Office of the Historian

740.00119 Control (Austria)/7–445

No. 281
The Chief of the Division of Central European Affairs (Riddleberger) to the Secretary of State
secret
Washington, July 4, 1945.

Memorandum for the Secretary

Subject: Zones of Occupation in Austria

The question of the delineation of Allied zones of occupation in Austria has been under negotiation in EAC during the last eight months. The following arrangement has been given tentative, although not final, approval by the four members of the Commission:

1.
United States zone—provinces of Salzburg, and Upper Austria south of the Danube.
2.
British zone—provinces of Carinthia, and Styria minus that small portion thereof designated as Burgenland.
3.
Russian zone—provinces of Upper Austria north of the Danube, Lower Austria, and Burgenland.
4.
French zone—provinces of Tirol and Vorarlberg.

The principal obstacle still blocking final agreement is the allocation of airfields to the Americans, British and French in the Vienna area which, although the city is to be occupied and administered jointly, lies within the Soviet zone. The latest American proposal in EAC (June 23) was that three airfields be allotted to the American, French and British Governments. The Soviet representative offered the counterproposal that only two airfields were necessary for the other three forces, specifying Tulln and Schwechat. This difference has not yet been resolved. A telegram1 is being sent to Ambassador Winant today, however, authorizing him, if he considers it necessary to conclude the agreement on zones in Austria, to accept the Soviet counterproposal provided it is agreed to assign the Tulln field to the United States.2 The United States would invite the French to share Tulln on a lodger basis, and it might be suggested to the British that they grant similar facilities at Schwechat.

During the course of these negotiations, it was proposed to the Soviet Government that occupation of the tentative zones as described [Page 351] above should be undertaken and arrangements worked out for the movements of the respective Allied troops to accomplish this. The Soviets have thus far refused to accede to this proposal on the ground that no final delineation of the zones for Austria has been agreed upon inasmuch as the question of airfields in Vienna remains undecided.

J[ames] W R[iddleberger]
  1. Not printed.↩

  2. The agreement reached on this point, as signed on July 9 (see document No. 283), was as follows:

    “5. The Tulln airdrome, together with all installations and facilities pertaining thereto, will be under the administrative and operational control of the armed forces of the United States of America. The Schwechat airdrome, together with all installations and facilities pertaining thereto, will be under the administrative and operational control of the armed forces of the United Kingdom for the joint use of the British and French armed forces. …”

    ↩