Foreign Relations of the United States, 1951, Europe: Political and Economic Developments, Volume IV, Part 1

No. 290

665.001/8–151

Memorandum of Conversation, by the Deputy Director of the Office of Western European Affairs (Williamson)

secret

[Washington,] August 2, 1951.

Subject: Revision of the Italian Peace Treaty.

Participants:	M. Pierre Francfort, Counselor, French Embassy
	Mr. Francis T. Williamson, WE

M. Francfort called on instructions from the Foreign Office to present the attached Aide-Mémoire¹ giving the French views concerning the proposed revision of the Italian Treaty.

I did not comment on the substance of the French Aide-Mémoire but asked M. Francfort if the French Government had any view (see paragraph 7) whether the Ministers should discuss this question during their forthcoming conversations in Washington.² He replied that the Aide-Mémoire envisaged conversations between representatives of the French and British Embassies and officers of the Department of State rather than a Ministerial discussion. I also inquired whether the French Government would recommend transmission of the proposed tripartite declaration to the Soviet Union as one of the signatories of the Peace Treaty. He stated that there was nothing in his instructions on this question. M. Francfort explained that the proposed declaration would simply suspend the military clauses of the Treaty and permit Italy to rearm in accordance with NATO requirements. He did not know whether the French Government contemplated registering this declaration with the United Nations as a part of the Italian Treaty or exactly what steps could be taken to give it a legal standing. In response to a further inquiry about the proposed action in the General Assembly, M. Francfort stated that the maximum desired by the French Government was to obtain approval for the action taken by the three powers without any thought of ratification or action by the Assembly in altering the text of the Peace Treaty.

1. Not printed; it recommended that a tripartite declaration be issued which noted Italy’s plight and stated the desirability of Italy’s closer association with NATO’s defense system. This declaration would then be sent for “approval” to the U.N. General Assembly. It also recommended that the treaty signatories send individual notes to Italy in which it is stated that the treaty articles under contention be ignored.

   I informed M. Francfort that the preliminary views of the British on this question have already been received and that the Department would have to consider them before making arrangements for any further discussions.

2. Plans were underway for a meeting of the Foreign Ministers of France, the United Kingdom, and the United States in Washington in early September; for documentation on these meetings, see vol. iii, Part 1, pp. 1163 ff.