URGENT
Following for Prime Minister:-
In the speech to be made by the Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs [1] in the House of Lords this afternoon, the following
passage will be included:-
'His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom are therefore
bound to recognise that the Austrian State has now been abolished
as an international entity, and is in process of being completely
absorbed in the German Reich. They do so indeed without waiting
for the plebiscite, the result of which, in view of the
circumstances in which it is going to be held, is a foregone
conclusion.'
This statement is intended to indicate our intention to recognise
fait accompli of the absorption of Austria in the German Reich. We
are now engaged in considering the question of time and the method
of according recognition and will communicate with you further as
soon as we are in a position to do so.
[AA : A981, AUSTRIA 17, ii]