Foreign Relations of the United States, 1946, The Near East and Africa, Volume VII

868.00/10–2946

Memorandum by Mr. William O. Baxter of the Division of Near Eastern Affairs to the Director of the Office of Near Eastern and African Affairs (Henderson)

[Washington,] October 29, 1946.

After his return from Paris Mr. Matthews sent you a memorandum, with several attachments, concerning the discussions of Greek questions which had taken place in Paris during the period of the Peace Conference. I have extracted from these documents the following points which may be helpful in current discussions on Greek matters.

General

1. The Secretary told the Greek leaders that he and his delegation had given more time to the Greek than to any other question with the exception of Trieste. He made it a matter of principle to support the Greek delegation whenever possible and to help them over rough spots when their projects were rejected.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3. The British delegation did less to help the Greeks, both at the table and in the lobbies, than did the US. This was probably because of the discussion concerning Greek “reaction and monarchical fascism” which came up whenever a Greek matter was mentioned. The British were therefore happy to stay out of all such discussions and allow the US to take the lead.

Bulgarian Frontier

1. The US delegation tried to soften the Bulgarian frontier blow by proposing a demilitarized zone,²⁰ a proposal based on one of the Greek amendments. To everyone’s great astonishment, the Greek military technicians repudiated this suggestion in the Military Commission.²¹

2. In a letter of October 8 Mr. Dragoumis indicates the Greek intention of bringing the matter of Bulgarian frontier to the attention of the Council of Foreign Ministers and hopes that it may be raised jointly by the American and British representatives.

Albanian Frontier

1. On Albania, Secretary Byrnes “went so far as to make a special speech for them (the Greeks) in a plenary session, though we really felt the subject did not belong in this conference.”

2. In a conversation with Greek Opposition leaders the Secretary mentioned Albania and explained the situation under the Potsdam protocol and repeated assurances given to Mr. Tsaldaris, that when the matter came before the Council of Foreign Ministers as a proper and normal item of discussion he would do his best to have the topic kept before the Council for discussion.

3. In another interview concerning the subject of the Albanian frontier Mr. Dragoumis asked the Secretary—and said he intended to ask the British also—merely to leave the matter open on the Council of Foreign Ministers agenda and neither raise it in the near future nor agree to its definite exclusion. The Secretary stated that he thought this would be easy to do and that he would comply with the Greek request.

Economic

1. The Secretary told certain members of the Greek delegation that, if they were disturbed as to methods of collecting Italian reparations out of current industrial production, they could inform the Greek Government that financial assistance would be forthcoming from the US in the form of a credit to purchase in advance the necessary raw materials. The Secretary spoke in rather general terms but indicated that if the reparations totalled one hundred million dollars, perhaps something around forty million dollars would be needed for the purchase of raw materials.

2. In discussing the different forms of assistance for Greece the Secretary spoke particularly of surplus, saying that he had in mind particularly ships, road machinery and railway equipment “even though some of the goods which he hoped could be made available to Greece might have to be taken away from other countries for whom it had already been earmarked[”].

3. In explaining the functions of the International Bank as a medium for reconstruction loans, the Secretary said that it had occurred to him that a good way to approach the problem would be to have three experts sent to Greece to make a technical survey.²² This suggestion, made to Mr. Tsaldaris, resulted in a letter from him to the Secretary, dated October 12,²³ in which he acknowledges the US intention of sending an economic mission to Greece. This letter is hardly the “invitation” from the Greeks which we had in mind, but it may have to serve the purpose.

4. The Secretary warned the Greek delegation that it would be inadvisable for them to attempt to have reparations increased during the final steps of the treaty preparations in the Council of Foreign Ministers.

20. See the United States Delegation Journal account of the Ninth Meeting of the Political and Territorial Commission for Bulgaria, September 11, vol. iii, p. 422.
21. See the United States Delegation Journal account of the Twenty-Ninth Meeting of the Military Commission, September 28, ibid., p. 586.
22. In telegram 1355, October 16, 1946, 7 p.m., the Department informed Athens that a United States mission to analyze the Greek situation was now being selected. The mission would recommend steps to improve conditions and achieve economic stability and study the extent of foreign aid needed for reconstruction. (868.50/10–1046)
23. Text of this letter was transmitted to the Department by the Secretary of State in telegram Delsec 1065 (No. 5165 from Paris), October 14, 4 p.m. (740.00119 Council/10–1446)