740.0011 Moscow/28: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Acting Secretary of State (Stettinius)
Delam48 No. 1. For the President and Acting Secretary. Appreciate receiving your Amdel 349 as the President’s action will be [Page 798] most helpful in clarifying jurisdiction of Political and Military Commission meeting at Algiers.
It would be well also to suggest for the President’s consideration a message from him to Stalin clarifying limitation of French representative of [representation on] that Commission in accordance with the President’s view, as stated at our conference in his office of October 5th,50 that French representation would be restricted to matters other than the military occupation of Italy in which the three Governments decide that France has a direct interest and that the French are not to function as full members (see President’s message to Stalin of September 5th51 on this subject).
If the President also approves, the suggestion might be made to Soviets (and British as well) that China, Brazil, Yugoslavia and Greece might be invited to similarly limited representation of [on] the Political-Military Commission at Algiers. You may wish to keep Wilson informed of all these messages for his strictly confidential information.
Referring to Amdel No. 852 I am in agreement with the memorandum which the British propose sending to the Soviet Government prior to the conference, except that the granting of full membership status to the French Committee in either London or Algiers is not in accord with my understanding of the President’s position in this matter. If the President sends the message to Stalin, suggested above, it will clarify the question of French representation as well as that of other nations which have requested representation.
It should be clearly reiterated throughout that military functions of the Commanders-in-Chief must not be interfered with.
As the arrangements for this Political Military Commission were made in correspondence between the President, the Prime Minister and Stalin, it would be helpful to me at Moscow if clarification of this matter were undertaken before my arrival there.
- The American delegation to the Moscow Conference of Foreign Ministers, headed by Secretary of State Hull, was on board the Phoenix en route to the Conference.↩
- The designation assigned to a series of telegrams sent to the Department of State by the American delegation to the Moscow Conference of Foreign Ministers.↩
- Dated October 9, 1943, not printed; it informed the Secretary that the President had instructed the Embassy at Moscow to transmit to Foreign Commissar Molotov a message pointing out that there would appear to be no conflict between the Allied Control Commission for Italy, as set up by the long-term surrender document agreed to by the United States, United Kingdom, and Soviet Union, and the Political-Military Commission envisaged by the same three Governments (740.0011 Moscow/33c). For text of the note to Molotov, see vol. ii, pp. 382–383.↩
- Ante, p. 541.↩
- Ante, p. 784.↩
- Dated October 12, p. 554.↩