665.001/12–1051: Circular telegram
The Acting Secretary of State to Certain Diplomatic Offices 1
519. Fol is Depcir agam Nov 292 5:25 p.m. which contains instrs mentioned Depcirtel 515 Dec 7.3
US, UK and France have agreed on proposed reply to Ital Note re Ital Peace Treaty4 copy of which is attached to memo conv Nov 23.5 Statement of substance of reply is set forth below:
Proposed reply to Ital Note by US, UK and France will
1) Refer to Ital Govt’s Note re preamble and certain clauses of Ital Peace Treaty.
2) Inform Ital Govt that, in accordance with terms of declaration Sep 26 by Govts of US, France and UK, proposals of Ital Govt are welcomed.
3) Agree that spirit reflected by preamble no longer exists, and has been replaced by spirit of UN Charter; that polit clauses, Arts 15–18, are superfluous; and that since milit clauses are not consistent with Italy’s position as an equal member of democratic and freedom-loving family of nations, Italy is released from its obligations to country making reply under Arts 46–70 and Annexes relevant thereto.
As soon as Ital note is reed you will be instructed by tel to concert with ur Brit (except in case of Taipei) and Fr colleagues who [Page 750] will receive similar instrs from their respective FonOffs, in providing Govt to which you are accredited with statement as to substance of reply which Govts of US, UK and France propose to make to Ital Note. Any procedure for carrying out these instrs which you may work out with ur Brit and Fr colleagues will be acceptable. In addition to providing substance of reply, you shld make supplementary statement along fol lines:
1. Ref shld be made to oral statement made at time Govt to which you are accredited was informed of Tripartite Declaration, particularly those paras which:
a. expressed hope that other countries, specifically country to which you are accredited, wld publicly signify approval of Declaration and be prepared to take similar action; and
b. stated that upon receipt of Ital requests, US, UK and France propose to consult with other signatories prior to sending definite acceptance.
2. In connection with hope that other countries wld take similar action, mention might be made where appropriate that other countries have also given some public indication of their support for Tripartite Declaration. These are Mexico, Brazil, Union of South Africa, Canad, Belg, Republic of China, Grk, Neth, Austral, NZ and others may have issued such statements by time these instrs are reed. Some states which have not made public statements have indicated informally their support.
3. Approaches also being made to fol friendly signatories of Ital Peace Treaty which include Republic of China, Austral, Belg, Braz, Canad, Ethio, Grk, India, Neth, NZ, Yugo, Pak, Mex, Iraq and Union of South Africa.
4. It is hoped that all friendly signatories will make replies to Ital Note which reach same conclusion as reply proposed by Govts of US, UK and France.
5. Govts of US, UK and France expect to reply about two wks after presentation of Ital note and hope that replies from all friendly signatories will be forthcoming at approx same time.
6. In view of US, UK and France these notes by friendly signatories replying to Ital Note will have effect of de facto revision of these provisions of Ital Peace Treaty insofar as individual relations between Italy and each country making such reply are concerned. From legal point of view note of acceptance is not necessary.6
- Drafted by Hilton and cleared with Williamson; sent to posts in 23 countries that were signatories to the Treaty of Peace with Italy.↩
- This circular airgram contained the exact text transmitted in this telegram. (665.001/11–2951)↩
- Circular telegram 515 contained the instructions which were repeated in this telegram. (665.001/12–751)↩
- For the text of the Italian Note sent to all treaty signatories on December 8, see Department of State Bulletin, December 24, 1951, p. 1011.↩
- Not printed.↩
- The text of the formal U.S. reply, which was released to the press on December 21, is printed in Department of State Bulletin, December 31, 1951, p. 1050.↩