852.00/9146: Telegram
The Ambassador in Italy (Phillips) to the Secretary of State
[Received April 18—11:35 a.m.]
141. The British Naval Attaché stated this morning that the British Government had informed the Italian Government on April 6 that [Page 775] it considered the Mediterranean submarine treaty (the Nyon agreement53) was no longer in effect since the Spanish war had ended. He stated that the reason for which the treaty had been made had ceased to exist and for some time England had considered it of no importance.
The British Naval Attaché said further that he had been summoned to the Italian Ministry of Marine on April 14 and was asked if England insisted on the month’s notice and whether April 18 would be a suitable date for final termination of the treaty. He said he was very much astonished and informed the Ministry that due to the intervening week-end there was hardly time to get word from his Government. He was then asked if the 19th would be satisfactory and transmitted this inquiry to his Government. No reply has yet been received from London.
The persistence of rumors regarding the presence in Italy of German troops and officers is so marked and the reports come from such a variety of sources that a measure of credence is attached to them by other missions here. It may well be that German troops have been passing through Italy en route to Italian African possessions and that the greatest possible secrecy is being maintained not only because of possible foreign repercussions but primarily to avoid arousing the Italian people who might resent the presence of many German troops in their own country.
- British Cmd. 5568, Treaty Series No. 38 (1937): International Agreement for Collective Measures against Piratical Attacks in the Mediterranean by Submarines, Nyon, September 14, 1987.↩