Editorial Note
Under cover of a note dated April 10, 1946, the Greek Chargé in London submitted to the Secretary General of the Council of Foreign Ministers the following documents, relating to the Greek Government’s territorial claims against Bulgaria: (1) a memorandum setting forth the views of the Greek Government on the terms of peace to be concluded with Bulgaria and on the question of the rectification of the Greek-Bulgarian boundary; (2) a report setting forth in detail the frontier rectifications to be made and the justifications for those rectifications from the Greek military point-of-view; (3) a map of the proposed rectifications together with an explanatory note. The Greek Chargé’s note of April 10 together with the memorandum submitted thereunder were circulated to the Council of Foreign Ministers as document C.F.M. (D) (B) (46) 15, April 11, 1946, neither printed. The report and the accompanying map were not circulated to the Council, which, in any case, did not take action on the Greek proposals. Copies of the Greek Chargé’s note of April 10 and the attached memorandum and report were transmitted to the [Page 51] Department of State under cover of Greek Embassy Note No. 1980, April 22, 1946, which expressed the hope that the demands of the Greek Government would be given full support by the United States Government (740.00119 EW/4–2246). The concluding portion of the Greek memorandum, summarizing the frontier rectifications proposed by the Greek Government, is printed in Marjorie M. Whiteman, Digest of International Law, volume 3, Department of State Publication 7737 (Washington, U. S. Government Printing Office, 1964), page 118. The map of the Greek rectification proposals, a copy of which was transmitted to the Department of State in Greek Embassy Note No. 2075 bis, April 29, 1946, is not reproduced. The evaluation by the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the strategic elements involved in the Greek territorial claims against Bulgaria is contained in the memorandum of May 11, 1946, from the State-War-Navy Coordinating Committee to the Secretary of State, Volume VII, page 161.
In a letter of April 11, 1946, from the Greek Chargé in London to the Secretary General of the Council of Foreign Ministers, not printed, the Greek Government requested that the Council consider Greece’s territorial claims against Albania. Copies of the Chargé’s letter and an accompanying undated memorandum reviewing Greek-Albanian relations were transmitted to the Department of State under cover of a note of April 22, 1946, from the Greek Ambassador, none printed (740.00119 EW/4–2246). In a note to the Secretary of State, dated April 12, 1946, not printed, the Greek Foreign Minister, Constantine Tsaldaris, requested that Greek representatives be invited to participate in any Council of Foreign Ministers discussions relating to Greek territorial claims. In a note of April 16, 1946, not printed, the Greek Ambassador requested that the United States Government support the proposal to have Greek claims for Northern Epirus placed on the agenda of the Council of Foreign Ministers. These Greek requests are reported upon in telegram 3336, April 18, 1946, to London, Volume VII, page 144. Greek Embassy note No. 2075, April 29, 1946, not printed, transmitted to the Department of State a memorandum examining the Greek frontier facing Albania from the point of view of the military security of Greece, a photostatic copy of a map accompanying the aforementioned memorandum, and a note to accompany reports concerning Greek frontiers facing Bulgaria and Albania (740.00119 EW/4–2946). The memorandum, which is not printed, set forth the proposed Greek-Albanian boundary as follows:
“1. According to what has been stated above, the security of Greece requires the following regions to be incorporated into it:
- a.
- The Korce High Plain.
- b.
- The middle valley of the Vijose River.
These regions should also be fully protected that they may be free from the danger of promptly falling into the hands of an invader launching a sudden attack from Albania.
2. The region that can successfully stop an invasion coming from Albania is the mountainous one between Lake Ochrid and the Ionian Sea as far as a point in line with Mal I Cikes.
3. The proposed new boundary of Greece facing Albania would be approximately the one marked in green on the attached map …:”
The map referred to here is not reproduced.
For the evaluation by the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the strategic value of Northern Epirus to Greece and to Albania, see the memorandum of April 22, 1946, from the State-War-Navy Coordinating Committee to the Secretary of State, Volume VII, page 145.