The Republic, Paris Peace Conference

The despairing mood of the Italians was meanwhile aggravated by preliminary decisions of the Big Four (France, Britain, the United States, and the USSR), as revealed at the Paris Peace Conference in July 1946. These decisions contemplated the internationalization of Trieste, the cession of several territories, and the award of $100 million in reparations to the USSR. The proposed treaty provided also for additional reparations to other nations victimized by fascism, for severe restrictions on the Italian armed forces, and for British administration of Italian East Africa, pending a Big Four agreement on final disposition of the colonies. Despite popular protests, the treaty was signed at Paris on February 10, 1947, and was subsequently ratified by the Italian Constituent Assembly, with Communist and Socialist delegates abstaining; it came into effect on September 15. Allied occupation forces withdrew from Italy shortly thereafter. Although the Italian people generally opposed the peace treaty, many were mollified by the attitude of the U.S. government, which had helped to frustrate Soviet demands for harsher terms and had also concretely demonstrated its friendly intentions toward Italy.