p
his cabinet, made Ribbentrop Secretary for Foreign Affairs, and
prepared for war in the event that England was leading him into a
trap.

There are records in the British Foreign Office which show that
Hitler, before invading Austria, tested England to be sure he wasn't
being led into a trap. Von Ribbentrop informed Eden and Chamberlain
that Hitler intended to summon Schuschnigg, the Austrian Chancellor,
and demand that Austria rearrange her cabinet, take in Dr.
Seyss-Inquart and release imprisoned Nazis. Hitler knew that
Schuschnigg would immediately rush to England and France for aid. If
they turned Austria down it was safe to proceed with the invasion.

The British Foreign Office records show that Schuschnigg did rush to
England and France for support, that France was ready to give it, but
that England refused, thereby forcing France to keep out of it.

While these frantic maneuvers were going on, the Astor-controlled
_Times_ and _Observer_, the Nazi and the Italian press simultaneously
started a campaign against Eden. The date set for the sacrifice of
Austria was approaching and Eden had to go or it might fail. The
public, however, was with Eden; so another kind of attack was
launched. Stories began to appear about the Foreign Secretary's
health. There were sighs, long faces, sad regrets, but Eden stuck to
his post in the hope that he could do something. On February 19,
Hitler, tired of waiting, bluntly demanded that he be removed, and
with the newspaper campaign in full swing, Chamberlain "in response to
public opinion" removed him the very next day.

The amiable Lord Halifax was appointed Foreign Secretary. Pro-fascists
like A.L. Lennon-Boyd, stanch supporter of Franco and admirer of
Hitler and Mussolini, were given ministerial posts.

The Austrian invasion was delayed for three weeks because of the
difficulty in getting Eden out. When the news flashed to a startled
world that Nazi troops were thundering into a country whose
independence Hitler had promised to respect, M. Corbin, the still
unsuspecting French Ambassador, rushed to the Foreign Office to
arrange for swift joint action. This was at four o'clock in the
afternoon of March 11, 1938. Instead of receiving him immediately,
Lord Halifax kept him waiting until nine o'clock in the evening. By
that time Austria was Nazi territory. There was nothing to do but
protest; so Lord Halifax, with a straight face, joined France in a
"strong protest." It was not