Office of the Historian

768.5/2–2753

No. 673
Memorandum by the Chief of Staff, United States Army (Collins) to the Secretary of Defense (Wilson)1

top secret
Washington, 20 February 1953.

Subject:

  • Report of Tripartite Exploratory Military Discussions with Yugoslavia.
1.

Reference is made to the memorandum by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, dated 12 December 1952, subject as above.2 The report of the Tripartite Military Representative (General Handy, USA) referred to therein as the Handy report may be summarized as follows:

. . . . . . .

f.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff consider that no time should be lost in preparing for additional discussions with the Yugoslavs. The favorable atmosphere created by the talks conducted by General Handy should be exploited. It is considered that the Military Representatives of the United States, the United Kingdom and France should reconvene without delay to discuss the Handy Report. The Military Representatives should then reach agreement as to future courses of action to be followed and present these recommendations to their respective governments for approval.
g.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff consider that the United States must maintain the security of the substance of the Tripartite talks as desired by Yugoslavia. In this regard the Tripartite powers are committed to the Governments of Greece, Turkey and Italy (See State Department Cables: Paris 1389, Belgrade 596, Ankara 560, Rome 1879, Athens 14273) to provide these countries with such information deriving from the Handy talks as directly concern their national interests. After tripartite military and governmental approval, and after clearance with the Yugoslav Government, the above-mentioned releases will be made to Greece, Turkey and Italy as appropriate.
h.
It is considered that the United States, the United Kingdom and France should exchange, insofar as practicable, reports concerning prior Yugoslav conversations. Accordingly, the Joint Chiefs of Staff have directed the Chief of Staff, U.S. Army, within the limits imposed by existing security regulations, to make available to the U.K. and France pertinent reports of prior conversations with the Yugoslavs.
3.
In view of the foregoing, the Joint Chiefs of Staff recommend that:
a.
The comments contained in paragraph 2 above be approved as the Department of Defense position on the Handy Report.
b.
The military representatives of the United States, the United Kingdom, and France be reconvened immediately and in light of the Handy Report, develop a recommended Tripartite position for further military conversations with the Yugoslavs. To effect this meeting, the Joint Chiefs of Staff recommend that the U.S. Military Representative (Chief of Staff, U.S. Army) take prompt action to reconvene the Tripartite Military Committee to review the situation and lay future plans. They further recommend that the Department of State be advised of the action proposed herein.
c.
The draft terms of reference and guidance, contained in the Appendix and Annexes “A” and “B” hereto,4 be approved for use by the U.S. Military Representative in taking the action indicated in subparagraph b above.
For the Joint Chiefs of Staff
J. Lawton Collins
  1. This memorandum, along with its attachments, was transmitted to Secretary Dulles under cover of a brief letter of Feb. 27 from Secretary of Defense Wilson, in which Wilson said that he had approved the attached recommendations of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.↩
  2. Document 662.↩
  3. None printed.↩
  4. None printed.↩