been true.