Office of the Historian

740.0011 EW (Peace)/2–1047: Telegram

The Ambassador in Italy (Dunn) to the Secretary of State

Rome, February 10, 1947.

301. Reference mytel 297, February 8.1 De Gasperi presented new government’s2 program to Constituent Assembly Saturday evening.3 The part concerning foreign affairs was entirely devoted to signing the peace treaty. Prime Minister said that in his long political career no graver or more cruel responsibility had been placed upon him than today. He and his government were faced with two alternatives, (1) to sign the treaty on the government’s responsibility, or (2) to obtain a commitment from the Assembly for such step. While the latter would have been more agreeable to the government, the former was more in accordance with the provisions of Italian law. He continued that there [Page 523] was a tendency to over-estimate the importance of the signature and to under-estimate the final approval of the Assembly.4

. . . . . . .

Statements on internal program will be reported separately.

Dunn
  1. Not printed; it mentioned the morning newspaper reports of the departure of Soragna for Paris, and the government’s issuance of a communiqué which recognized the need in the circumstances for the Italian Government to sign the treaty (865.00/2–847).↩
  2. Prime Minister De Gasperi, on returning from his trip to Washington, was met with the declaration by Nenni of his intention to resign as Minister of Foreign Affairs in order to devote himself exclusively to affairs of the Socialist Party. On January 20 De Gasperi announced to the press his intention to resign. The Provisional Head of the State, Enrico de Nicola, by decree of January 28, 1947, accepted the resignation of the second De Gasperi cabinet. The new Ministry was constituted by decree of February 2 and supplementary decree of February 4. De Gasperi remained Prime Minister; Count Carlo Sforza became Minister of Foreign Affairs.↩
  3. February 8.↩
  4. For the full text of De Gasperi’s speech see Italy, Assemblea costituente 1946–1948, Atti, Discussioni, seduta xxxii (Saturday, February 8, 1947), p. 1102.↩