Foreign Relations of the United States, 1946, Eastern Europe, The Soviet Union, Volume VI

SWNCC Files: SWNCC 313 Series

Memorandum by the Representatives of the British Chiefs of Staff to the Combined Chiefs of Staff⁹³

secret
C.C.S. 957

6 July 1946.

Treatment of Residents in Venezia Giulia

1. The questions raised by the Supreme Allied Commander, Mediterranean (SACMED) in his telegram Naf 1159 (Enclosure “B”)⁹⁴ have been considered in London, and the views of the Foreign Office, with which the British Chiefs of Staff are in agreement, are as follows.

2. The issue of a statement of the kind contemplated by SACMED would aggravate the situation by focusing Yugoslav attention on it and would have the disadvantage of committing the United States and British Governments to action which the time factor and other considerations might make it difficult for them in the end to implement. It seems in any case clear that if Pola is awarded to Yugoslavia, Italian residents are going to lose such property as they have not been able to move.

3. It is suggested, therefore, that in the circumstances it would be advisable for SACMED to abide rather rigidly by the letter of the Morgan–Jovanovic Agreement and to permit transfer of plant[s] and machinery so long as it is not taken out of Zone A. There should, of course, be no question of the military authorities doing anything to encourage such activities.

4. Further, a statement on the lines proposed by SACMED would be interpreted by the Italians as an indication that we had already decided to give Pola to the Yugoslavs, and it would at the same time cause an outcry from the Yugoslavs, who would complain that we were depriving them of their rights in anticipation of the decision in Paris.

5. It is suggested, therefore, that a reply to SACMED be dispatched in the above sense. A draft telegram is attached (Enclosure “A”) for the consideration of the United States Chiefs of Staff.⁹⁵

93. This memorandum was forwarded to the State–War–Navy Coordinating Committee by the Joint Chiefs of Staff on July 9 for consideration in connection with the preparation of a reply to General Morgan’s message Naf 1159, June 20, to the Combined Chiefs of Staff, p. 899. On July 10, the State–War–Navy Coordinating Committee referred this memorandum to the State–War–Navy Coordinating Subcommittee for Europe for recommendation regarding the draft message in enclosure “A” thereof.
94. Enclosure not printed here; for Naf 1159, see p. 899.
95. The enclosed draft telegram, not here printed, was virtually identical with numbered paragraphs 2, 3, and 4 of this memorandum. On July 30, the State–War–Navy Coordinating Committee approved the recommendation of the State–War–Navy Coordinating Subcommittee for Europe (SWNCC 313/2, July 27, 1946) that the Joint Chiefs of Staff accept this draft message subject to the deletion of a paragraph which repeated the language of paragraph 4 of this memorandum. The deletion had been made necessary inasmuch as the Council of Foreign Ministers had reached a decision on the Italo-Yugoslav boundary. (SWNCC Series 313).