Foreign Relations of the United States, 1946, Paris Peace Conference: Proceedings, Volume III

CFM Files

United States Delegation Journal

August 17, 1946, 10 a.m.

USDel (PC) (Journal) 18

The U.K. Delegation proposed that Austria be invited to express its views on the draft peace treaty with Italy under the same procedure as had been provided for the presentation of views by Albania, Cuba, Mexico and Egypt. Mr. McNeil stressed Austria’s direct interest in the question of the Austro-Italian frontier and said also that it would be quite unjustified to treat Austria worse than the five ex-enemy states which had been given a hearing. M. Vyshinsky (U.S.S.R.) opposed the British motion. He said that the Conference should not consider the claims of one enemy state against another. He pointed out that Austria had fought with Germany to the end of the war and was not entitled to special favors. He remarked that the Council of Foreign Ministers had already decided that the existing Austro-Italian frontier would remain unchanged and that there was no reason to take up the Austrian claims again. Mr. Cohen (U.S.) expressed the hope that Austria could be invited.¹⁶ He pointed out that the Moscow Declaration of 1943 had declared that Austria would be treated as a liberated country.¹⁷ He did not believe that Austria should be given any less favorable treatment than the ex-enemy states. Austria’s interest in the frontier had been recognized by the Council of Foreign Ministers and, although the Council had decided against the Austrian claims, a decision which the U.S. would stand by, Austria should have the right to present its case to the Conference. M. Couve de Murville (France) did not believe that the Austrian request to be heard should be refused. Mr. Claxton (Canada) stated that Canada had as little interest in European territorial questions as any member but did have an interest in peace and security and accordingly felt that no door should be closed to the expression of views which might have a bearing on the just settlement of these questions. He also added that the delays in the work of the Conference had strengthened the Canadian Delegation in the conviction that the Council of Foreign Ministers should meet with the purpose of finding ways of speeding up the work of the Conference. The Yugoslav Delegation saw no reason to invite Austria to give its views and stated that, if Austria should be invited, it should be under the same conditions and with the same procedure as the ex-enemy states. He held that Austria’s case was not comparable to those of Albania, Egypt, and other Allied states. M. Vyshinsky then suggested that, as only the South Tyrol question was involved, Austria might appear only before the appropriate commission. The Conference then voted on the British proposal to invite Austria and it was passed by a vote of 15 to 6. The following delegations voted in its favor: U.S.A., Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Ethiopia, France, U.K., Greece, India, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Union of South Africa. The following delegations voted against: Byelorussia, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Ukraine, U.S.S.R., Yugoslavia.

M. Vyshinsky then proposed that the request of Iran to present its views to the Conference be accepted and that the same rules be applied to Iran as to Albania, Mexico, Cuba and Egypt. The Soviet proposal was supported by the Chinese and U.S. Delegations. It was then adopted unanimously.¹⁸

16. Mr. Cohen’s statement was released to the press August 17, 1946.
17. For text of the Declaration on Austria signed at the Tripartite Conference of Foreign Ministers, November 1, 1943, see Foreign Relations, 1943, vol. i, p. 761.
18. In accordance with the decision of the Council of Foreign Ministers limiting invitations to 21 nations, Iran was not initially invited to the Conference. In an unnumbered telegram of August 22, the Ambassador in Iran reported that “Action of Mr. Byrnes in supporting Iranian request great[ly] appreciated here for it is realized that his support was decisive.” (CFM Files) For Iran’s views, see memorandum on the draft treaties presented to the Conference by the Iranian delegation, C.P.(Gen) Doc. 12, September 2, Paris Peace Conference, 1946, p. 391.