Memorandum from Joseph Grew to President Harry S. Truman, with Attachments
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OCR Page 1 of 17Peturn to
DESLASSIFIED
Secret staly
E.O. 11652, Sec. 3(E) and 5(D) OT
gloseon
Dept. of State letter, Aug. 10, 1972
By NLI-HL NARS Date 7.1.75
DEPARTMENT OF STATE
WASHINGTON
TOP
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
SUBJECT Occupation and Idministration of Venezia Giulia.
I refer to my memorandum of May 4, 1945 (copy attached)
submitting the background to the dispute with Marshal Tito
over the occupation and administration of northeastern
Italy (Venezia Giulia) Field Marshal Alexander's forces
have entered and are in partial occupation of Trieste,
Monfalcone and Gorizia. Tito's forces also occupy portions
of these three cities as well as, apparently, the remainder
of the Compartment of Venezia Giulia. While Allied forces
proceeded no further than the three points mentioned above,
Tito has continued pouring his Yugoslav troops into the
entire area east of the Isonzo River. He has persisted in
his claim that this area is his exclusive operational
theater. He is now receding even from his agreement of
May 5 to afford facilities to Alexander's troops. His
forces are setting up the administration of the area and
Alexander's forces have been unable to establish Allied
Military Government even in the portion of the three cities
we have entered. The formation of a "Slovene Government"
at
Trieste has been announced.
I feel that the implications of the developments in
Venezia Giulia are of such importance to the future peace
of Europe and will have such far-reaching consequences
wi th respect to United States policy and prestige that I
should bring considerations, in addition to those mentioned
in my May 4 memorandum, to your attention.
The Department's policy that Allied Military Govern-
ment should be extended to all of Venezia Giulia, up to
the 1939 Yugoslav-Italian frontier, in order to prevent the
area's becoming prejudiced by unilateral action by force is
based on reasons much more fundamental than the Italian-
Yugoslav aspects of the problem. What we must keep in mind
is whether we are going to uphold the fundamental principle
of territorial settlement by orderly processes, against
force, intimidation or blackmail Ti to has an identical
TRENAN
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