741.65/536: Telegram
The Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Kennedy) to the Secretary of State
[Received April 15—4:22 p.m.]
319. For the Secretary and the Under Secretary. Following personal and confidential letter dated April 14 just received from Lord Halifax.21
“You will remember that we spoke together the other day on the subject of the conversations now proceeding between my Government and the Italian Government with a view to the settlement of all matters outstanding between them. I am glad to say that these conversations are now reaching their final stage and I have every reason to believe that an agreement will be signed by Lord Perth, our Ambassador in Rome, and the Italian Minister for Foreign Affairs within the next day or two.22
[Page 144]As you know we have through our Embassy in Washington been trying to keep the President in touch with the developments of these conversations and I think perhaps it might be useful if I were to attempt to give you some account of the contents of the agreement which we hope shortly to sign.
A number of instruments forming part of the agreement will be annexed to a protocol which will provide that they shall come into force at a date to be determined together by the two Governments and that upon their taking effect negotiations will be opened (the Egyptian Government being invited to participate where necessary) for the purposes of dealing with certain questions such as frontiers and trade, affecting their relations in East Africa. In this connection there is to be in the meantime a ‘bon voisinage’ agreement which the United Kingdom, Italy and (in respect of the Anglo-Egyptian Soudan) Egypt will sign.
The instruments annexed to the protocol will comprise (a) a reaffirmation of the declaration signed by the United Kingdom and Italy on the 2d January 1937 regarding the Mediterranean and of the exchange of notes between them of the 31st December 1936 respecting the status quo in the Western Mediterranean; (b) an agreement for the periodical exchange of military information in regard to the two parties’ forces in certain parts of Africa, the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, and providing for advance information regarding decisions to provide new naval or air bases in the Eastern Mediterranean and in the Red Sea or its approaches; (c) an agreement providing that there shall be no conflict between their respective policies in certain areas in the Middle East, more particularly Saudi Arabia and the Yemen; and (d) a declaration providing that one party shall not engage in propaganda against the other. There will also be declarations on certain African matters of particular interest to His Majesty’s Government such as the sources of the Nile in Ethiopia (Lake Tsana), the undesirability of raising large native armies and the treatment of missionaries in Ethiopia. A declaration reaffirming the intention of the United Kingdom and Italy to abide by the Suez Canal Convention of 1888 will also be made.
Other subjects will be dealt with by exchanges of letters. These will include the reduction by Italy of her forces in Libya by 1000 men a week until peace time strength is reached and her accession to the London Naval Treaty of 1936. In regard to Spain Count Ciano will send Lord Perth a letter confirming the Italian Government’s full adherence to the United Kingdom formula for the proportional evacuation of the foreign volunteers from that country and pledging the Italian Government to apply such evacuation on conditions to be determined by the Non-Intervention Committee on the basis that formula. He will reaffirm an assurance previously given to His Majesty’s Government that if this evacuation had not been completed at the termination of the civil war all remaining Italian volunteers will forthwith leave Spanish territory and all war material be withdrawn. He will also reaffirm a previous assurance that the Italian Government have no territorial or political aims and seek no privileged economic position in Spanish territories (including Spanish zone of Morocco) and do not intend to keep any armed forces there. In reply to this letter Lord Perth will take note of these assurances and will state that His Majesty’s Government regard a settlement of the [Page 145] Spanish question as a prerequisite of the entry into force of the agreement reached between themselves and the Italian Government. In the same letter he will then turn to the subject of Ethiopia and will inform Count Ciano that His Majesty’s Government being desirous that such obstacles as may at present be held to impede the freedom of member states as regards recognition of Italian sovereignty over Ethiopia should be removed, intend to take steps at the forthcoming meeting of the Council of the League of Nations for the purpose of clarifying the situation of member states in this regard.
I should add that while the agreement will be signed as we hope very shortly it will not as you will notice from the account of the protocol given above, enter into force until ‘such date as the two Governments shall together determine’. You will have seen that we have given assurances in Parliament that we shall not conclude this agreement until we are satisfied regarding a settlement of the Spanish problem and so far as we are concerned we shall determine the date when the agreement shall enter into force by reference to the Spanish question. On their side the Italian Government will no doubt determine that date by reference to the steps we may take regarding the recognition of Italian sovereignty over Ethiopia.
From what I have said you will see that the agreement is a fairly comprehensive one and it was in fact our object to try and dispose of all questions outstanding between the two Governments.
The Prime Minister and I hope very much that the President will share our view that this agreement embodies a real contribution towards world appeasement. The state of the world is such that in our opinion it is essential to try and get rid of all removable causes of friction. There are, alas, so many causes which are not easily removable, e. g., deep-seated cleavages due to ideological convictions and ultra-nationalistic sentiments, that we are the more bound to do what lies within our power to get rid of those that are removable. But to do so means looking facts in the face and this we have attempted to do in the present agreement. Our hope is that we may get more than is written into the protocol and agreements, through a genuine improvement in the relations between the two countries, and by a real cooperation between them, which may lead to better things in the future.
Should the President share these views I need hardly say how grateful both the Prime Minister and myself would be should he feel able to give some public indication of his approval of the agreement itself and of the principles which have inspired it.”