840.00/10–748
Memorandum by the Director of the Office of European Affairs (Hickerson) to the Acting Secretary of State
Subject: Italy and the Western European Defense Pact
Background
Immediately following Bevin’s speech proposing Western Union, Sforza stated “Italy will be happy to cooperate with all her force [Page 261] (but) on a footing of equality, even in the organizing stage.”1 This endorsement was watered down almost at once, however, as it was realized in Rome that Italy was not to be included in the original group. Italian Government spokesmen began to refer to Italy’s military limitations under the peace treaty, the impossibility of the Government assuming new international commitments until after the April elections, etc.
Subsequently, a number of factors tended to cool the Italians’ initial enthusiasm. The general aversion to a shooting war, fed carefully by Communist propaganda for a policy of “neutrality,” led many to reconsider. Others, while still advocating Italy’s eventual adherence, argued that Italy’s demands for treaty revision and the colonies must first be met. The Rome Embassy suggested that this group, remembering Italy’s failure to obtain Western support in World War I peace negotiations, as well as the Anglo-French attitude after World War II, feared entanglement in a group where Italy’s military weakness would severely reduce her influence.
At the same time, the prospect of an American military guarantee for Western Union, continued to appeal to Italian opinion. This attraction, together with De Gasperi’s sincere policy of Western cooperation, prompted sporadic overtures in Washington, London and Paris. On May 6, the Italian Ambassador was told that the US considered Italy a natural and desirable member of Western Union, and it was indicated that the Italians should discuss the question with the Western Union powers.2 Conversations with the British appear to have been in very general terms—so much so that when Gallarati Scotti recently observed to Bevin that Anglo-Italian relations seemed less close than formerly and inquired why Italy had not been invited to join Western Union, Bevin replied with some heat that Italy could scarcely expect to receive an invitation without first letting it be known that such an invitation was desired. (The Foreign Office commented that in view of the apparent tendency of the Italians to attach conditions, such as agreement on the return of the colonies, it was considered preferable to have Italy ask to join.)3
With the foregoing in mind, we commented recently to the Italian Chargé that if Italy were sincerely desirous of joining Western [Page 262] Union, we felt this desire should be made clear to the Western Union powers, who should also be made to understand that Italy was not attaching conditions to its adherence.
Upon his return from a stay in Italy, Tarchiani also brought up this question on October 5.4 He stated the Italian Government still desired to join any defense arrangement which might be worked out between the European powers and the US; that the Government was endeavoring to combat the “neutrality” sentiment which had grown up in Italy; and that De Gasperi and Sforza were looking to the US for guidance as to when Italy should ask to join up. In reply, he was told that the Italian Government must make up its own mind as to whether it wished to adhere to a defense scheme; that if it did, the Western Union powers should be given to understand informally and confidentially that Italy desired to adhere at an appropriate moment; and that in the meantime the Government would undoubtedly wish to continue its program of informing Italian public opinion of the necessity of Western cooperation. It was again indicated to Tarchiani that doubts as to Italy’s attitude, as well as a belief that conditions might be attached to Italy’s adherence, had apparently arisen, and that these doubts should be overcome.
- Ambassador James C. Dunn in Rome, in his telegram 326, January 23, not printed, provided the Department with a more complete quotation and commented on editorials in the local press (840.00/1–2348).↩
- On May 6, Ambassador Tarchiani met with Secretary Marshall and Walter C. Dowling, Associate Chief of the Division of Southern European Affairs. A memorandum of this conversation is printed on p. 797.↩
- These views concerning British-Italian relations and discussions regarding Italian membership in Western Union were transmitted to the Department by Ambassador Douglas in his telegram 3940 from London, September 2, not printed (840.00/9–248).↩
- No record of this action has been found in the Department of State files.↩