Office of the Historian

740.00119 Control (Italy)/6–2045: Telegram

No. 565
The Acting Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Italy (Kirk)
secret
u. s. urgent
Washington, June 22, 1945—7 p.m.

607. Dept understood from your 26931 and 26952 June 20 that agreement had been reached and signed on all appendices. However, Belgrade’s 178, June 213 reports military agreements signed “less article 3 of Belgrade agreement” and that Yugos intend to raise question [Page 849] again on govt level with view to having National Liberation Committee recognized sole agency under AMG. (Sent Caserta as 607, rptd Belgrade as 151) Dept assumes above reference to Article 3 may indicate additional appendix reported in your 2658, June 17,4 which presumably was presented by Yugos and rejected by Morgan. Please clarify urgently endeavoring to send us full text agreement and appendices, preferably by courier. Keport also to what extent revised draft agreement presented to Yugos (your 2659, June 174) met your objections (your 2644, June 16, and 2656, June 175) and whether full text agreement as concluded was referred to AFHQ before signing.

Article 3 of the Belgrade agreement of June 9 leaves to SAC’s6 discretion the use or otherwise of existing civil administrations. There can be no limitation of his complete authority west of the line,7 and any Yugo failure promptly to submit to his orders in that area would constitute a breach of the agreement.

Dept feels strongly that pattern of administration west of line must conform to previous general pattern, both for practical administrative reasons and because establishment of purely Yugo system would prejudice final settlement even in Allied occupied territory.

Grew
H F[reeman] M[atthews]
  1. Not printed.↩
  2. Document No. 560.↩
  3. Document No. 564.↩
  4. Not printed.↩
  5. Not printed.↩
  6. Neither printed.↩
  7. Field Marshal Sir Harold Alexander.↩
  8. i. e., the Morgan Line.↩