868.00/8–1645
The British Embassy to the Department of State 87
August 13, 1945
Paraphrase of Telegram From H. M. Representative, Athens, to Foreign Office, Dated August 13, 1945
The Regent asked me to call this morning to talk about the new Government.
- 2.
- In his opinion it was about as good a Government as could be got at present. But criticism was developing along the lines anticipated and the Regent himself was being attacked for having misrepresented the wishes of His Majesty’s Government. He said he did not mind that very much on his own account, for who would not want to get out of his present unenviable role? It was rather for us to judge. He said this only half-seriously but it remains a fact that he has recently acquired the habit of saying flatly that if he were not wanted he would go.
- 3.
- As the conversation was leading back to the question of some clear
outward indication of His Majesty’s Government policy towards Greece
I told His Beatitude for his personal and confidential information
of the possibility of your making a statement in Parliament in the
near future. He was clearly pleased at this and suggested that if
you were willing to bear the following points in mind it would in
his opinion be most helpful for Greece:
- (a)
- Changes in Government every few months could not but set back recovery and until a vote had been taken no Government could claim to be the proper representative. It was therefore essential that there should be at the earliest possible moment a Government based on the expression of popular will.
- (b)
- Such expression of the popular will must be fair and to this end order must be established on an impartial basis.
- (c)
- After years of dictatorship, occupation and revolt this might not be easy but you have noted the firm intention of the new Government [Page 140] to put down excesses by extremists on either side and to ensure that all Government forces in future acted equally vigorously against direct acts by the Right as well as by the Left.
- (d)
- Since the question of whether the plebiscite or the elections should come first, whether they should be nearly simultaneous or widely separated and whether the elections should be for an ordinary Parliament or for a Constituent Assembly were all matters for party controversy, he hoped that anything His Majesty’s Government said publicly would not prejudge these issues. He would like to know whenever convenient on what lines His Majesty’s Government were thinking. These were most delicate questions and would need their united wisdom and tact if Greece were not to founder on them. Consequently it would in his opinion be most beneficial in Greece if at this stage His Majesty’s Government could restrict themselves to showing that they had an open mind and that so far as they were concerned were only interested to see a solution which had the most chance of being truly representative and thus of enduring.
- 4.
- He felt sure that you would understand the spirit in which his remarks were made. His habit was frankness and he knew that he could assume your friendliness.
- 5.
- From a Greek point of view his judgment is as usual as sound as it is honest. I would only add this. It is by no means certain that Greece will succeed without further grave set-backs in struggling to her feet economically, financially and administratively. Such chances as she has will be dashed if she cannot find some measure of continuous and stable Government in the months before the vote. This in turn depends to a very large degree upon the steadying and enlightened influence of His Majesty’s Government. Given this there is reasonable if not excessive ground for hope. Without it economic and political collapse is as good as certain.
- Transmitted by Mr. Tandy to Mr. Baxter on August 16.↩