ITALY: End of a Vendetta

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When Italy stabbed France in the back in 1940, Ambassador André François-Poncet told Mussolini's Foreign Minister and son-in-law, Count Ciano: "Remember, France is immortal! You will pay for this!"

Last week Gaullist France condescended to offer a forgiving but not forgetting hand to defeated, degraded Italy. Paris granted Rome limited diplomatic recognition, agreeing to exchange "delegates" who will have the personal rank of ambassador but will not be fully accredited until Italy has paid & paid.

This decision was a triumph for Italy's Catholic, conservative Foreign Minister Alcide de Gaspari, a Tyrolian who was once a member of prewar Austria's Bundestag (Federal Diet). His negotiations with Maurice Couve de Murville, the French representative in Rome, hinged chiefly on one point—the special privileges hitherto granted to the large Italian population of French Tunisia, who had kept their Italian nationality, and had their own schools under a treaty of over 50 years' standing.

Said De Gaspari, waiving these rights in return for recognition: "The best the Italian Government can do for all Italians, both at home and abroad, is to show her sincere desire for good will and friendship. It is a step toward regaining her self-respect and reentering the community of nations."