Manlio Brosio

Manlio Brosio was a Turin lawyer, First World War veteran, and liberal politician before he became a diplomat. Associated with Piero Gobetti’s movement, he withdrew from active politics under Fascism and returned to public life in the Resistance. He served in the National Liberation Committee, became deputy prime minister and then minister of war, and helped keep the armed forces loyal to the state during the transition from monarchy to republic. ¹

As ambassador in Moscow from 1947, Brosio negotiated Italy’s first postwar trade agreement with the Soviet Union. He initially favoured a neutral Italy aligned politically with the West rather than membership of NATO. In London he later worked on the 1954 settlement of the Trieste question. His Washington ambassadorship followed in 1955. ^{1, 2}

In an early conversation with Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, Brosio discussed ratification of the Paris agreements and preparations for Prime Minister Mario Scelba’s visit. He presented the Vanoni economic plan as part of Italy’s international agenda. He also disputed an alarmist view of the Italian Communist Party: the immediate problem, he argued, was its obstruction of government rather than a likely seizure of power through elections or insurrection. ³

After an embassy in Paris, Brosio became NATO secretary general in 1964. His term included France’s departure from the integrated military command and growing debate over détente and force reductions. He left NATO in 1971, later sat in the Italian Senate, and died in 1980. ^{1, 2}