740.00119 Control (Austria)/5–1445: Telegram
The Acting Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Yugoslavia (Patterson)
91. Department’s 88 May 14, 7 p.m. Department understands that the earlier British request that Tito withdraw his forces from Austria has meanwhile been met with a counterproposal that Tito’s forces remain in the British zone in Austria as a part of the occupying forces under the command of Field Marshal Alexander. This is not acceptable to the British Government and would be similarly unacceptable from our point of view.87
Please therefore support your British colleague’s rejection of the counterproposal, and if the counterproposal should be repeated to you, please reject it forthwith, explaining that it has already come to the attention of this Government and received consideration in connection with the request contained in Department’s telegram cited above requesting that all Yugoslav forces withdraw from Austria in order [Page 1324] to facilitate the orderly occupation of that territory in accordance with plans of long standing by the signatories of the Moscow Declaration on Austria.
Sent to Belgrade as Department’s no. 91; repeated to Caserta for Erhardt as no. 488; to London as no. 3844; and to Paris as no. 2105; and to Moscow as no. 1080.
- The note dated May 16 from Marshal Tito concerning Yugoslav forces in Austria, which was sent by Ambassador Patterson in his telegram 88 of May 16 (supra), was not received in the Department of State until May 23 at 4:45 p.m. The Department, however, was informed of the substance of Marshal Tito’s note by the U.S. Political Adviser, Allied Force Headquarters (Kirk), in his telegram 2191 of May 16, which was received at 2:18 p.m. on that day. This telegram also stated that the British Ambassador in Yugoslavia had “recommended to his Government that Tito’s request should be refused.” (740.00119 Control (Austria)/5–1645)↩