Editorial Note
On September 4, 1948, the Soviet Union raised the question of convoking the Council of Foreign Ministers to discuss the disposition of the former Italian Colonies, in notes to the Governments of France, the United States, and the United Kingdom. In their replies the three Western Governments agreed to the calling of a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers, and in subsequent communications the first session was set for Paris on September 13. Secretary of State Marshall designated Ambassador Douglas as his special representative for the session; the United Kingdom sent Hector McNeil, British Minister of State; France—Foreign Minister Robert Schuman; and the Soviet Union—Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Andrey Vyshinsky.
The sessions of the Council of Foreign Ministers, which met five times from September 13 to September 15 to consider the recommendations of the Deputies for the Italian Colonies, were inconclusive. Vyshinsky maintained that they were not even meetings of the Council of Foreign Ministers since Bevin and Marshall were not present. The discussion of the character of the meetings took up all of the first and the larger part of the second meeting before Vyshinsky agreed to discuss the Italian Colonies without resolving the question of the character of the meetings.
The Soviet Representative then proposed the return of all the colonies to Italy and charged the United States and United Kingdom [Page 952] with using the colonies for bases in violation of the Italian Peace Treaty. Douglas and McNeil denied these charges and advocated the return of Italian Somaliland to Italy since all the powers were agreed on that.
At the third meeting Vyshinsky, in a volte face, proposed the establishment of a joint trusteeship for all the colonies under the United Nations and refused to deal piece-meal with the territories. Douglas, supported by Schuman and McNeil, opposed this suggestion. He proposed that the Foreign Ministers dispose of Southern Eritrea and Italian Somaliland, and refer the problem of the remaining colonies to the United Nations General Assembly.
In the last two meetings the ministers could not agree on any proposal. Accordingly they sent a note to the Secretary-General of the United Nations informing him that the disposition of the former Italian Colonies now rested with the General Assembly in accordance with Article 23 and Annex 11 of the Italian Peace Treaty. The Ministers also transmitted the reports of the Field Investigation Commission.
The text of the Soviet note and subsequent communications between the four Governments on the convening of the Council of Foreign Ministers are in file 865.014. Documentation on these meetings of the Council of Foreign Ministers is in telegrams 4771, 4806, and 4818 from Paris, not printed, and in Box 122 of CFM Files, Lot M–88, the consolidated master collection of the records of the Council of Foreign Ministers and ancilliary bodies for the years 1943–1955.