740.00119 Control (Italy)/10–2945
The British Embassy to the Department of State
Memorandum
With reference to the State Department’s memorandum of October 25th relating to the question of the publication of the Italian Armistice Terms, the Foreign Office agree that the Supreme Allied Commander, Mediterranean, should be directed to draft an agreed commentary. [Page 1073] It is suggested that he should be asked to draft it in consultation with his United Kingdom and United States political advisers and in such form as will make it clear which of the Armistice Terms are obsolete or have never been invoked, which of them have been modified by directives from the Combined Chiefs of Staff and which of them are still in force.
While the Foreign Office certainly do not object to the publication of the Italian Armistice Terms in the manner now suggested, they consider that this should only take place after communication to the-Italian Government and to the Advisory Council. In this connection the State Department will recall conversations with members of this Embassy regarding modification of the Armistice Terms, in which it was suggested that, in order to avoid creating a precedent which could be invoked by the Soviet Government to the prejudice of the American and British position in the ex-satellite States, it was preferable that notification of any changes should be made to the Italian Government by the Supreme Allied Commander, Mediterranean, rather than by the United States Government or His Majesty’s Government.
The Foreign Office agree that it would be preferable for the Italian: Government to take the initiative by asking for publication of the Armistice Terms. They consider, however, that Signor Parri’s statement to foreign journalists on October 11th, a copy of which is attached,92 and more particularly the report from the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs to the Council of Ministers on October 18th, as communicated to the Giornale Del Mattino, the relevant extract from which is also attached,92 constitute a request for publication and that the Italian Government cannot well be expected to take a further initiative.