860H.01/12–1244: Telegram
The Ambassador to the Yugoslav Government in Exile (Patterson) to the Secretary of State
[Received December 12—11:45 a.m.]
Yugos 8. Last evening with Shantz3 I saw Prime Minister Subasic, who returned to London on December 10. The Premier told me he had signed three supplementary agreements with Tito, the texts of which he will give me in a few days. His hope is to have them all approved by Churchill and King Peter this week and then return [Page 1433] promptly to Belgrade, since he feels he must “strike while the iron is hot”.
He talked with King Peter for 2 hours yesterday and will see him again today. The King, he said, agreed to all proposals except the Regency Council. When the King asked Subasic why he could not return to Yugoslavia, the latter replied “because it will mean civil war.”
As Department is aware the Regency Council is the device by which Subasic obtained Tito’s grudging recognition of the monarchy but since King Peter has said flatly that he would never agree to this (reference my 4, November 21) the Tito–Subasic agreements may come to nothing unless Churchill persuades King to change his mind, as he may very well do. Subasic said, “everything depends upon Churchill”.
Subasic added that one of three supplemental agreements4 contains a list of 25 members of new government which is to include 11 Serbs, 7 Croats, 3 Slovenes, 2 Macedonians, 1 Bosnian and 1 Montenegrin, and he emphasized that only 6 or 7 of total are Communists. Tito is to be Premier and War Minister; Subasic, Foreign Minister; and Kardelj, said to be a thorough Communist, is in key position as Vice Premier and also in charge of Ministry of Constituent Assembly.
A second agreement5 calls for convocation of elected constituent assembly 3 months after complete liberation of Yugoslavia, and anti-Fascist council is to administer country until Assembly is convened and government formed.
A third agreement6 provides that Regency will safeguard and administer King’s property during his absence, that King will have free communication with Regency and that when a regent dies or resigns King shall appoint another from names proposed by government.
Subasic expects to see British Ambassador Stevenson today and Churchill tomorrow, after which I shall talk with him again.
Repeated to Caserta as my 33 and Moscow as my 127.
- Harold Shantz, Counselor of Embassy to the Yugoslav Government in Exile at London.↩
- The Agreement of November 1, 1944, is printed in Foreign Relations, The Conferences at Malta and Yalta, 1945, p. 251. Neither the names nor the political affiliations of the proposed holders of portfolios are specified in the supplemental agreements.↩
- The agreement entitled “Elections for the Constituent Assembly and Organization of Public Powers,” dated December 7, 1944, is printed ibid., p. 253.↩
- The agreement entitled “Property of H.M. the King and Regency Council,” dated December 7, 1944, ibid. ↩