863.014/1–346
Memorandum by the Acting Chief of the Division of Southern European Affairs (Reber)
SE can not concur in CE’s recommendation that we support the cession of Bolzano to Austria. Aside from the merits of the case, both Italy and Austria have a strong emotional attachment to this territory, [Page 289] which in the case of Italians is bolstered by the following rationalization on their part:
- 1.
- The settlement after World War I was no more than retribution for the unjust settlement imposed by Austria in 1866.
- 2.
- The revival in Austria of Pan-Germanism, threatening both Italy and the Balkans, can not be excluded, and Italy’s frontier must therefore remain on the Brenner.
- 3.
- Austrians fought to the last at the side of the Germans in North Italy, many of the present advocates in Bolzano of Austrian claims were staunch Nazis until the German defeat, and Austria therefore does not deserve consideration at the expense of Italy, a co-belligerent.
On economic grounds, the Italians also offer a variety of arguments, pointing out inter alia that Bolzano is the most important source of hydro-electric power in Italy, and that the province ranks next to Piemonte in tax revenues.
Italian insistence upon the retention of Bolzano is shared by all classes and parties, including the Communists, who are in fact particularly vehement in rejecting the Austrian case. In these circumstances, it is doubted that any Italian Government would sign a treaty ceding Bolzano to Austria, and American advocacy of the Austrian claim would only have most serious repercussions in Italy.
Should the question be re-opened in the Council of Foreign Ministers with a view to changing the agreement that the Italo-Austrian frontier “would be unchanged, subject to hearing any case which Austria might present for minor rectifications in her favor” it is recommended that we oppose any proposal for the outright cession of Bolzano to Austria. If circumstances warrant, consideration might be given to a solution of the problem through the holding of a plebiscite to decide the issue.