Office of the Historian

865.014/8–2045: Telegram

The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Winant)

Washington, August 20, 1945—5 p.m.

7048. Dept has instructed AmPolAd Caserta21 to inform SACMED of Dept’s view that no steps should be taken regarding Albanian occupation of Saseno pending consultation between Dept and FonOff.

In this connection, therefore, please inform FonOff of Dept’s views as follows:

1.
Saseno was included in 1913 Albanian frontiers;22 these frontiers were confirmed by Conference of Ambassadors on Nov. 9, 1921,23 and again on July 30, 1926,24 with certain modifications not related to Saseno.
2.
Ital control of island was established by occupation which took place on Oct. 30, 1914. Dept has no evidence that Ital sovereignty was established by treaty or agreement with Albania or by other valid process of transfer. It appears, moreover, that Ital claim in past to sovereignty over Saseno, which rested on Ital interpretation of secret Preliminary Protocol of Tirana of Aug 2, 1920,25 was never accepted by Albania or accorded formal international recognition, although long occupation of Saseno by Italy apparently was never openly protested by other Govts.
3.
FNC forces are reported to have been in occupation of Saseno since Oct 1944. Island itself is understood to be barren and without civilian population.
4.
In light of foregoing considerations, it is Dept’s conclusion that Albanian action does not fall into same category as unilateral Yugoslav occupation of Venezia Giulia.
5.
Accordingly, Dept would like to propose for consideration of FonOff that Brit and US Govts should agree to inform Hoxha through SACMED that, while they will not object to provisional occupation and administration of Saseno by the present Albanian authorities, they consider that juridical status and final disposition of island are matters which will require full examination at time of definite peace settlement. Dept proposes further, if FonOff agrees to above formula, that concurrence of Soviet Govt be sought before action is taken.26

Sent to London; repeated to Caserta and Tirana.27

Byrnes
  1. Telegram 724, August 7 to Caserta, not printed.↩
  2. The Albanian frontiers were agreed upon in the Treaty of Peace between Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro, Servia and Turkey, signed at London, May 30, 1913. For text, see British and Foreign State Papers, vol. cvii, p. 656.↩
  3. Declaration by the Governments of the British Empire, France, Italy, and Japan in regard to Albania, signed at Paris, November 9, 1921, as communicated by the Conference of Ambassadors. For text, see League of Nations Treaty Series, vol. xii, p. 383.↩
  4. The final act concerning the delimitation of frontiers of Albania, signed at Paris, July 30, 1926, by Albania, France, Great Britain, Greece, Italy, Japan, and Yugoslavia. For a discussion of the work of the Conference of Ambassadors leading to this act, see Survey of International Affairs, 1925 (London, Oxford University Press, 1928), vol. ii, pp. 284 and 287.↩
  5. This agreement is described in H. W. V. Temperley (ed.), A History of the Peace Conference of Paris (London, Oxford University Press, 1921), vol. iv, p. 345.↩
  6. Telegram 9175, September 7, from London, reported that the British Foreign Office, in a letter to the Embassy dated September 5, had agreed to the formula proposed by the Department with regard to the provisional occupation and administration of Saseno; the Foreign Office was, however, unclear as to the purpose of seeking prior concurrence of the Soviet Government and asked whether the Department attached any particular importance to the point (865.014/9–745).↩
  7. Repeated to Caserta as No. 757 and to Tirana as No. 65.↩