Office of the Historian

740.00119 Potsdam/7–2545

No. 1374
The Deputy Director of the Office of Near Eastern and African Affairs (Allen) to the Assistant Secretary of State (Dunn)1

[Extracts2]
[Babelsberg,] July 25, 1945

Memorandum for Mr. Dunn

Subject: Matters relating to the Near Eastern and African Area for inclusion in the Final Protocol

There is outlined below my understanding of the final decisions reached with regard to the five items on the agenda which relate to the Near Eastern and African Area:

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4. Turkey. It was agreed by the three delegations that the Montreux Convention should be revised to [accord to the vessels of Black Sea powers entire freedom of movement through the Straits.3] The Soviet Delegation made known its view that this freedom of transit should be guaranteed by Turkey and Russia jointly. The British Delegation was of the view that the freedom of transit should be guaranteed by an international organization. The American Delegation [Page 1436] concurred, with the addition that the Straits should be neutralized, thereby removing the necessity for any military establishment to guarantee the freedom of transit.4

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

George V. Allen

[P. S.] As regards two of the foregoing items, I hope very much that some additional clarification or expansion of the agreements reached in principle can be included in the Protocol.

1. Turkey. While the agreement concerned only the revision of the Montreux Convention in favor of Russian ships, I feel strongly that this should be expanded to include vessels of all Black Sea Powers. This means the addition of Bulgaria and Rumania. If the agreement is extended only to U. S. S. R., it will appear to the smaller nations of the world that the agreement has resulted from Big Power politics and not from the just needs of Black Sea Riparian States.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  1. Printed from a carbon copy on which there is an uncertified typed signature↩
  2. For the other sections of this memorandum, see documents Nos. 736, 1069, 1332, 1342, and 1358.↩
  3. The words in brackets have been stricken from the draft and the following manuscript marginal notation has been indicated as a substitution: “make it more in accord with modern conditions”.↩
  4. See ante, pp. 256–258, 303–304, 365–367.↩