800.014 Antarctic/9–1847
The Acting Secretary of State to the Embassy in the United Kingdom 1
No. 485
The Acting Secretary of State refers to the Embassy’s airgram A–1949 of September 18, 1947 concerning UK interest in Antarctica.2 The Department’s position on the immediate problem was set forth in its recent airgram A–865, September 8, 19473 and cable 4090 of September 22, 1947.4 The following information and comments are given for your information and for your use in further discussion of the problem with the Foreign Office official in charge of Antarctic matters.
Enclosures No. 1 and 2 hereto are of interest in connection with the statement of the Foreign Office official (numbered paragraph 2 of the Embassy’s airgram) that “it is not impossible that during the coming Antarctic season, Argentine and Chilean expeditions might establish temporary bases in UK territory and if called upon to depart or recognize UK sovereignty their governments might claim this was British intervention in the Western Hemisphere”.
The position of the United States is clearly that the sovereignty or the national or international status of any territory is not affected by its inclusion in the hemisphere defense area, and thus that the status of the British, Argentine and Chilean claims in Antarctica are not affected by the inclusion of portions of Antarctica in that area. The American Government would be pleased, in the event that Argentine and Chilean expeditions visit territory claimed by Britain in Antarctica in the coming season, if any British were limited to reiterating to them that in the British view they are in British territory. It is the [Page 1054] Department’s view that, until such time as a course calculated to bring about a full settlement of the Antarctic problem is determined, more decisive action might serve only to inflame the issue without affording any compensating advantage.
The Department has no information that would indicate directly the possible Chilean reaction to a British proposal to submit their conflicting Antarctic claims to an international court. However, in view of the general situation it is not illogical to suppose that Chile would be very reluctant to do so. As previously indicated (Department’s A–865, September 8, 1947), the Department believes that Argentina would go to great lengths to avoid such a proposal.
The American Government has not altered its position with regard to Antarctica, but in view of increasing British, Argentine and Chilean interest and tension, has come to the conclusion that a change in policy may be necessary and has initiated a study of the situation which may lead to an altered position within the course of the next few months, possibly along the lines suggested in the Department’s cable No. 4090 of September 22, 1947 to the Embassy.
For your confidential background information, the best estimates now available in the Department do not rate the strategic or other value of Antarctic territory very high.
The Falkland Islands may be made the subject of a separate instruction, should any useful information become available. However, at this time the Department sees no advantage to be gained by including the Falkland Islands in the Antarctic problem. On the contrary, such inclusion would appear calculated to complicate greatly and unnecessarily both problems.
Enclosures:
- This instruction was also sent to the Embassy in Argentina as No. 125, December 18; and to the Embassy in Chile as No. 1186, December 31.↩
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Not printed. It reported the current thinking of the British Foreign Office with reference to Antarctica. The Foreign Office anticipated that Argentine and Chilean expeditions might establish temporary bases on United Kingdom territory in Antarctica during the coming Antarctic season. If called upon to depart or recognize British sovereignty in this territory, Argentina and Chile might claim that the British were intervening in the Western Hemisphere. For this and other reasons, the British Foreign Office was anxious to get international recognition of United Kingdom sovereignty in Antarctica. The airgram also made the following observations:
“Attitude of US most interesting to UK. Has US made up its mind yet as to policy re Antarctica. Would US consider UK withdrawal from Falklands and some Antarctic regions as desireable withdrawal European power from American hemisphere. Would US (Navy) look upon non-British (Argentine) possession of Falklands and other islands on Drake Channel as not endangering US security in vital sea passage from Atlantic to Pacific. (800.014 Antarctic/9–1847)”
↩ - Ante, p. 1050.↩
- Ante, p. 1051.↩
- Enclosure No. 1, not here printed, consisted of the final section, entitled “Statements”, of the Final Act of the Inter-American Conference for the Maintenance of Continental Peace and Security, Rio de Janeiro (Petropolis), Brazil, August 15–September 2. For the text of the Final Act and the text of the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance concluded at the Conference, see Department of State Bulletin, September 21, 1947, pp. 565–572. For documentation regarding the Conference, see vol. viii, pp. 1 ff.↩
- Enclosure No. 2, not printed, was a copy of a note dated September 1, which observed that the United States Delegation at the Inter-American Conference then meeting in Petropolis, Brazil, had inserted in the record of the Conference a statement that the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance had no effect upon the sovereignty or national or international status of any territories in the hemisphere defense area defined in the Treaty. Included as enclosures to the note were a copy of a statement to the press issued by the United States Delegation to the Petropolis Conference, August 30 (text printed in Department of State Bulletin, September 21, 1947, p. 573) and the texts of articles iii, iv, and vi of the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance.↩