740.00119 Control (Italy)/5–2045: Telegram
The Acting Secretary of State to Mr. Alexander C. Kirk, Political Adviser to the Supreme Allied Commander, Mediterranean Theater, at Caserta
499. We are consulting with the British Government and the Combined Chiefs of Staff as to the reply to be given to Tito’s note of May 17. In the meantime the President has sent the following message to Marshal Stalin:53
“Through the Embassy in Moscow I have been keeping you informed of the American position on the interim administration of the Venezia Giulia. In particular your Government was given copies of the recent American and British notes to Marshal Tito which proposed, in accordance with the previous understanding reached in February between Field Marshal Alexander and Marshal Tito, that the Supreme Allied Commander should exercise control in an area including [Page 1169] Trieste, Monfalcone, Gorizia and Pola in order not to prejudice any final disposition through occupation by either claimant. We have now had a reply from Marshal Tito which is entirely unsatisfactory in that he states that his government is not prepared ‘to renounce the right of the Yugoslav Army holding the territory up to the Isonzo River’. As regards the administration of the area he offers a solution which cannot be reconciled with the principles we have enunciated. Meanwhile the proximity of Alexander’s and Tito’s troops in undefined areas of occupation and the dual nature of control thus created are fraught with danger. You will have seen from Ambassador Harriman’s communication to Mr. Molotov last March; from our recent public statement, and from the communication to Marshal Tito that we cannot consider this simply in the light of an Italian-Yugoslav boundary dispute but must regard it as a question of principle involving the pacific settlement of territorial disputes and the foundation of a lasting peace in Europe. We will not now or in the future take or permit any action in respect to this territory which does not fully take into account legitimate Yugoslav claims and the contributions which Yugoslav forces made to the victory over Germany won at such great cost to us all. We cannot, however, accept any compromise upon the principles of an orderly and just settlement and are so informing Marshal Tito.
I know you will agree that we must stand firm on the issue of principle and I hope that we can count on your influence also to assist in bringing about the provisional settlement outlined in our recent note to Marshal Tito. After Field Marshal Alexander has extended his authority in the Venezia Giulia east of the line indicated in our note and tranquility has thus been restored, we could then continue in the spirit of our Yalta understandings looking towards further adjustments of the problem.”
Please inform Field Marshal Alexander.
Sent to Caserta; repeated to Belgrade for information only.
- Message was delivered to Stalin on May 21.↩