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DEGLASSIFIED E.O. 11652, Sec. 3(E) and 5(D) OT (ED) Dept. of State letter, Aug. 10, 1972 SECRET WILLIAM NARS Derte 871775 DEPARTMENT OF STATE WASHINGTON June 18, 1945 MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT Subject: Principal Questions of Policy in the Treatment of Italy During the twenty months since Italy became a co-belligerent this Government, in acknowledgment of Italy's very real contributions to the war and in re- cognition of the importance of a soundly democratic Italy in achieving general European security and stabi- lity, has sought by various means to promote Italian political and economic well-being. The purposes of the program have had wide support in American public opinion, but the measures taken have been inadequate to serve those purposes effectively. The long-range objective, from the point of view of our national interest, is to enable Italy to become a constructive element in a peaceful Europe. To reach this objective both the political and the economic plan- ning need a more vigorous and realistic treatment. The problem is immediate. In northern Italy, with its large and restless population in industrial areas left idle and more or less free from military controls, the liberation has not been followed by constructive measures. Anarchy may result from the present economic distress and political unrest unless the work is taken in hand without delay. There ARCHIVES AND "NATIONAL SERVICE RECORDS GOVER