CFM Files
United States Delegation Journal
USDel (PC) (Journal) 34
The Commission listened to a fifty-five minute speech by M. Vyshinsky (USSR) on the Italo-Yugoslav frontier and the future status of Trieste. Most of M. Vyshinsky’s speech consisted of a rebuttal of M. Bonomi’s statements on Monday, including a personal attack on Bonomi himself. The rest of the speech was designed to prove the reasonableness of the Yugoslav position contained in its memorandum (CP(IT/P)Doc. 25) and M. Bebler’s speech on Tuesday.37 In rebutting Bonomi’s statement that the Italian contribution in the First World War had caused the downfall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and brought about the liberation of the Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, M. Vyshinsky said that the downfall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire [Page 373] had in fact been caused by Russian advances on the eastern front in 1914 and by the brilliant tactics of a Russian General in 1916 who had routed the entire German front. These, he said, were the reasons for the downfall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which Bonomi had ignored. Actually, the Italian armies had been saved by their Allies from being crushed and the whole world knew that the Italian army was better at running than fighting. He said that Bonomi followed the same line as former Italian leaders, such as Marshals De Bono and Graziani, who had tried to make Italian soldiers look like “triumvirs” but had only succeeded in making them look like asses rather than lions. The Soviet representative quoted an Italian statesman and a British professor38 to prove that Trieste and Western Istria were fundamentally Slovene in character and should belong to Yugoslavia. He described the CFM decision to create a free state as one containing a minimum of justice. The Yugoslav memorandum (CP(IT/P) Doc. 25), he said, was useful and fully justified. While the Soviet Delegation believed the CFM solution represented minimum justice, they felt that they must support it and hoped that the other three representatives on the CFM would do likewise.
The translation of the Soviet Delegate’s speech consumed the rest of the morning and the Commission adjourned at 1:00 p.m.
- C.P.(IT/P) Doc. 25, which defended the Yugoslav position on article 3, is not printed. The Yugoslav amendment to that article was proposed in C.P. (Gen) Doc.1.U.3. For summaries of the speeches by Bonomi and Bebler, see the United States Delegation Journal accounts of the 11th Meeting, September 2, and the 12th Meeting, September 3, pp. 331 and 342, respectively.↩
- Professor Arnold J. Toynbee.↩