Office of the Historian

Sources

Sources for the Foreign Relations Series

The Foreign Relations statute requires that the published record in the Foreign Relations series include all records needed to provide comprehensive documentation on major U.S. foreign policy decisions and significant U.S. diplomatic activity. It further requires that government agencies, departments, and other entities of the U.S. Government engaged in foreign policy formulation, execution, or support cooperate with the Department of State Historian by providing full and complete access to records pertinent to foreign policy decisions and actions and by providing copies of selected records. Most of the sources consulted in the preparation of this volume have been declassified and are available for review at the National Archives and Records Administration. A few collections, mostly relating to intelligence matters or Henry Kissingerʼs Papers at the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress, remain closed to the public. They were available to the editors of this volume and the documents chosen for publication have been declassified.

The editors of the Foreign Relations series have complete access to all the retired records and papers of the Department of State: the central files of the Department; the special decentralized files (“lot files”) of the Department at the bureau, office, and division levels; the files of the Departmentʼs Executive Secretariat, which contain the records of international conferences and high-level official visits, correspondence with foreign leaders by the President and Secretary of State, and memoranda of conversations between the President and Secretary of State and foreign officials; and the files of overseas diplomatic posts. The Departmentʼs indexed central files through December 1975 have been permanently transferred to the National Archives and Records Administration at College Park, Maryland (Archives II). Most of the Departmentʼs decentralized office (or lot) files covering the 1969–1976 period, which the National Archives deems worthy of permanent retention, have been transferred or are in the process of being transferred from the Departmentʼs custody to Archives II.

The editors of the Foreign Relations series also have full access to the papers of President Nixon and other White House foreign policy records. Presidential papers maintained and preserved at the Presidential libraries and the Nixon Presidential Materials Project at Archives II include some of the most significant foreign affairs-related documentation from the Department of State and other Federal agencies, including the National Security Council, the Central Intelligence [Page XIV] Agency, the Department of Defense, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Dr. Henry Kissinger has approved access to his papers at the Library of Congress.

Research for this volume was completed through special access to restricted documents at the Nixon Presidential Materials Project, the Library of Congress, and other agencies. While all the material printed in this volume has been declassified, some of it is extracted from still-classified documents. The Nixon Presidential Materials staff is processing and declassifying many of the documents used in this volume, but they may not be available in their entirety at the time of publication.

Sources for Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, Volume XXIX

Since this volume contains two distinct sections, this discussion on sources will treat the Eastern Europe and Eastern Mediterranean chapters separately. In preparing the ten chapters on Eastern Europe, Austria, and Finland, the editors made extensive use of the Nixon Presidential Materials at Archives II in College Park, Maryland. The most valuable records within the Nixon Presidential Materials for Eastern Europe are in the National Security Council (NSC) Files, Country Files, Europe, for each of the specific countries. There is also an Eastern Europe, General, subfile within the Country Files. These are the files that were maintained by the National Security Council Staff members responsible for the respective countries and they provide the day to day information on U.S. policy towards the specific country, as well as drafts and final versions of many of Henry Kissingerʼs memoranda to the President. This file provides a basic context for presidential decisions.

Other files within the Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files are important sources for specific chapters. For General Policy the NSC Files, Subject Files, Port Security, contain records on the decision on whether or not to expand the number of U.S. ports that Eastern European flagged ships could enter. Also in the Subject Files is information on general Eastern European policy in the subfile, Presidentʼs Annual Review of Foreign Policy. For Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty, the file by that same name in the NSC Files, Subject Files, is extremely valuable. Also the NSC Files, Country File, Europe, Germany, contains documentation on Radio Free Europeʼs presence in West Germany. For President Nixonʼs trips to Poland, Romania, Austria, and Yugoslavia, the Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Presidentʼs Trip Files are an important source. For visits of Eastern European leaders Ceausescu of Romania, Tito of Yugoslavia and Kekkonen of Finland, the NSC Files, VIP Visits have valuable material. Key accounts of Nixon-Ceausescu discussions are in the Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, President/Kissinger Memoranda of Conversation.

Also important in the NSC Files of the Nixon Presidential Materials are the NSC Institutional Files (H-Files) which are part of the NSC [Page XV] Files, but not to be confused with the less complete NSC Institutional Matters Files. The former contains minutes of National Security Council Meetings, as well as minutes of such key NSC subgroups as the Review/Senior Review Group and the Washington Special Actions Group (WSAG). For each set of meeting minutes there are corresponding meeting folders that contain the papers that Kissinger, who chaired all of these NSC groups, used in preparing for the meeting. The WSAG met several times during a period of demonstrations in Poland over price increases and shortages resulting in a change of leadership. Also in the H-Files are the complete set of National Security Study Memoranda (NSSM), National Security Decision Memoranda (NSDM), and related studies and papers. The President used this NSSM/NSDM mechanism to generate policy options from the foreign affairs bureaucracy for U.S. trade with Eastern Europe and policy towards Poland. The Under Secretaries Group of the NSC, a second tier interdepartmental group also responsible for policy study and recommended decisions, was charged with re-evaluating U.S. policy towards Romania. Therefore the Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Institutional Files (H-Files), Under Secretaries Study Memorandum (U/SM) and Under Secretaries Decision Memorandum (U/DM) Files are valuable in this case.

President Nixonʼs secret sound-activated taping system began in 1971. The volume contains conversations transcribed specifically by the Office of the Historian. Not surprisingly, the tapes presented relate to President Nixonʼs main focus in Eastern Europe: Poland and Romania. Other collections among the Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, of secondary importance are the NSC Files, Presidential Correspondence with Polish and Romanian Presidents and Names Files, Staff Memos, Sonnenfeldt.

The Kissinger Papers in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress often duplicate documentation found in other collections, especially the NSC Files of the Nixon Presidential Materials, but have some documents unique to that collection. The best collections are in the Geopolitical File for the respective countries, the Memoranda of Conversation File, and the Memoranda to the President Files. The transcripts of Kissingerʼs telephone conversations are in this collection and a few conversations about Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Austria are included in the first section of the volume. While the original transcripts are not open to the public, Dr. Kissinger has allowed the National Archives to make available copies at College Park, Maryland.

The volume also draws heavily on the records of the Department of State because most of the day-to-day relations with Eastern Europe, Austria, and Finland can be found in the Department of State Central Files. The most useful subject-numeric Central Files by far are the basic POL general relations files: for Austria, POL AUS–US; for Bulgaria, [Page XVI] POL BUG–US: for Czechoslovakia, POL CZECH–US; for Finland, POL FIN–US; for Poland, POL POL–US; for Romania, POL ROM–US, and for Yugoslavia, POL YUGO–US. Sometimes the indexers at the Department used POL 1 as a variant of this file. POL 7 (country abbreviation) related to visits to the respective countries and POL 15–1 (country abbreviation) related to relations with the chief of state or head of country. These files are useful. The problem of the German-Polish border was filed under POL 32–3 GER–POL. Documents on trade with Eastern Europe are in FT 1 EUR E–US and for trade with Poland, FT 3 POL–US. Documentation on Secretary of State Rogersʼ visits to Eastern Europe was often filed under ORG 7 S. These are just the most cited files in the first part of the volume. A complete list of all Department of State Central Files cited in the volume follows this note on sources.

Intelligence related files for Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty are the INR/IL Historical Files, 303/40 Committee, at the Department of State.

The second part of the volume, Eastern Mediterranean, has three chapters, Greece, Cyprus, and Turkey. Of all the topics in this volume, the Nixon White House staff, and the President himself, was most interested in Greece. This is reflected in the fact that the overwhelming majority of documents selected come from the Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Country Files, Greece. Also of value in the NSC Files are the Saunders Chron/Subject File. NSC Staff member Harold Saunders was a prodigious record keeper and the topical portion of his files is of value for Greece, Cyprus, and Turkey. The Backchannel Files of the NSC Files of the Nixon Presidential Materials are a factor in policy towards Greece. Backchannel messages were a way for the President to communicate directly with his ambassadors in the field without the rest of the bureaucracyʼs knowledge. The NSC Institutional Files (H-Files) contain considerable documentation on the reexamination of U.S. policy towards Greece. The NSSM/NSDM files and the Senior Review Group Meetings and Minutes files are the best places to start. The White House Special Files, Presidentʼs Office Files, Memoranda for the President, contain some key documents on Greece. There are two key Presidential tapes on Greece, one with Vice President Agnew and one with Greek-American industrialist Tom Pappas.

The Department of State Files are an important source with the usual POL GREECE-US (general relations) POL 7 GREECE (visits), POL 32–2 GREECE (exiles), and DEF 15 GREECE (U.S. bases and installation in GREECE) being the most cited files. A Department of State Lot File, Greek Desk Files, Lot 75 D 277, is particularly useful. Department of State INR/IL files contain some documents on intelligence related matters pertaining to Greece. Finally, files of the Secretary of Defense and Assistant Secretary of Defense have documentation on the military [Page XVII] relationship with Greece. See the list of them below in “Unpublished Sources.”

The Cyprus chapter in this volume is different in that the file from which the most selected documents originated was a Department of State, Central File:POL 27 CYP (political affairs). This file became a catch all file for the inter-communal tensions and negotiations between the Greek and Turkish factions on Cyprus. Three Department of State Cyprus Desk Files: Lot 72 D 475, Lot 74 D 139, and Lot 75 D 41 are of value.

When researching the Cyprus issue in the Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Country Files, Middle East, it is crucial to look at Cyprus, Greece, and Turkey since documents on the issue are in all three files. When the Cyprus issue became a crisis, the WSAG took up the issue. The files and minutes of the WSAG in the Nixon Presidential Materials (H-Files) are of great value for inter-departmental discussion in this forum.

For Turkey the vast majority of documents selected came from the Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Country Files, Middle East, Turkey sub-file, making that the obvious best source. The best Department of State Central File on Turkey was POL TUR–US. There are Department of State desk files for Turkey in the list of sources below. All are worth examination by any would be researcher. The chapter presents Intelligence assessment and intelligence information cables on Turkey from CIA files, which are not available to the public.

This is just a brief résumé of the most useful files used in the preparation of the volume. The extensive annotated list below and the citations in the source notes and footnotes to the volume should give those interested in researching various topics raised in this volume a good starting point and a roadmap to future research.

Unpublished Sources

  • Department of State
    • Central Files. See National Archives and Records Administration below.
    • Lot Files. See National Archives and Records Administration below.
  • National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland
    • Record Group 59, Records of the Department of State
      • Central Files
        • AID 15 (US)POL, aid to Turkey, food for peace program, PL 480
        • AID 15 (US) TUR, aid to Turkey, food for peace program, PL 480
        • ARAB–ISR, truce, cease-fire between Arabs and Israelis
        • DEF 1 YUGO, plans and policy toward Yugoslavia
        • DEF 4 EUR, collective defense pacts and alliances, Europe
        • DEF 6 NATO, armed forces, North Atlantic Treaty Organization
        • DEF 12–5 GREECE, armaments sales to Greece
        • DEF 15 GREECE, bases and installations, Greece
        • DEF 15 GREECE–US, bases and installations, US-Greece
        • DEF 18–6 GREECE, arms control and disarmament, control measures
        • DEF 19–6 CZECH–CYP, Communist bloc assistance, Czechoslovakia-Cyprus
        • DEF 12–5 YUGO, armaments sales to Yugoslavia
        • DEF POL GREECE–US, relations between Greece and US
        • FN 6–1 POL, credit, loans, Poland
        • FN 15–1 GREECE, budget plans, Greece
        • FT 1 EUR E–US, foreign trade, general policy, Eastern Europe-US
        • FT 3 POL–US, foreign trade, organizations and conferences, Poland-US
        • INCO DRUGS TUR, industries and commodities, drugs, Turkey
        • INCO DRUGS 17 US–TUR, industries and commodities, effect of drugs on US-Turkey trade
        • INCO 14 POL, industries and commodities, prices, Poland
        • LAB 6–1 CYP, labor disputes, strikes, Cyprus
        • LEG 7 LOWENSTEIN, Congressional delegations and individual visits
        • ORG 7 OSD, papers for official visits, Office of the Secretary of Defense
        • ORG 7 S, papers for official visits, Office of the Secretary of State
        • POL 7 AUS, visits, meetings, Austria
        • POL 15–1 AUS, head of state, Austria
        • POL AUS–US, political affairs, Austria-US relations
        • POL 15–1 AUS–US, head of state, executive branch, Austria-US
        • POL 17 AUS–US, diplomatic and consular representation, Austria-US
        • POL BUL–US, political affairs, Bulgaria-US relations
        • POL 17 BUL–US, diplomatic and consular representation, Bulgaria-US
        • POL 27–1 COMBLOC–CZECH, Communist Blocʼs invasion of Czechoslovakia
        • POL 1 CYP, political affairs, general policy, Cyprus
        • POL 1–1 CYP–US, political affairs, US contingency planning for Cyprus
        • POL 2 CYP, political affairs, reports and statistics, Cyprus
        • POL 15–1 CYP, political affairs, head of state, Cyprus
        • POL 15–5 CYP, political affairs, constitution, Cyprus
        • POL 27 CYP, political affairs, military operations, Cyprus
        • POL 27–4 CYP/UN, political affairs, use of UN forces in Cyprus
        • POL 27–14 CYP, political affairs, truce, cease-fire, Cyprus
        • POL CYP–GR, political affairs, Cyprus-Greece relations
        • POL CYP–US, political affairs, Cyprus-US relations
        • POL CZECH, political affairs, Czechoslovakia
        • POL 1 CZECH, political affairs, general policy and background, Czechoslovakia
        • POL 7 CZECH, visits, meetings, Czechoslovakia
        • POL 15 CZECH, government, Czechoslovakia
        • POL CZECH–US, political affairs, Czechoslovak-US relations
        • POL 4 CZECH–US, political agreements, Czechoslovakia-US
        • POL 17–1 CZECH–US, diplomatic and consular representation, accreditation, Czechoslovakia-US
        • POL EUR E, political affairs, Eastern Europe
        • POL EUR E–EUR W, political affairs, Eastern Europe-Western Europe relations
        • POL FIN–US, political affairs, Finland-US relations
        • POL 7 FIN, visits, meetings, Finland
        • POL 32–3 GER–POL, partition of territory between Germany and Poland
        • POL GER W–US, political affairs, West Germany-US relations
        • POL GREECE, political affairs, Greece
        • POL GREECE–TUR, political affairs, Greece-Turkey relations
        • POL GREECE–US, political affairs, Greece-US relations
        • POL 1 GREECE, political affairs, general policy, Greece
        • POL 2 GREECE, political affairs, reports and statistics, Greece
        • POL 7 GREECE, political affairs, visits, Greece
        • POL 14 GREECE, political affairs, elections, Greece
        • POL 15 GREECE, government, Greece
        • POL 15–1 GREECE, political affairs, head of state, Greece
        • POL 17 GREECE–US, political affairs, diplomatic representation, Greece-US
        • POL 23–9 GREECE, political affairs, rebellions, coups, Greece
        • POL 29 GREECE, political affairs, political prisoners, Greece
        • POL 30 GREECE, political affairs, defectors and expellees, Greece
        • POL 30–2 GREECE, political affairs, exile political activities, Greece
        • POL 7 HUNG, political affairs, visits, Hungary
        • POL HUNG–US, political affairs, Hungary-US relations
        • POL 17 HUNG–US, political affairs, diplomatic representation, Hungary-US
        • POL 7 POL, political affairs, visits, Poland
        • POL POL–US, political affairs, Poland-US relations
        • POL 1 POL–US, political affairs, general policy, Poland-US
        • POL 5 ROM, political affairs, law, Romania
        • POL 7 ROM, political affairs, visits, Romania
        • POL ROM–US, political affairs, Romania-US relations
        • POL 17 ROM–US, political affairs, diplomatic representation, Romania-US
        • POL 7 TUR, political affairs, visits, Turkey
        • POL 15–1 TURKEY, political affairs, head of state, Turkey
        • POL TUR–US, political affairs, relations Turkey-US
        • POL 6–2 US/EISENHOWER, political affairs, condolences, EISENHOWER
        • POL 7 US/INGERSOLL, political affairs, visits, Ingersoll
        • POL YUGO, political affairs, Yugoslavia
        • POL 15–1 YUGO, political affairs, head of state, Yugoslavia
        • POL 17 YUGO–US, political affairs, diplomatic representation, Yugoslavia-US
        • RAD RFE, Radio Free Europe
        • STR 7 POL, strategic trade control, shipment of U.S. goods to Poland
        • SOC 11–5 TUR, social conditions, traffic in narcotics, Turkey
        • SOC 12–1 GREECE, social conditions, churches, Greece
        • OSC 12–1 HUNG, social conditions, churches, Hungary
        • SOC 12–1 NEAR EAST, social conditions, churches, Near East
        • SOC 12 TUR, social conditions, religion, Turkey
        • SOC 12–1 TUR, social conditions, churches, Turkey
      • Lot Files
        • EUR/CE Files:
          • Lot 85 D 330, Chrons (1969)—Letters (Outgoing)
        • Polish Desk Files:
          • Lot 74 D 440, reports, memoranda, and correspondence, 1971
        • Romania Desk Files:
          • Lot 72 D 406, reports, memoranda, and correspondence, 1969
        • S/S Files:
          • Lot 82 D 307, Secretaryʼs correspondence, 1968–72
        • Yugoslav Desk Files:
          • Lot 79 D 230, general files, 1972
  • Nixon Presidential Materials Project, Archives II, College Park, Maryland
    • National Security Council Files
      • Agency Files: Commerce
      • Backchannel Files: Europe, Middle East, Latin America
      • Country Files, Europe: Austria; Bulgaria; Cyprus; Czechoslovakia; Europe, General; Eastern Europe; Finland; Germany; Greece; Hungary; Poland; Romania; Macovescu (Romania); Turkey; Yugoslavia
      • Name Files: Buckley, William; Sonnenfeldt, Helmet
      • President-HAK MemCons: President Nixon - President Ceausescu, President - Amb. Corneliu Bogdan, President - President Tito
      • Presidential Correspondence: Poland, Pres. Jablonski and PM Jaroszewicz; Romania, Ceausescu
      • Presidentʼs Daily Briefing
      • Presidentʼs Trip Files: Dobrynin-Kissinger; Presidentʼs Austrian Visit, May 1972; briefing books; Presidentʼs Moscow, Iran, Poland, Austria Trip, May–June 1972; Presidentʼs Poland Trip, 1 June 72; Presidentʼs Conversations in Salzburg, Moscow, Tehran and Warsaw, May 1972; Presidentʼs Trip to Romania, July–August 1969; Presidentʼs Visit to Romania, miscellaneous background material
      • Saunders Files: Chronological File; Subject Files: Cyprus, Greece, Greece Military Supply, Turkey, Turkey Economic, Turkey Military, Turkey Sitrep
      • Subject Files: Kissinger-President Memoranda, Narcotics IV, National Security Decision Memoranda Nos. 145–264, PL–480, Presidentʼs Annual Review of U.S. Foreign Policy, Radio Free Europe & Radio Liberty, U.S. Port Security Program, Unfiled Material
      • VIP Visits: Romania, Ceaucescu Visit, Oct. 1970; Secretary of Stateʼs Visit to Mid-East and European Countries, 28 June–7 July 1972; Turkey, Prime Minister Erim, 21 Mar. 1970
      • NSC Institutional Files (H-Files): National Security Council Minutes, Originals; NSDM Files; NSSM Files; Senior Review Group, Minutes, Originals; Senior Review Group Meetings Files; Under Secretariesʼ Committee, Decision Memorandum (U/DM); Under Secretariesʼ Committee, Strudy Memoranda (U/SM); WSAG Meeting Minutes, Originals; WSAG Meetings Files
    • White House Central Files:
      • Dwight L. Chapin, Chronological
      • Egil Krough, Chronological
      • OPPA
      • Presidentʼs Daily Diary
      • Staff Members and Office Files
      • Subject Files
    • Presidential Tape Recordings
    • White House Special Files:
      • Presidentʼs Office Files, Memos for the President
      • Confidential Files, CO–121 Poland
  • Central Intelligence Agency
    • National Intelligence Center (NIC) Files, Job 79–R1012A, SNIEs and NIEs
    • Records of the Office of the Deputy Director for Operations: Job 78–07173, Job 79–01440, Job 80 B 01086R
    • Records of the Directorate of Intelligence: Intelligence Information Cables
  • Library of Congress, Manuscript Division
    • Papers of Henry A. Kissinger
      • National Security Council: Meetings, NSC; Senior Review Group; Staff, 1969–71
      • Telephone Records, 1969–1976: Memoranda of Telephone Conversations
      • Miscellany, 1968–1976: Record of Schedule
  • Washington National Records Center, Suitland, Maryland
    • Records of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs
      • OSD/ISA Files, 330–72A6308, decimal files, 1969
      • OSD/ISA Files, 330–72A6309, decimal files, 1969
      • OSD/ISA Files, 330–73A1971, decimal files, 1971
      • OSD/ISA Files, 330–73A1975, decimal files for 1970
      • OSD/ISA Files, 330–75–0009, Turkey, political files, 1965–1973
      • OSD/ISA Files, 330–75–0125, decimal files for 1972
      • OSD/ISA Files, 330–75–0155, decimal files for 1972
      • OSD/ISA Files, 330–75–0157, MAP Greece, 1971
  • National Security Council
    • Nixon Intelligence Files, 1969–1972

Published Sources

  • Akten zur Auswärtigen Politik der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, 1970. 3 Vols. Edited by Ilse Dorothee Pautsch, Daniela Taschler, Franz Eibl, Frank Heinlein, Mechthild Lindemann and Matthias Peter. Munich: R. Oldenbourg Verlag, 2001.
  • Current Digest of the Soviet Press.
  • Haldeman, H.R. The Haldeman Diaries: Inside the Nixon White House; Complete Multimedia Edition. Santa Monica, CA: Sony Imagesoft, 1994.
  • Kissinger, Henry. White House Years. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1979.
  • Keesingʼs Contemporary Archives, 1969–1972. London: Keesingʼs Limited, 1970–73.
  • Nixon, Richard M. RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1978.
  • North Atlantic Treaty Organization. NATO: Facts and Figures. Brussels:NATO Information Service, 1971.
  • Puhan, Alfred. The Cardinal in the Chancery and Other Recollections. New York: Vantage Press, 1990.
  • Schwab, Peter, and George Frangos, eds. Greece Under the Junta. New York: Facts on File, 1970.
  • Stern, Lawrence. The Wrong Horse: The Politics of Intervention and the Failure of American Diplomacy. New York: Times Books, 1978.
  • U.S. Congress. House of Representatives. Greece, Spain, and the Southern NATO Strategy. Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Europe of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1971.
  • U.S. Congress. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. Greece, February 1971. Staff Report. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1971.
  • U.S. Department of State. Bulletin. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
  • U.S. Department of State. American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
  • U.S. Department of State. Documents on Germany, 1944–1985. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1985.
  • U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Richard Nixon, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.