711.60D/8–1745

Memorandum by the Secretary of State to President Truman 1

I have examined the best reports available and have concluded that the Finnish parliamentary elections of March 19452 were conducted free of outside control and expressed through secret ballot the democratic wishes of the Finnish people. This government has been reorganized so as to reflect the results of that election and is now broadly representative of all democratic elements in Finnish political life. Accordingly, I am proposing to the Finnish Government the establishment of diplomatic relations between Finland and the United States, and have taken steps to inform the British and Soviet Governments of this act.

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The Soviet Government, in connection with the Potsdam Decisions, has announced its intention to reestablish diplomatic relations with Finland prior to the conclusion of the peace treaty between Finland and the Soviet Union.3

James F. Byrnes
  1. At the end of this memorandum the following marginal notation, dated August 18, 1945, appears: “Approved, Harry S Truman.”
  2. See telegrams 127 and 128 of March 23, 1945, from Helsinki, ante, pp. 609 and 611, respectively.
  3. See memorandum by the Acting Secretary of State, August 6, 1945, p. 619.