768.00/7–2050: Telegram
The United States Representative at the United Nations (Austin) to the Secretary of State
85. Bebler,1 at his request, called on Gross2 this morning. Explaining he came on his own initiative, rather than on governmental instructions, to give Gross information, Bebler said he was becoming more and more concerned about possibilities aggression on Yugoslavia. Bebler said there is steadily mounting campaign in USSR and satellites [Page 1435] alleging Yugoslavia is preparing aggression on its neighbors in connivance with US. Bebler referred to recent articles in New York Times and Literary Gazette3 that hundreds of American officers were training Yugoslav army and that “hundreds of Nazi pilots from Germany were training Yugoslav air fleet.” Because of increased Yugoslav fears possibility military moves, Bebler continued, the Yugoslav National Committee for the Defense of Peace adopted resolution on 17 July inviting groups and individuals belonging to “movements for peace” to visit Yugoslavia for purpose of determining first hand whether there are any military bases belonging to foreign powers on Yugoslav territory, and whether Yugoslavia is preparing aggressive operations against neighboring countries. Meeting of Yugoslav National Committee at which foregoing resolution was adopted was addressed by Yugoslav Minister Without Portfolio, Djilas,4 who categorically denied Yugoslav aggressive intentions. Bebler made clear that although Yugoslav National Committee for Defense of Peace is private organization, its resolution “had a diplomatic purpose.”
Bebler said his government attached great importance to inspection of Yugoslavia by persons known in Europe as “not being opposed to USSR.” For this reason, Bebler said he was inviting on behalf of his government representatives of Progressive Party, mentioning Wallace5 and Thomas Emerson.6 Bebler extending invitation to Wallace at lunch Friday, July 21, and hopes that if Wallace cannot attend he will send a confidante who can be billed as his personal representative.
Gross thanked Bebler for courtesy in informing USUN along foregoing lines and said that he would transmit information to Department. On being pressed for comment, Gross said he felt any comment might be misleading because of difficulty of appraising public and Congressional reaction from this distance.
[Page 1436]Commenting upon Nehru’s messages to Stalin,7 Bebler expressed the view that it was unfortunate that Nehru gave Stalin the opportunity to place the issue of Chinese representation in front of the aggression in Korea. Bebler thought Nehru hoped and believed that the Peiping government might “go its own way” and that Nehru realized that the Kremlin would like to see Chinese troops engaged in hostilities with the US. However, Bebler repeated he thought that it had been a mistake to bring in the Chinese representation question. Gross commented merely that the US Government believed that the question of highest priority at the moment was the question of obtaining compliance with the SC resolutions and the halt of aggression in Korea. Bebler expressed complete agreement with this point.
With regard to part of conversation dealing with Yugoslav fears of an attack, Gross avoided any discussion of US attitude or action, saying merely that he would pass information to Department and if any comment was to be made the Department would make it.
- Aleš Bebler, Yugoslav Permanent Representative at the United Nations.↩
- Ernest A. Gross, United States Deputy Representative at the United Nations.↩
- The organ of the Administration of the Union of Soviet Writers of the USSR.↩
- In the speech of July 17 under reference here, Milovan Djilas, who was also a member of the Politburo of the Yugoslav Communist Party, suggested that observers come to Yugoslavia to inspect the frontier with Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria. In a conversation with Mirko Sardelic, Counselor of the Yugoslav Embassy, on July 19, Charles W. Yost, Director of the Office of Eastern European Affairs, indicated the Department of State’s favorable response to Djilas’ speech, inquired if the Yugoslav Government intended to follow up the speech by inviting various persons to Yugoslavia to inspect the frontier, and noted that the testimony of impartial observers could do much to offset Soviet propaganda concerning alleged Yugoslav border provocations (memorandum of conversation by Michael R. Gannett, July 19: 768.00/7–1950).↩
- Henry A. Wallace, Progressive Party presidential candidate in 1948; Vice President of the United States, 1941–1945; Secretary of Commerce, 1945–1946.↩
- Thomas I. Emerson, Professor of Law at the Yale School of Law; President of the National Lawyer’s Guild, 1950–1951.↩
- Documentation on the exchange of messages in July 1950 between Indian Prime Minister Pandit Nehru and Marshal Stalin is presented in volume vii .↩