751.65/245
Report by the Acting Military Attaché in Italy (Brady)1
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Austria and the Danubian basin.
Regarding Austria and Central and Danubian Europe the two Governments agree to recommend to the States principally interested the conclusion of an agreement of non-interference in their respective internal affairs and a reciprocal undertaking not to foment or favor any action which aims at an attempt by force upon the territorial integrity and the political and social regime of one of the contracting countries.2
The agreement is intended in the first instance to be concluded between Italy, Germany, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and Austria—that is to say, between all the neighbors of Austria and Austria herself, and is open to the adhesion of France, Poland, and Rumania.
The French and Italian Governments, in consideration of the necessity to maintain the independence and integrity of Austria, agree that should this independence and integrity be menaced they will consult [Page 171] between themselves and Austria on the measures to be taken. This consultation is subsequently to be extended by France and Italy to the other States in order to ensure their concurrence.
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- Translation of the text of the Italian official press communiqué issued at the conclusion of the Italian-French conversations between Messrs. Mussolini and Laval at Rome, January 3–7, 1935; copy transmitted to the Department of State by the War Department.↩
- The French official press communiqué contained at this point the following additional statement not included in the Italian communiqué: “… the latter being able moreover to conclude within the framework of the League of Nations individual agreements designed to guarantee the application of these principles.” (“… ceux-ci pouvant d’ailleurs conclure dans le cadre de la Société des Nations des accords particuliers destinés à garantir l’application de ces principes.”) For text of the French communiqué, see L’Europe Nouvelle Documentaire, No. 9 (Supplément au Numéro 890 de L’Europe Nouvelle, 2 mars, 1935), p. iv.↩